Police apprehended several Chinese students studying here for using cameras, mics and other devices to cheat on the state-administered Korean language test.

According to the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, officers have arrested a 22-year-old Chinese national surnamed Ma, along with two others for helping Chinese students here on study abroad programs cheat on the Korean Language Proficiency Test.

Police have also booked Yang, 23, a Chinese student and 18 others without detention, for cheating on the test. Their names were all undisclosed to the media.

Police believe Ma received between 300,000 won 350,000 won ($270-$300) from each student for providing answers to the test at a university in Gwangju on Oct. 27. According to police, Ma, a recent graduate from an university in South Jeolla Province, received a total of 6.6 million won from the 19 university and graduate students.

Fellow compatriot Han, 21, took the language test while wearing a button video camcorder installed on his clothes that transmitted the streaming image of his answers to a computer near the test center. Then his associates would relay the answers to the Chinese students wearing wireless earpieces while taking the test. Han is currently enrolled in a university in Seoul.

Police believe that Ma targeted Chinese students who need to pass a certain level in the KLPT or the Test of Proficiency in Korean to graduate from universities here.

“This is the first time we have caught students using such an elaborate scheme to cheat on a Korean proficiency test,” said a police official, who declined to be named.

“The perpetrators targeted desperate Chinese students in Korea who were facing pressure to graduate and find a job,” he added.

Police have found that Ma took the students to a motel near the testing center a day before the exam, and explained how to use the devices.

Police reported that Ma had earlier helped two Chinese students pass by forging their documents and having a compatriot enrolled in a top Seoul university take the test for them.

The administratos of the KLPT and the National Institute for International Education have nullified the test scores of those related to the case.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)