The 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (Suneung), which is considered the most important academic event in Korea, took place on November 16th, when the weather was unusually warm and clear. Even though test day has always been associated with cold temperature and sometimes first snow in winter, this year was different. Temperatures in Incheon and Seoul ranged from 10 degrees to as high as 15 degrees which is well above the average warm temperatures during the winter season with no snow across the peninsula.
Meteorologists have drawn attention to the rare climatic phenomena but refrain from saying that it is simply a consequence of global warming, explaining that such variation can exist in normal cycles. However, they accepted that more mild Novembers had already been noted in some years. This year’s conditions, though helpful in relieving the stress of traveling and logistics, reinforced the fact that Korean winter is highly unpredictable.
As is customary in the cases of Suneung, the country took extraordinary measures to ensure a disturbance-free environment for all the students. To reduce the chances of noise interference by planes flying overhead, air space near the venues used for testing was closed for the duration of the listening comprehension portions of the examination. In addition, the exam centers were managed by police manning various cities, as well as in patrol cars transporting students who went to the exam centers late. Due to the nature of the event in which people traveled for testing, public transport systems had been altered by increasing moving services. Even some areas gave free public transportation for those attending the examination. In order to lessen traffic during the morning rush hour, businesses and places of work pushed back the opening hours, which is again indicative of the support students got on this day.
The examination centers were of a different intensity regarding Suneung. The atmosphere was tense as endless rains of students urging the years of practice into action took place over a single day. In the public space, there were parents and volunteers, who artificially assisted the test takers by standing in front of the doors and encouraging them with hot drinks and cakes. Construction sites and everything else that could create excessive sounds in the area were put on hold to allow for silence and concentration for each student.
This time, many parents would remember the sunny and warm weather, not simply to brood over the beauty and sugarcoat things, but rather as the time to perform with unity and bearing focus to face the challenges. The 2024 Sunning also marked a change in people’s behaviors allowing them to walk into the bright and promising future without any doubts.