Seoul
Reuters
—
More than half 1,000,000 folks in South Korea sat for the nation’s grueling university entrance examination on Thursday as police mobilized to make sure they made it to the test websites on time and all flights have been halted for half an hour.
The quantity sitting the test, important to safe a spot on the nation’s prime universities, was the very best in seven years. Most of the candidates have been born in 2007 when there was a surge in births as a result of it was thought of an auspicious time to have a child.
Flights in any respect airports, together with Incheon International Airport, have been banned from touchdown or takeoff between 1:05 p.m. and 1:40 p.m. to make sure there was no disturbance whereas the scholars sat for the listening comprehension part of the English test.
The determination affected 140 flights, together with 65 worldwide arrivals and departures. Flight trackers confirmed plane circling close to airports as the Transport Ministry restricted plane from altitudes beneath 3,000 meters (9843 ft).
Financial markets and places of work opened an hour later than typical to make sure test candidates arrived on time for the nine-hour examination that’s seen as crucial for achievement within the hyper-competitive society.
“This exam has been a goal for nearly 20 years and also a new beginning,” stated Yeseon Kim, who was ready exterior a test web site the place her daughter was sitting the examination.
A complete of 554,174 folks registered this yr, up 6% from final yr and the very best since 2019. Some 496,000 infants have been born in 2007 in a leap that paused a gentle decline for the reason that mid-Nineties.
South Korea is among the world’s fastest-aging societies, though its birthrate rose to 0.75 in 2024.