It’s midnight in Seoul. A high school student is hunched over textbooks, tired but determined as they prepare for what South Koreans call a “life-defining moment” — the national college entrance exam, or Suneung.
Administered just once a year, this test will determine which university doors will open or remain forever closed for the student, charting their job choices, income and entire future trajectory.
The Suneung is not merely an academic assessment but a societal ritual during which the whole country mobilizes in support of test-takers. On exam day, companies stagger work schedules, construction crews fall silent and even aircraft obey restricted flight paths — all to create the optimal conditions for students facing their scholastic reckoning.
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