K-Vibe

When November comes around, I still remember my own Suneung day. Students are incredibly nervous that day, and back then a single score could decide which university you went to. Today the whole country seems to hold its breath with them. Offices open late, extra subway trains run at dawn, and for about 25 minutes in the afternoon, planes aren’t allowed to take off or land. This year’s Suneung is on Thursday, November 19.

What is the Suneung?

The Suneung (수능), short for 대학수학능력시험 (College Scholastic Ability Test), is Korea’s national college entrance exam, often called the Korean SAT or CSAT. It’s held once a year in November. Last year, about 554,000 students took it, from 8:40 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. for general test takers.

The test covers Korean, math, English, Korean history, inquiry subjects (social studies, science, or vocational), and an optional second foreign language. Korean history is mandatory. English and Korean history are graded by achievement level only, while other areas also get standard scores and percentile ranks. Scores arrive about three weeks later.

What changes across Korea on Suneung day

The government coordinates a nationwide effort every year. These are last year’s official measures, and the Ministry of Education usually announces this year’s plan in late October.

• Work starts later. Government offices and companies are asked to start at 10 a.m. or later, so the morning commute doesn’t clash with students heading to exam sites.
• More subway trains. Service in the Seoul area increases between 6:00 and 8:10 a.m., and emergency vehicles are stationed along students’ routes.
• Planes pause. During the English listening test, from 1:10 to 1:35 p.m., takeoffs and landings are adjusted, and military drills such as artillery fire and tank movements stop.
• Quiet streets. Cars can’t enter within 200 meters of exam sites, and buses and trains slow down and avoid honking nearby. Construction and event noise are kept to a minimum.
• Police rides. In past years, students running late could call 112 and get a ride to their exam site in a patrol car or on a police motorcycle.
• Disaster plans. Backup exam questions are prepared in case of disasters, and earthquake monitoring runs on exam day.

Traditions and superstitions

Around the Suneung, a few customs show up every year:

• Cheering at the school gates. Younger students often gather outside exam sites to cheer for the test takers.
• Sticky treats. Friends and family give yeot (taffy) and chapssal-tteok (sticky rice cake), a wish that the student will “stick” to the university they want.
• No seaweed soup. Seaweed soup is the same dish new moms eat after giving birth, as I wrote in my Korean postpartum care post. It’s also a birthday staple. But on exam day, many Koreans avoid it, because the seaweed is slippery, and “slipping” (mi-kkeu-reo-ji-da) also means failing.
• Lunch boxes. Students bring packed lunches (dosirak), and families plan the menu carefully.
• Prayer. Many parents pray at temples and churches in the weeks before.

Why does the Suneung matter so much?

In the past, one Suneung score could decide where you went to university, so it carried much more weight than it does now. Admissions have since become more varied, and most students now apply through early admission (susi), which looks mainly at school records. For the 2027 admissions cycle, about 80% of the quota is early admission, and about 20% is regular admission, which is mostly based on the Suneung score.

But the Suneung is still a big deal. At 16 major universities, the regular-admission share is around 43%, and many early-admission tracks also require minimum Suneung grades.

Add Korea’s strong education fever, and the exam becomes a national event, not just a student one. Many students prepare for years, often with after-school academies called hagwon, and if the result disappoints, they can retake it the next year.

This year also has a footnote. The Suneung held this November is the last one under the current format, before a major admissions overhaul in 2028.

If you’re in Korea on Suneung day

You don’t need to change much, but a few things are worth knowing:

• Expect a busier early morning and a quieter day than usual around schools.
• If you’re flying that afternoon, check with your airline, since the schedule can shift around the English listening test.
• Near an exam site, keep your voice down and avoid honking.

Korea can seem intense about exams. But in a country this dense, a shared quiet moment says a lot about what people value.