President Lee: “Cheating using smart glasses and other high-tech devices on the CSAT must be prevented”

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung on the 5th called for measures to prevent cheating using advanced devices such as smart glasses ahead of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), and to protect exam proctors. He also stressed the need to strengthen support for startups in response to changes in employment structures driven by advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, and to move toward an “era of entrepreneurship for all,” in which every citizen is an agent of growth.
At the Senior Presidential Aides Meeting he chaired that day at the main building of Cheong Wa Dae, President Lee said, “The government must do everything possible to manage exam sites so that all test-takers can demonstrate their abilities in a safe and fair environment.”
With the CSAT for the 2027 academic year just two weeks away, he called for particular vigilance regarding the possibility of cheating with advanced devices. President Lee said, “I hear there have been cases of cheating using advanced devices such as smart glasses, which have recently been the subject of controversy. We must make a particular effort to prevent this.”
He continued, “We must strengthen training to build proctors’ capabilities and thoroughly overhaul the on-site response system to prevent cheating at the source. We must also put robust measures in place to protect on-site proctors so they are not intimidated by unjustified complaints and can properly carry out their legitimate duties,” he instructed.
He called for the measures to be extended beyond the CSAT to all kinds of exams. President Lee said, “Furthermore, I ask that comprehensive measures be drawn up to ensure that cheating using smart devices or similar does not occur in any kind of exam administered by the state, public institutions or schools at every level. We should prepare them fairly quickly. Under no circumstances should the value of diligent effort be undermined; we must firmly uphold fairness down to every last detail,” he stressed.
President Lee wished the test-takers success, adding, “I also applaud the young people who, instead of taking the CSAT, are building expertise and strengthening their capabilities in their respective fields.”
He also used the occasion of the 11th Small Business Owners’ Day to stress the need to establish a virtuous economic cycle in which the benefits of growth spread to small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners, and to build a support system for startups.
President Lee said, “For the Korean economy to move beyond quantitative expansion and achieve a qualitative leap, we need a major shift in our growth model,” adding, “We must create a virtuous cycle in the national economy in which export growth leads to a recovery in domestic demand, and the growth achievements of certain industries and large companies spread to small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners.”
In particular, he also highlighted the need for a multilayered support system, saying, “We need to build a system where anyone with a good idea and technology can freely try to start a business and, even if they fail, can try again at any time.”
President Lee said, “The existing economic and social system, in which quantitative growth created jobs and drove social progress, has now reached its limits,” adding, “Given the current situation, in which growth is not translating into jobs, it is essential to transition to a startup society where diverse economic actors directly create new industries, businesses and markets.” He also said, “We must mobilize the nation’s capacity to improve curricula, expand financial support and reform regulations,” and stressed, “South Korea must become a vast startup incubator and move toward an era of entrepreneurship for all, in which every citizen is an agent of growth.”
He also called for support for vulnerable groups during the winter. Saying that uncertainty over fuel prices and inflation amid the prolonged war in the Middle East could increase the burden of getting through the winter, he instructed officials to review heating cost assistance programs and proactively identify households in crisis that fall through the welfare safety net. He also called for safety inspections of residential facilities with poor living conditions, such as single-room housing districts and low-cost rooming houses, as well as measures to deal with cold waves.
President Lee said, “Welfare is not something you wait for; it is something you proactively bring to people,” adding, “We must make every effort to ensure that no one misses out on the government support they need because they are unfamiliar with the system or because the procedures are complicated.”
[email protected] Choi Jong-geun, Seong Seok-woo Reporter