Suneung on Nov. 19: How Korea Adjusts Traffic, Work Hours and Flights

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On Nov. 19, Korea holds its big college entrance exam, the Suneung (CSAT). Here is a summary of what the Ministry of Education announced about later work start times, subways, paused flights and military exercises. ━━━━━━━━━━ 📝 A whole country makes room for the exam The Ministry of Education has announced that on the day of the annual college entrance exam, Korea will adjust public transit, work hours and flight schedules. The goal is to keep disruptions for test-takers as small as possible. The exam is called the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), or Suneung in Korean. It takes place on Nov. 19. In Korea it is seen as a major life event, because a college place can strongly shape career prospects and social standing. 👉 For you: Expect some changes to daily life on Nov. 19, especially in the morning with traffic and work start times. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🔢 The exam in numbers Nationwide, 551,864 students and other test-takers sit the exam. They are spread across 1,312 test centers. The exam runs from 8:40 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said the ministry wants to give full support, together with other government branches, so that all test-takers can fully demonstrate their abilities. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🏢 Work starts after 10 a.m. So that students reach their test venues on time and to prevent traffic congestion, the government asks public institutions, including government offices, as well as private businesses to have officials and employees report to work after 10 a.m. According to the source, this is a request from the government. It does not say how individual companies will handle it. 👉 For you: If you work in Korea, it's best to ask your employer whether work will start later on Nov. 19. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🚇 More subways and help for students in need In the greater Seoul area, subways will run more frequently between 6:00 and 8:10 a.m. Emergency transport vehicles will also be deployed to assist students in need. The source does not say which lines exactly are affected. 👉 For you: You can find details on individual lines and timetables from the subway operators in your region. ━━━━━━━━━━ ✈️ 25 minutes less noise for the listening section During the English listening comprehension section, from 1:10 to 1:35 p.m., takeoffs and landings of airplanes and helicopters are prohibited. This is meant to keep noise as low as possible during that time. Military exercises involving artillery firings and the movement of tanks will also be put on hold during this time. The source does not say how this will affect individual flights. 👉 For you: If you plan to fly at that time on Nov. 19, check the flight times with your airline. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 Sources Korea JoongAng Daily – Korea to pause flights, adjust work hours for Nov. 19 college entrance exam https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/korea/korea-to-pause-flights-adjust-work-hours-for-nov-19-college-entrance-exam/12930136 ━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 Have you experienced Suneung day in Korea? How did you notice the traffic, work start times or the quiet around the exam? 📲 On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lebeninkorea_en/ 📸 Photos: Yu Kato, insung yoon, Marek Piwnicki, Marissa Lewis (Unsplash); Republic of Korea from Seoul, Republic of Korea (CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons), 阿貴 (CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons); Cultural Heritage Administration (KOGL Type 1)