Both of my kids are done with the suneung. On a personal level, that's a relief, I won't pretend otherwise. But I still remember how tense I was on their exam days, and it comes back every November. So, to this year's test takers: I hope all that work doesn't let you down. Good luck, every one of you.
If you've never heard of it, the suneung is Korea's College Scholastic Ability Test. This year it lands on Thursday, November 19. 551,864 people signed up, about 2,300 fewer than last year. They have to be in their seats by 8:10 a.m., the Korean paper starts at 8:40, and anyone taking the optional last section walks out at 5:45 p.m. Scores come out December 11.
You hear a lot of stories about this day. Some are true, some are half true, and one is basically a pun. Let's go through them.
MythPlanes stop flying for the English test
FactThis one's true, and it gets everybody. Last year, on November 13, 2025, the transport ministry stopped every takeoff and landing in the country from 1:05 to 1:40 p.m. That's the English listening section plus five minutes on each side. Planes already in the air had to wait it out above 3 km (about 10,000 feet). 140 flights got moved, 65 international and 75 domestic. Drones were grounded too, and the military paused its artillery drills.
So don't be surprised. This year's notice tends to come out only a few days before the exam, which means if you're flying in or out on November 19, check your departure time again that week. Your airline should tell you anyway. Checking twice costs nothing.
MythThe whole country gets the day off
FactNope. On the calendar it's a normal Thursday. What changes is the morning. The government asks public offices and companies to start at 10 a.m. or later so the roads stay clear for students. Last year even the stock market opened at 10 instead of 9 (and closed an hour later to make up for it). Seoul-area subways add trains between 6 and 8:10 a.m. Cars can't get within 200 meters (about 650 feet) of a test site, so parents drop their kids off down the street and they walk the rest. Buses crawl past schools. Nobody honks. Well, nobody's supposed to.
There were 1,310 test sites last year, mostly ordinary high schools. "Near a school" covers a lot of any Korean city.
Half truePolice will drive you there if you're late
FactThey really do it, but only when something actually goes wrong. On exam day last year police logged 234 cases of help: 134 rides in patrol cars, 36 escorts, and 16 admission tickets delivered to students who'd left them at home. More than 10,000 officers and 2,238 patrol cars were out around test sites. One student stuck behind a highway crash early that morning got a police ride of about 50 km (31 miles) to a school in Seoul.
Stories like that make the news every year, which is why people think it's a service. It isn't. It's for emergencies. The 8:10 deadline is strict, and "my alarm didn't go off" is not an emergency. Not to the police, anyway.
Half trueExam day is always freezing
FactKoreans even have a name for it, suneung chuwi, the suneung cold, and everyone "knows" the temperature drops that day. But the Korea Meteorological Administration actually counted. Of the 31 exams from 1993 to 2023, Seoul went below zero on only eight. Mid-November mornings are chilly, sure, and standing outside a school gate at 7 a.m. feels cold whatever the thermometer says. It's more memory than weather.
MythSeaweed soup makes you fail
FactIt's a superstition, but plenty of families still follow it. Miyeok (seaweed) is slippery, and in Korean, slipping is what you do when you fail. "I ate seaweed soup" (miyeokguk meogeotda) is actual slang for flunking a test. So no seaweed soup the night before. Funny thing is, it's the same soup we eat on birthdays.
Gifts go the other way. People hand out yeot, a sticky taffy, and chapssal-tteok, a sticky rice cake, because the Korean verb butda means both "to stick" and "to pass." Yes, the whole tradition is a pun. You'll also see younger students at school gates on exam morning, cheering with banners and drums. That was banned during the COVID years, and these days how big it gets depends on the school.
Half trueOne test decides your whole future
FactLess true than it used to be, actually. For 2027 university admissions, 80.3 percent of places (277,583 out of 345,717) are filled through susi, early admission that looks at school records, essays and portfolios. Only 19.7 percent (68,134) go through jeongsi, the round that leans mostly on suneung scores.
So there are lots of ways in now. And that brings its own problem. When there are this many different routes into university, fairness becomes the argument instead, and that's a fight I don't see ending soon.
Still, whatever you think of the system, a country that holds its planes for a listening test is taking those kids seriously.
Official info
Dates, times and exam-day rules change, so check before you go (details as of 2026-10-19).
- KICE suneung site (exam notices, in Korean)
- Ministry of Education: 2027 suneung basic plan (Korean)
- Transport ministry: 2025 exam-day flight halt notice (Korean)
More from this blog
- Korean Military Service: Why Every Conversation Ends Up There
- How to Ride the Bus and Subway in Seoul: Cards, Transfers, Bus Lanes
Does anything in your country stop for an exam like this?
Top photo: an ivy-covered university building in Seoul on a sunny day. Photo: Janet Ganbold / Unsplash
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