"Solidarity Essay" following the legal battle...Increasing confusion among test takers.

[Anchor]
Last month, the questionnaire was distributed an hour earlier in Yonsei University's occasional natural essay test.

Controversy over unfairness has emerged, leading to legal disputes, and it is unclear whether the situation can be resolved by the deadline for college admission.

Let's talk in detail with Bae Min-hyuk of the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Hello, reporter Bae.

There have been many processes since the controversy began for more than a month.

Please take a look back at the beginning of the controversy.

[Reporter]
The first start was on the 12th of last month. It is the day when Yonsei University's natural essay examination was held.

At that time, more than a hundred test sites were tested at the same time, and one of them had a problem.

The test started at 2 p.m., and the supervisor, who mistook the test time, distributed the test papers about an hour earlier and collected them.

Suspicions spread that the supervision was poor as the contents became known around the test takers community.

In addition, photos of essay exam papers and exercise papers were posted throughout the online community that day, raising suspicions of problem leakage.

[Anchor]
As soon as these suspicions were raised, the test takers demanded a retest, right?

[Journalist]
Yes, that's right. Looking at the articles posted on the examinee community at the time, it was easy to find that the test was unfair.

It was also argued that the fact that the test papers were distributed about an hour earlier might have given someone more time to solve the problem.

College entrance exam experts also pointed out that although there are only a few students, it is not fair to be able to see the questionnaire first even for a short time. Let's listen to it for ourselves.

[Im Seong-ho / CEO of Jongno Academy: Even if it was released for a short time, the re-examination is inevitable because some parts that could be very helpful to certain test takers can be judged by looking at the question.. ]

As these comments continued, Yonsei University tried to explain to dismiss the controversy over fairness.

This picture is one of the problem papers posted on the Internet at the time.

Yonsei University explained that when looking at this photo, there are traces of solving the problem, and there are traces of correcting the problem error that was announced only 30 minutes before the end of the test.

Considering this situation comprehensively, it seems that the photo was not taken in the middle of the test, but someone maliciously took a picture and leaked it after the test.

In the end, Yonsei University drew the line that the retest was not considered, saying that there seemed to have been deviations and cheating by individual students rather than compromising the overall fairness of the test, as the circumstances of the questionnaire were not identified before the start of the test.

[Anchor]
I think it's a pretty specific explanation, but the atmosphere of the test takers doesn't seem to have subsided well.

[Reporter]
That's right. Controversy over the unfairness of the test continued despite the explanation.

Of course, it is not a suspicion that the problem was leaked in advance, but it was pointed out that the management supervision was sloppy just because the problem paper that had to be retrieved as soon as the test was over was circulated online.

Let's hear from a student who took the Yonsei University essay test at the time.

[Yeonse University essay test applicant: Practice sheet and answer sheet should never be leaked online because Yonsei University will immediately retrieve them as soon as the test is over, but since the supervisor did not stop it.... ]
In addition to
, as the entrance examination expert pointed out earlier, some students complained that someone could have looked at the test paper a little early.

Let's listen to it.

[Yeonse University essay test candidate: We distributed test papers and questionnaires, and now students will scan the questionnaire once in the process of checking the number of copies. Through that process, students would have been aware of all types of problems and things like that.. ]

[Anchor]
As the controversy continued, the government also set out to find out exactly what happened at the time of the essay test, right?

[Reporter]
Yes, it is on the 15th of last month, three days after the controversy erupted.

In his closing remarks at the Cabinet meeting, President Yoon Suk Yeol asked Education Minister Lee Ju-ho to identify the exact circumstances and reprimand those responsible.

At the same time, he ordered strict measures to prevent recurrence.

As a result, the Ministry of Education made the same order to Yonsei University, and Yonsei University conducted its own investigation to find out how.

And I analyzed all the posts on the Internet bulletin board related to the alleged leakage of essays.

Through this process, we identified two applicants who posted pictures of the questionnaire on the Internet.

Yonsei University has filed a total of six people with obstruction of business, including these two and four unidentified people who posted other posts.

[Anchor]
But some of the test takers ended up in a legal dispute, right?

[Reporter]
That's right. On the 21st of last month, about 30 people, including some test takers and parents, filed a class action suit in the Seoul Western District Court.

He filed a lawsuit to confirm that the test was invalid because it was not fair, and filed a provisional injunction to stop the effectiveness of the essay test while the lawsuit was in progress.

Since then, in the case of invalidity confirmation litigation, the purpose of the lawsuit has been changed to implementing the retest in consideration of the fact that the school cannot be forced to retake the test even if the examinee wins.

On the 29th of last month, the first trial was held on the application for provisional injunction for suspension of effect. Again, the opinions of both Yonsei University and the examinees were divided.

While the examinee insisted on retaking the test, saying the test was generally poorly managed,
The
Yonsei University said it was true that there was a lack of supervision of some management, but drew the line that posting the problem on the Internet was a personal deviation of some students.

Overall, he insisted that the process of the essay test should be carried out as scheduled, saying that the fairness of the test has never been significantly damaged.

[Anchor]
But the court ruled in favor of the examinee, right?

[Reporter]
Yes, it is. On the 15th, the court partially cited the suspension of the validity of Yonsei University's occasional natural essay test.

The provisional disposition was cited, and subsequent procedures, such as the announcement of successful essay winners, were temporarily suspended.

As it may be interpreted that this issue has entered a new phase, we will take a closer look at the judgment of the court.

First of all, the court considered the characteristics of Yonsei University's essay test. The fairness of the test is absolutely important, as the CSAT scores are not reflected and pass and fail are determined only by the essay test scores.

At this time, he explained that fairness should be premised on all candidates taking the test under the same conditions and environment as social norms.

Although there are about 30 people in a single test site, it seems that when the test papers were distributed an hour earlier, the problem was exposed to some extent regardless of the intention of the test takers, saying that it seems that the test papers were distributed an hour earlier.

The court judged that the fairness of the test was undermined for this reason. Yonsei University continued to point out that retesting is not possible for realistic reasons.

When the supervisor retrieved the questionnaire and was about an hour away from the start of the test, there seemed to be no proper measures, such as outside movement or cell phone sanctions, and explained that the school is responsible for failing to thoroughly manage the supervisor.

At the same time, he pointed out that Yonsei University did nothing for a month after the controversy over fairness and caused a lack of time on its own.

[Anchor]
The court's judgment came out and the wavelength was large.

Yonsei University immediately raised an objection, right?

[Reporter]
That's right. After the court's decision came out, Yonsei University immediately raised an objection, and it was judged by the court once again.

Even on the day of the appeal hearing, the positions of the two sides were still divided without much change.

Let's hear from both sides.

[Kim Sun-tae / Yonsei University's legal representative: Most test takers are not responsible for the incident, did not cheat, and studied hard just for the essay test, which causes irreparable damage to such test takers.... ]

[Kim Jeong-sun / Yonsei University's legal representative: More than 10,000 test takers who took the test, which lacked fairness, suffer more damage than the expectations of about 260 preliminary successful applicants. The retest should be conducted quickly and on its own regardless of the outcome of the trial so that it will no longer harm the examinees.... ]
As you just saw
Yonsei University claims that if you retake the test, there will be victims in good faith.

At the same time, the court drew a line that neither retesting nor carrying over the number of occasional recruits on time could be an alternative.

If you retake the test, it is difficult to determine the priorities between those who passed the first test and those who passed the second test due to the retest.

Also, in the case of regular carryover, it takes away the rights and opportunities of students who have prepared only essay writing hard.

However, the court rejected the challenge, saying the fairness of the test had been compromised for the same reasons as when citing the provisional injunction.

Yonsei University immediately filed an appeal this time again, showing its position to continue the legal battle.

[Anchor]
The situation seems to be not resolved quickly and legal disputes continue, and for this reason, some are concerned that it may have a negative impact on the entire college entrance examination.

[Reporter]
That's right. Test takers are concerned that the Yonsei University incident will cause more damage as they apply to various schools.

Let's listen to the student's story.

The announcement of successful candidates will continue to be delayed, and it will affect other schools, so the school (Yonsei University) wants to recognize it quickly and retake the test now. ]

The Ministry of Education is also seriously aware of the issue.

Let's listen to Minister Lee Ju-ho.

[Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho: We are well aware of this severity, and I would like to say that the Ministry of Education will do its best to resolve this issue as soon as possible. ]

The Ministry of Education urged Yonsei University to come up with an alternative to prevent confusion in the entrance examination.

Yonsei University should come up with an alternative by the 26th of next month, the deadline for notifying the passing of unregistered recruitment.

At the same time, he added that there will be no adjustment of the entire college admission schedule.

He said that the school has the authority to make the final decision, but pointed out that if the number of people recruited from time to time is carried over on time, the opportunities for students in essay screening will disappear.

In the meantime, when it was reported that Yonsei University, which had been sticking to its policy of not retesting today, would consider retesting if it lost, the Ministry of Education explained that it is considering it as one of several alternatives.

On the other hand, Yonsei University has said it is still focusing on the trial process and sticking to its existing position to take follow-up measures based on the results.

We will have to wait and see whether alternatives will be prepared so that the examinees will not suffer damage, or whether the trial will proceed quickly and be concluded.

[Anchor]
Yes, thank you very much.

I'm Bae Minhyuk, a reporter from the Ministry of Social Affairs.