In relation to the incident where questions and answers from the English section of the nationwide joint academic assessment conducted for first-year high school students in June were leaked in advance, the education offices of cities and provinces across the country have decided to jointly request a police investigation.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education stated on the 5th, "The 17 city and provincial education offices will jointly push for a police investigation regarding the circumstances of the leak of English answer keys from the June nationwide joint academic assessment."
According to the education authorities, the questions, answers, and explanations for the English section of the June nationwide joint academic assessment for 2025 were shared in advance in an open chat room with about 3,200 academy instructors and others. It was reported that the questions and answers were shared at 12:30 p.m., 40 minutes before the exam's start time (1:10 p.m.). The questions and answers are supposed to be made public only after the exam is finished.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said, "As of now, the composition of the SNS group chat rooms and the identity of the distributors have not been identified, nor has the route of the leak been clarified," and added, "We will request a police investigation to take action against those involved and examine measures to prevent recurrence." Depending on the investigation results, relevant education offices will proceed with follow-up procedures, including taking action against those involved and strengthening security.
The nationwide joint academic assessment has been conducted jointly by city and provincial education offices since the 2002 academic year and is not reflected in students' internal grades. Four education offices, including Seoul, Busan, Incheon, and Gyeonggi, take turns preparing the assessments, with the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education in charge of the June assessment. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education is responsible for overall coordination, including developing basic plans.