Teacher and parent arrested for attempted exam paper theft

South Korea has arrested a high school teacher and a student’s father who allegedly broke into a school late at night to steal exam papers.

Their attempt took place at 01:20 local time on 4 July (18:20 GMT) at a school in Andong, a city southeast of Seoul, but was foiled when the school’s security alarm went off.

The teacher is facing charges for accepting bribes and trespassing, while the father has been accused of trespassing.

A facilities manager at the school, who allegedly conspired with the duo, has also been arrested for allowing theft and unlawful entry into the school.

Authorities say the teacher had privately tutored the child of the arrested father – which teachers actively employed by schools in South Korea are not allowed to do.

The student had “consistently maintained top grades”, according to public broadcaster KBS, but it is unclear if their academic record is related to previous cases of exam-paper theft.

Police also suspect that money had changed hands between the father and teacher, and that this was not their first intrusion attempt, KBS reported.

This incident is the latest in a series of exam-related scandals in South Korea, a country notorious for its hyper-competitive education system.

In June, police announced they were investigating the leak of answers to a nationwide English exam via an online chatroom.

In February, 249 people were detained – dozens of school teachers among them – for selling mock questions for the high-stakes Suneung exam to private academies.

And in late 2023, dozens of students sued the government after teachers accidentally cut their test short by 90 seconds.

South Korea consistently ranks among industrialised countries with the highest levels of stress for young people aged 11 to 15.