Korean Education Culture

An article written for the school newspaper.

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The Suneung, a 9-hour test Korean high schoolers take that determines their future, took place on Nov. 17, and students now await the announcement of their results on Dec. 10. Though the education system in international schools differs from Korean high schools greatly in the lack of a final standardized test and the set-up of the school curriculum itself, both types of students face similar emphasis on academics from a young age—a culture that sprouted following the Korean War and highlights the importance of education as a pathway to success.

But the learning does not stop at school, and instead extends into non-school hours. Most Korean students attend hagwons, or cram schools, in order to gain a head start on content and receive better grades at school compared to their peers. The culture surrounding hagwons underscores academic success to the point that the government had to mandate a hagwon curfew of 10 p.m. to prevent students from being stuck at hagwons up till the early morning (some students even totaled up to 16 hours a day in hagwons). Some hagwons, however, still continue to skirt the law altogether and hold classes in secret.

While the pressure by itself is enormous, Korean school education policies often fluctuate under different government administrations. Governments understand that the education system is often a key concern for voters, especially those raising children, and wield policy changes to the system as a way to garner more support. Consequently, the path for children’s education becomes increasingly unclear as the curriculum continuously shifts its focus, which only contributes to the stress around their future. As a result, Suneung is often more stressful than other standardized tests like APs as their college acceptance results hinge only on their scores, while US colleges tend to view students more holistically.

As a result of the stress and overwork culture that begins at a young age, Korean teenagers have one of the highest rates of depression and suicide in OECD countries, with suicide being the leading cause of death for adolescents at 7.2 deaths per 100,000 people—fourth in the world. Furthermore, according to a survey by the National Youth Policy Institute in 2020, almost a third of Korean students revealed they had considered taking their life within the past year. 40 percent of those who had thought about committing suicide cited academic pressure as a main cause, which may even be underreported as mental health issues carry heavy social stigma in Korea and little treatment is available for those who suffer.

Furthermore, the pressure is not always internal. With the future of their children essentially resting on their academic performance, tiger parents are both a product and a perpetrator of the toxic education system in Korea. Tiger moms, who are well aware of the importance of education as former students themselves, drive the importance of academic success and extracurriculars, such as classical instruments, into their children. Furthermore, to supplant their children’s academic performance, many parents work harder to support the extra fees of tutoring and hagwons, with some parents even taking out risky loans to support the financial gamble as they invest in their children’s future. On the darker side, some parents resort to more sinister alternatives of “achieving” success by buying off scores and bribing school officials discreetly. As a result, to stop education from devolving into favorites, Korea passed several anti-graft laws restricting students and parents from giving teachers gifts in any form.

Despite all the negativity surrounding the issue, however, change is arising—although slowly. “Sky Castle,” a K-drama about ambitious families and students working to get into top universities, provided insight and reflection into the toxic, cut-throat culture of college admissions in which tiger parents and students do as much as they can to secure admission to the elite SKY (Seoul National, Korea, and Yonsei) universities. Furthermore, mental health awareness is slowly rising among all countries and dissolving the stigma surrounding the issue. Hopefully, for the good of both students and parents, the culture will slowly expand to embrace not just school achievement, but also the students’ health and other alternative modes of success.

And though to some it may seem so, the emphasis on education is not purely a toxic byproduct of Korean culture. The shared hopes and dreams of students everywhere to achieve academic success have led to churches holding services for students for the Suneung in hopes of increasing scores, bolstering community goodwill. Furthermore, uniquely for Korea, approximately 3000 police cars and 200 fire trucks are on standby to ensure that students get to their testing centers before they close in the morning. It is always important to consider not just the widely-known negatives of the culture, but the distinctive shared community goals this culture has produced for which everyone in the country respects.