Korean Students Sue Government After Exam Ended Early

South Korean students are suing the government after an exam.

Over half a million students took the annual College Scholastic Ability Test or CSAT, also abbreviated Suneung, on the third Thursday in November 2023. It is infamous as it’s an “eight-hour marathon with back-to-back papers in multiple subjects.” A group of South Korean students were upset when it ended 90 seconds earlier than scheduled.

The Suneung is one of the hardest exams in the world and stakes are very high.

— BBC

According to the students’ lawyer, Kim Woo Suk, the error had a negative effect on their exams. Henceforth, the students are asking for 20 million won ($15,400 USD) each, which is the cost of a year’s studying to retake the exam.

This test determines many essential aspects of one’s life, from university placements to jobs and even potential relationships. The exam’s results were released on December 8, 2023. At least 39 students filed a lawsuit on December 19, 2024. Their claim is that the “bell rang earlier at a test site in the capital Seoul during Korean – the first subject of the exam.”

According to the students, some protested about the bell going off earlier than scheduled at the time. Still, supervisors allegedly confiscated their papers. However, upon recognizing the mistake, teachers allegedly allotted these missing 90 seconds to the students during their lunch break. Still, they only allowed them to mark blank columns rather than edit already-answered questions. Since the students were so upset, they could not focus on the rest of the exam so much that some even reportedly wholly gave up, returning home.

Kim Woo Suk informed local media that the education authorities did not express remorse or apologize. KBS quoted officials, revealing that the supervisor in charge of that test center had misread the time.

Still, this is not the first time a group of Korean students sued over a bell ringing too early. In April 2023, a Seoul court awarded 7 million won ($5,250 USD) to the students, claiming they were disadvantaged when the 2021 Suneung exam’s bell rang about two minutes earlier than scheduled.