South Korea’s war on ‘killer’ exams leaves students in distress: ‘like I was struck by lightning’

Officials are cracking down on after-school study centres and targeting ‘killer’ questions as part of reforms ordered by President Yoon Suk-yeol

But critics say more must be done to banish exam stress in the competitive nation, while the moves are unsettling students 5 months ahead of university entrance tests

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Students in South Korea face intense competition to enter good universities. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 2:00pm, 1 Jul 2023

As South Korea’s leader declares war on “killer” exam questions and after-school cram centres, activists say any education reforms will only be effective if the government manages to alleviate the intense competition teenagers face to get into choice universities.

Officials have in recent weeks cracked down on after-school study sites, or hagwon, and conducted tax raids at major centres where students can stay until almost midnight to review for the all-important university entrance exams.

The moves come after President Yoon Suk-yeol earlier this month lambasted the inclusion of “killer questions” in the notoriously difficult SATs, known as Suneung, telling Education Minister Lee Joo-ho it was “extremely unfair and unjust” that students were tested on challenging topics which were not even covered in the official curriculum.

“Seeing this, people could believe education authorities and the private tutoring industry are in cahoots,” Yoon said, accusing education authorities and the private education sector of effectively working like “cartels”.

Following this, the education ministry last week launched an online platform to report irregularities related to private tutoring, including exaggerated commercials made by cram schools, inflated tutoring fees and their allegedly covert association with educators who set SAT questions.