Multiple petitions were filed claiming defects such as ink smearing in computer-use felt-tip pens on the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). The Ministry of Education said it would "make sure there is no disadvantage in scoring."

At a regular briefing on the 17th, a Ministry of Education official said, "We will closely examine the scoring process to ensure there is no disadvantage in (CSAT) scoring due to smearing and other issues."

A test-taker practices marking with a computer-use sign pen while preparing for the College Scholastic Ability Test on the morning of the 13th at Gwangnam High School in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. /Courtesy of News1

On the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE)'s CSAT question and answer objection board, numerous posts said they suffered damage because of defective computer-use felt-tip pens distributed at the test sites on test day. Test-takers are allowed to bring their own computer-use felt-tip pens and take the test, but, following the notice that "if a disadvantage occurs in computerized scoring, the test-taker must bear it," most students tend to use the pens handed out at the test site.

However, it was reported that some products had problems such as smearing and blotting. Test-taker A said, "Ink ran from the pen, so I quickly tried to erase it with correction fluid and remark, but even with correction fluid it didn't erase and remained ambiguously," adding, "I didn't have enough time to switch, so I submitted it after roughly covering it with correction fluid, and I'm afraid an error will occur during scoring." Test-taker B said, "While marking the answers, ink streamed out of the pen and smeared on my hand, arm, OMR card, and test paper," adding, "I studied hard, but I wasted time marking with a defective pen."

In a notice to the press corps that afternoon, the Ministry of Education said, "Regarding civil complaints about smearing of computer-use felt-tip pens on CSAT test day, we confirmed that the issue occurred in some products from a specific company," but explained, "It was not found to have occurred in all regions that used that company's products, so it is difficult to specify the regions and the company name."

The Ministry of Education plans to implement related measures after closing CSAT-related objections at 6 p.m. that day.

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