By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

Four Koreans were apprehended for attempting to leak test information of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), a standardized test for admission to colleges in the United States, police said Saturday.

This took place just a week after a Korean SAT preparation instructor was arrested for obtaining a copy of a SAT test paper from Bangkok and then e-mailing it to Korean test takers in the United States.

Police are widening their investigation in cooperation with the U.S.-based Educational Testing Service (ETS), the administrator of the SAT, to check whether the four in question had previously provided leaked papers to "clients" at home and abroad utilizing time zone differences.

According to the Suseo Police department in southern Seoul, the four ― including a 36-year-old SAT preparation instructor ― were suspected of leaking SAT exam sheets they obtained from a high school in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, where the SAT test was administered last Saturday.

"The SAT preparation lecturer and the three test takers smuggled the test sheets out by tearing them out and hiding them," said a police officer familiar with the case.

"Tipped off about their plan, we apprehended them outside the test center." The officer said they were suspected of being involved in three other similar crimes.

"The three were university students hired by the lecturer, who confessed his wrongdoing during questioning," he said.

The officer quoted the lecturer as saying the smuggled papers were supposed to be used as teaching material for his students at a private institute in southern Seoul.

Last Monday, police arrested a lecturer who allegedly helped two South Korean students cheat on the SAT by exploiting the time difference between Southeast Asia and the United States.

According to police, the lecturer, identified as Kim, obtained a copy of a SAT test taken on Jan. 24, 2009, in Bangkok and then sent the test and an answer sheet via e-mail to two Korean students, who took the same test 12 hours later in Connecticut in the United States.

Police said a total of seven cases of this kind had been reported, and didn't rule out the possibility that the suspects had been involved in more unreported cases.

Experts claim that the belief that earning diploma from a U.S. university is a surefire way to earn a high-paying job and lofty social reputation here is partially to blame for such a criminal act.

Many wealthy parents use their money to help their children get high scores on the SAT so they can study at an American college.

Police quoted Kim as saying he felt increasing pressure to guarantee high test scores for his students, each of whom paid up to three million won for a class or 30 million won ($26,600) for a dozen classes.

Industry insiders are increasingly concerned over whether the leaking scandals will carry a negative impact on Korean applicants to U.S. schools.

“This may make U.S. colleges and universities think twice before admitting Korean students,” a SAT lecturer said.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr