Imagine a single test that can shape your entire future—dictating your university, career, and even social life. That's the reality for South Korean students facing the Suneung, and this year's English section has sparked an uproar so intense that the exam's top official stepped down. But here's where it gets controversial: was the test unfairly brutal, or is the outrage just part of a bigger debate on education? Let's dive in.
The English portion of South Korea's notorious college entrance exam, known as the Suneung, has long been infamous for its extreme difficulty. Some students liken it to unraveling a mysterious ancient code, while others label it outright "insane." The backlash against this year's version was so fierce that Oh Seung-geol, the chief responsible for overseeing the exam, tendered his resignation to shoulder the blame for the "turmoil" it unleashed.
In his statement, Oh acknowledged the widespread disapproval, stating, "We deeply accept the feedback that the level of challenge in the questions... was not suitable," and admitted the exam "didn't meet expectations" after multiple revisions.
Among the most intimidating items were a query delving into Immanuel Kant's theories on law—think of Kant as a famous philosopher who explored ethics and justice, like debating whether rules should be universal—and another involving specialized gaming terminology. This second question, worth three points, required test-takers to identify the ideal spot for a sentence within a provided paragraph. For clarity, beginners, this is like a puzzle where you fill in a gap to make the text flow logically. Here's the key sentence highlighted in bold, followed by the full paragraph:
The difference is that the action in the game world can only be explored through the virtual bodily space of the avatar.
A video game creates its own internal reality, distinct from the player's outside world, including the player's physical space and the avatar's virtual space.
(1) The avatar's bodily space, the potential actions of the avatar in the game world, is the only way in which the reality of the external reality of the game world can be perceived. (2) As in the real world, perception requires action. (3) Players extend their perceptual field into the game, encompassing the available actions of the avatar. (4) The feedback loop of perception and action that enables you to navigate the world around you is now one step removed: instead of perceiving primarily through interaction of your own body with the external world, you're perceiving the game world through interaction of the avatar. (5) The entire perceptual system has been extended into the game world.
The right choice is 3. To help you grasp this, it's explaining how in video games, you "see" and interact with the virtual world through your avatar, not your real body—like how you might control a character in a game to explore a dungeon, feeling the actions indirectly.
Critics have lambasted the phrasing of this question and others for being overly convoluted. On Reddit, one commenter dismissed it as "pretentious jargon," while another complained it was "poorly crafted writing that fails to communicate ideas effectively."
Students have a strict 70 minutes to tackle 45 questions, and only about 3% of this year's participants achieved the top score in English, down from 6% the previous year.
"It took me ages to decipher [some questions], and even grasping the passages was tough... [Certain] options were so alike that I wavered right up to the end," shared Im Na-hye, a senior at Hanyeong High School.
Yet, English professor Jung Chae-kwan argues that labeling the English exam as simply hard is misleading. "The texts aren't inherently incomprehensible, but... frustratingly perplexing. It's exasperating because it renders the content pointless for genuine learning," explained Prof. Jung, who once worked at the body administering the Suneung and now teaches at Incheon National University.
"Educators resort to teaching exam shortcuts instead of proper English skills. You don't need to read the entire piece to score if you're savvy with the techniques."
Some observers noted that multiple excerpts in the questions were pulled from books without their surrounding context, complicating understanding. For instance, the paragraph above is excerpted from Game Feel, a handbook on game design by Steve Swink, which discusses how games make you feel immersed.
On the flip side, others defend the exam's rigor as deliberate. "It evaluates students' ability to comprehend complex reading and handle the depth of material they'll face at university," remarked Kim Soo-yeon, a professor of English literature at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul.
The selected passages feature "a certain level of specialization," enabling the test to probe those skills, he told The Korea Times.
And this is the part most people miss: the Suneung isn't just any test—it's an eight-hour endurance challenge held every November, with students answering roughly 200 questions across subjects like Korean, math, English, social studies, and sciences. This marathon doesn't just determine university admissions; it influences job opportunities, earnings, and even personal relationships. Picture teenagers devoting their entire youth to preparation, often starting at private academies called hagwons as early as age four. And here's where controversy ignites: Is this system fostering true education, or merely breeding stress and inequality?
The entire nation grinds to a halt for the day—construction sites shut down, flights are canceled, and even military drills pause to ensure a quiet atmosphere.
Historically, only four out of the 12 Suneung chiefs since its 1993 inception have completed their full three-year stints. Most departed due to question errors, but Oh is the first to resign over perceived excessive difficulty.
Do you think the English test was too tough, or does it wisely prepare students for real-world challenges? Is stripping passages from context a fair way to assess comprehension, or does it unfairly confuse learners? Share your thoughts in the comments—do you agree with the chief's resignation, or side with those who see the controversy as overblown? Let's discuss!
Additional reporting by Hyojung Kim and Jake Kwon in Seoul
