EPISODE · Nov 15, 2024 · 15 MIN
Is Korea’s Suneung the world’s most stressful exam?
from What in the World · host BBC World Service
Can you imagine sitting all of the most important exams of your life on one day? That’s the reality for Korean students, whose university-entrance exam, the Suneung, sees students sit an eight-hour marathon of exams, all on one day. Juna Moon, our reporter in Seoul, tells us why a record number of students are resitting the brutal exam this year. Plus Koh Ewe, a BBC journalist in Singapore, tells us which K-pop earworm students are trying to avoid to stop it from distracting them.Julie Yoonnyung Lee, a BBC reporter from Seoul now in London, joins us in the studio, to give us her own experience of the exam, and the years of late nights and ‘cram schools’ preparing for it. We also discuss the mental health challenges that can come with such high academic pressure.Plus we hear from our China media analyst Kerry Allen, who explains the Gaokao, China’s university entrance exam, which might be even harder.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: [email protected] Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler and Hayley Clarke Editor: Verity Wilde
What this episode covers
Can you imagine sitting all of the most important exams of your life on one day? That’s the reality for Korean students, whose university-entrance exam, the Suneung, sees students sit an eight-hour marathon of exams, all on one day. Juna Moon, our reporter in Seoul, tells us why a record number of students are resitting the brutal exam this year. Plus Koh Ewe, a BBC journalist in Singapore, tells us which K-pop earworm students are trying to avoid to stop it from distracting them.Julie Yoonnyung Lee, a BBC reporter from Seoul now in London, joins us in the studio, to give us her own experience of the exam, and the years of late nights and ‘cram schools’ preparing for it. We also discuss the mental health challenges that can come with such high academic pressure.Plus we hear from our China media analyst Kerry Allen, who explains the Gaokao, China’s university entrance exam, which might be even harder.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: [email protected] Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler and Hayley Clarke Editor: Verity Wilde
NOW PLAYING
Is Korea’s Suneung the world’s most stressful exam?
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
Mar 26, 2026 ·1m
Mar 19, 2026 ·34m
Feb 18, 2026 ·11m
Feb 11, 2026 ·45m