PHOTOS: Exam season

Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul bustles with students who have finished the university entrance essay examination on Nov, 15, 2025. Yonhap
SEOUL, November 17 (AJP) - For South Korean families, November is the month of the national university entrance exams. Far from being a mere academic hurdle, it is a period that consumes the nation, climaxing in the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), or Suneung, and the subsequent, high-stakes essay examinations.

While the students bear the immediate, exhausting burden of preparation, the weight of the moment extends deeply into the lives of their parents. They, too, are thrust into a relentless schedule of administrative tasks and emotional labor.
 Parents listen to an instructor at an academy's consulting session on university admissions at Sejong University in Seoul, Nov. 14, 2025. Yonhap Students take the essay examination at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Nov. 16. Yonhap Students take the essay examination at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Nov. 16. Yonhap Parents of CSAT-takers pray at Gatbawi on Palgongsan Mountain in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, Nov. 3. Yonhap Parents of CSAT-takers pray at Gatbawi on Palgongsan Mountain in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, Nov. 3. Yonhap Students at Jeonghwa Girls' High School in Daegu check scores for the College Scholastic Ability Test they took the previous day, on Nov. 14, 2025. Yonhap Students take the CSAT at a school in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Nov. 13, 2025. Yonhap
Cho Bo-hee 부장 jobo@ajupress.com