Skip to main content
NOPE
Low reported severity Internal Action

Konkuk University says a student got a zero and an F after a friend solved midterm questions with AI and relayed the answers to a smartwatch

In a midterm exam on 14 October 2026 in a major course of about 100 students at Konkuk University in Seoul, a student sent the questions to a friend through a camera attached to the chest; the friend solved them using AI and sent the answers to the student's smartwatch, according to the professor's notice to students as reported by JoongAng Ilbo on 21 October 2026. The professor became suspicious of a perfect score, asked the student to solve the same problems again, and the student could not and confessed. The university said the professor gave the student a zero on the exam and an F in the course under its regulations for cheating by writing answers using AI and a smartwatch, and the department decided to ban cameras and watches from the final exam onward. The AI tool is not named, and no consequence for the friend is reported.

AI system
Unidentified AI problem-solving tool
Occurred
14 Oct 2026
Reported
21 October 2026
Event location
South Korea
What the AI did
Relation unknown
Reported harm
Educational Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Education
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account
3 claims: 3 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: An AI tool a friend used to solve midterm exam questions that the student sent by hidden camera; the answers were relayed to the student's smartwatch. The tool is not named in the reports

What Happened

The exam. On 14 October 2026 a department at Konkuk University in Seoul held a midterm exam in a major course with about 100 students, according to JoongAng Ilbo, which reported the case on 21 October citing the professor's notice and a university statement.

The method. The professor told students the next day that a student had been caught cheating. According to that notice, the student used a camera attached to the chest to send the exam questions to a friend, and the friend used AI to solve them and sent the answers to the student's smartwatch. The reports do not name the AI tool.

Detection. The professor became suspicious when the student scored full marks and asked the student to solve the same problems again. The student could not write the answers and confessed after questioning, according to the notice.

Penalty. The university said that because the student was found to have cheated by writing answers using AI and a smartwatch, the professor gave the student a zero on the exam and an F in the course under the regulations. The department decided to ban all kinds of cameras and watches from the final exam onward and to inspect eyeglasses. No consequence for the friend and no appeal are reported.

Reported harm

According to the university, the student was given a zero on the midterm and an F in the course after cheating with AI-solved answers relayed to a smartwatch.

How Harm Occurred

A friend used AI to solve exam questions that the student sent by hidden camera and relayed the answers to the student's smartwatch; the university treated the AI-assisted answers as cheating and imposed a zero on the exam and an F in the course.

Outcome

Resolved

According to the university, the professor gave the student a zero on the exam and an F in the course under the university's regulations. The department decided to ban all cameras and watches from the final exam onward and to inspect eyeglasses. No appeal and no consequence for the friend are reported.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tool the friend used.
  • Whether the friend is a student and whether the friend faced any consequence.
  • Whether the student appealed the penalty or faced further disciplinary action beyond the zero and the F.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The professor's notice says the friend used AI to solve the midterm questions the student sent by camera and sent the answers to the student's smartwatch, and the university says the student was penalised for cheating by writing answers using AI and a smartwatch; the student confessed. The penalty is the university's response to the AI-assisted cheating. The AI output reached the student only through the friend, so no relation describing the AI system's own action toward the student is recorded. The AI tool is not named.

3 claims: 3 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported According to the professor's notice to students on 15 October 2026 as reported by JoongAng Ilbo, in a midterm exam on 14 October 2026 in a major course of about 100 students at Konkuk University, a student sent the exam questions to a friend using a camera attached to the chest; the friend solved the questions using AI and sent the answers to the student's smartwatch.

Causal attribution. The professor's notice relayed in one reporting chain (Korean original and its English version); the AI tool is not named; reported.

  • joongang.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '지난 14일 건국대 한 학과 중간고사에서 AI를 활용한 부정행위가 적발됐다. 문제가 발생한 과목은 해당 학과의 전공 과목으로 수강인원이 100여 명에 달한다.'; '담당 교수는 사건 발생 이튿날인 15일 학생들에게 “시험에서 부정행위를 한 학생이 적발됐다”고 공지했다.'; '“해당 학생은 가슴에 부착한 카메라를 이용해 시험 문제를 친구에게 보냈고, 그의 친구는 AI를 이용해 문제를 푼 뒤 답안을 해당 학생의 스마트워치로 전송했다”고 설명했다.'
  • koreajoongangdaily.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'a Konkuk University student was caught cheating on a midterm exam by sending questions through a hidden chest camera to a friend, who solved them with AI and sent the answers to the student’s smartwatch.'
Reported According to the professor's notice, the professor became suspicious when the student scored full marks, called the student in to solve the same problems again, and the student could not write the answers and confessed after questioning.

Causal attribution. The professor's account in one reporting chain; reported.

  • joongang.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '담당 교수는 A씨가 시험에서 만점을 맞은 것을 수상히 여겨 그를 불러 같은 문제를 직접 풀어보라고 요구했다. 그러나 A씨는 제대로 답을 적어내지 못했고, 추궁 끝에 이 같은 사실을 털어놨다고 한다.'
  • koreajoongangdaily.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The professor said they grew suspicious when the student earned a perfect score and called the student in to solve the same problems again in a controlled environment. The student failed to write the answers properly and confessed after being questioned, according to the professor’s notice.'
Reported According to the university, the professor gave the student a zero on the exam and an F in the course under the regulations because the student was found to have cheated by writing answers using AI and a smartwatch; the department decided to ban all cameras and watches from the final exam onward and to inspect eyeglasses.

Causal attribution. The university's statement relayed in one reporting chain; the university's own record of the grade is not inspected; reported.

  • joongang.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '대학 측은 “AI와 스마트워치를 이용해 답안 작성에 부정행위를 한 사실이 적발돼 담당 교수는 규정에 따라 해당 학생의 시험을 0점 처리하고 F학점을 부과했다” 했다.'; '해당 학과는 기말고사부터 모든 종류의 카메라와 시계 반입을 금지하고 안경도 검사하기로 했다.'
  • koreajoongangdaily.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    '“Because it was found that the student cheated by writing the answers using AI and a smartwatch, the professor in charge gave the student a zero on the exam and an F in the class in accordance with regulations,” the university said.'

Sources

2 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Korean on 2026-10-22 from the publisher page (HTTP 200); translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator reviewed it. JoongAng Ilbo exclusive published 21 October 2026, 05:00 KST (print edition page 10), citing the professor's notice to students and a university statement ('21일 대학가에 따르면'). Applies to s1.

Read in English on 2026-10-22 (HTTP 200). Korea JoongAng Daily's English version of the s1 report, published 21 October 2026; its footer says it was translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools and edited by the newsroom. Same reporting chain as s1. Applies to s2.

Event countries: South Korea. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Unknown.

The exam took place at Konkuk University, which the reports place among universities in Seoul ('서울의 한 대학'), South Korea. The student's nationality and residence are not stated.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-22: Published as a sanction for prohibited AI use: the university says it gave a student a zero and an F after a midterm in which, according to the professor's notice, a friend solved the questions with AI and relayed the answers to the student's smartwatch; the student confessed. No student is identified.

People described

A Konkuk University student in a major course who was given a zero on a midterm exam and an F in the course after AI-assisted cheating was found

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One student, given a zero on the exam and an F in the course according to the university's statement. The student did not operate the AI tool (the friend did, per the professor's notice), so the student is counted among other people harmed. The friend is not counted because no consequence is reported.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#academic-integrity#exam-cheating#smartwatch#grade-penalty#consequential-response#korea

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Konkuk University says a student got a zero and an F after a friend solved midterm questions with AI and relayed the answers to a smartwatch. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-konkuk-university-student-given-zero-and-f-after-friend-solved-midterm-with-ai-via-hidden-camera-and-smartwatch

BibTeX

@misc{2026_konkuk_university_student_given_zero_and_f_after_friend_solved_midterm_with_ai_via_hidden_camera_and_smartwatch,
  title = {Konkuk University says a student got a zero and an F after a friend solved midterm questions with AI and relayed the answers to a smartwatch},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-konkuk-university-student-given-zero-and-f-after-friend-solved-midterm-with-ai-via-hidden-camera-and-smartwatch}
}

Related cases

Low Unidentified AI coding tool

Seoul National University professor penalised 36 of 62 computer engineering students who, he says, admitted using banned generative AI on assignments

In the first semester of 2026, 36 of the 62 students in a fourth-year computer engineering course on computer networking at Seoul National University were penalised for using AI on coding assignments, according to an SNU official and the course's professor as reported by JoongAng Ilbo and Yonhap on 30 July 2026. The syllabus said all course activities would be conducted without generative AI. The professor gave zero marks on the affected assignments to 25 students who came forward and a D-minus course grade to 11 who admitted AI use only when interviewed; he said all 36 admitted using AI. The department's student government objected that the criteria were unclear and that honest students were penalised while others may not have been; the professor rejected this. On 16 October 2026 a lawmaker raised SNU's AI cheating incidents at the National Assembly audit, and the university president said its AI guidelines needed to be supplemented.

If you or someone you know is struggling, free and confidential support is available. Find a helpline near you at Signpost.

Back to all incidents