The Korean Supreme Court has upheld a three-year prison sentence for a private lecturer who exploited the time difference between South Korea and other countries to leak SAT exam questions used for U.S. college admissions. 

The Korea Herald reported that a tutor was convicted for illegally acquiring SAT questions and selling them to parents in different time zones. Since students in Korea aiming for U.S. colleges take the SAT several hours before their counterparts in the United States, the tutor used this time gap to get the questions early and sell them for profit. The Korea Herald explained, "The tutor was convicted of selling SAT questions that he acquired illegally to the parents of students taking the test in other time zones. Song and his accomplices -- a teacher at a local high school and a broker -- acquired photos of the SAT from someone they planted to take the test, which they then relayed to the students taking the test in countries whose time is behind South Korea."

The tutor, identified as Song, worked at a private institute in South Korea. Along with two accomplices—a high school teacher and a broker—they targeted potential buyers for SAT questions. From May 2014 to December 2019, their operation reportedly earned 1.1 billion KRW (approximately $850,000).

In the initial judgment, the lower court characterized the offense as "malevolent in nature" and highlighted its adverse impact on the credibility of the American college admission process. 

The court stressed the necessity of a strong punishment, considering that the defendant had accepted payments from desperate students and parents seeking admission to U.S.-based colleges. Additionally, it underscored the coercive involvement of young students in the criminal activity.