Selling student records for profit in South Korea now punishable by up to 5 years in prison

South Korea is implementing stricter regulations to prevent the commercial exploitation of students' high school records. A revised law, set to take effect on July 29, introduces penalties of up to five years in prison or a 50 million won fine for those who acquire and use school records for business purposes.

The new legislation specifically targets private education companies, prohibiting them from collecting student records for paid admissions consulting or using them for student recruitment. This measure aims to curb the excessive private tutoring industry and enhance fairness in the highly competitive college admissions process, which has often been criticized for being undermined by such practices.

Furthermore, the law addresses the issue of graduates selling their own academic records on online platforms for profit. The Ministry of Education views this as an inappropriate commercialization of official school documents. While a one-time transfer of a record, such as a graduate sending their record to a junior in exchange for a gift, may not be considered a violation, continuous or repeated commercial activities, like selling records on online platforms, will be penalized.

The Ministry of Education has provided guidance to schools, emphasizing that records must be managed through the official Education Information System (NIES) and not through private programs. Schools must also exercise caution when contracting with private companies for student record analysis or consulting, ensuring these companies do not repurpose collected data for other business ventures. The ministry recommends utilizing public consulting services offered by educational offices and government portals.

Violations include scenarios where consulting firms create lecture materials from collected student records for paid courses, or where edutech companies use records as AI training data and offer paid apps that suggest content based on them. The ministry plans to add a notice to issued records explicitly prohibiting commercial trading and will update guidelines to ensure students and parents are informed about these restrictions.

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The core of determining a violation is whether school records were 'acquired' and used for 'business purposes.' Even a graduate obtaining their own record and using it for business purposes is considered an acquisition.