Seoul education authorities on Wednesday ordered the closure of eight private institutions accused of leaking U.S. Scholastic Aptitude Test questions.

Another four cram schools were suspended and 12 were fined over the scandal, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

The authorities are widening a crackdown on hagwons providing SAT preparation classes.

The education office has been conducting on-site inspections at 61 SAT hagwons, mostly located in Gangnam in Seoul.

The authorities said they had so far identified 39 hagwons involved in the leaks.

The eight schools facing shutdown were operating without registration or offering classes at unauthorized premises. Some of them also hired unqualified teachers, the office said.

The education office said it would continue to crackdown on private hagwons that lure students with hopes of admission to prestigious U.S. universities through unethical practices.

It will also restrict new SAT hagwon from registering while the investigation is ongoing, and introduce stronger punishments for hagwon operators involved in illegal activities.

The investigation first began after the College Board, which organizes the U.S. college-entrance examination, canceled the test scheduled to take place in Korea in May due to an alleged exam questions leak.

The organization later also withdrew the biology section from the June 1 session.

The prosecution has already investigated more than eight private institutes since February over the allegations that they leaked exam questions to students.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)