Latest news with #Suneung
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Health
- Newsweek
South Korea's New Government Faces Alarming Social Issue
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The deaths of three high school students in the port city of Busan last week sent ripples through South Korea and brought a mounting crisis back into the spotlight. Last year, a record 221 high, middle, and elementary school students took their own lives—seven more than the previous year and more than twice as many as in 2015, according to a new education ministry survey reported by Yonhap News Agency. Why It Matters South Korea has the highest suicide rate among developed nations. Last year, the rate climbed to a 13-year high of 14.4 cases per 100,000 people, according to data from the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention. While older South Koreans remain most at risk, suicide is now the leading cause of death for those aged 10 to 39. Stagnant wages, soaring rents, and cultural stigma around discussion of mental health have compounded the challenge. Newsweek reached out to the South Korean embassy in Washington, D.C., via emailed request for comment. What To Know The stress of keeping up with grades, anxiety about the future, and conflicts with family and peers are often cited by South Korean adolescents who have considered taking their own lives. Students arrive at the Yeouido Girls High School in Seoul on November 14, 2024, to take the annual College Scholastic Ability Test, known locally as Suneung. Students arrive at the Yeouido Girls High School in Seoul on November 14, 2024, to take the annual College Scholastic Ability Test, known locally as Suneung. Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images A 2020 survey found that nearly one in three middle and high school students had contemplated suicide in the past year due to the academic burden. This same motive was given in the notes left by two of the three high school girls who died after falling from a Busan apartment building Saturday in what police suspect was a group suicide. Middle school students appear to be particularly at risk, accounting for more than half—9,753—of the 17,667 students identified as at risk for suicide in a survey last year by the education ministry. High school students made up another 7,880, with 16 elementary students and 18 from special schools also included in the at-risk group. What People Have Said Lim Myung-ho, professor of psychology at Dankook University, told local newspaper the Joongang Ilbo: "Although the country has made economic progress compared to the past, society has become less livable for young people as competition has intensified and a results-only evaluation structure has become entrenched. "In particular, the development of social media has led to youth being exposed unfiltered to negative incidents, resulting in increased feelings of helplessness, depression, and trauma. The government and society need to take more interest in adolescents both inside and outside of school and strengthen the support infrastructure." What's Next Seoul hopes a raft of new government strategies and programs will help it achieve its goal of cutting the national suicide rate by 30 percent by 2027. The education ministry has also created a screening test in a bid to detect mental health issues early. The screening is currently targeted at students in the first and fourth grades of elementary school, and the first levels of middle and high school.
Korea Herald
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
South Korea explores AI grading to support shift to written-response assessments
South Korea is taking steps to bring artificial intelligence into one of the world's most competitive education systems, with plans to eventually apply AI grading technology to its high-stakes national university entrance exam, Suneung. The Ministry of Education revealed its vision during a recent closed-door policy briefing to the Presidential Committee on Policy Planning. According to local news outlet Newsis on Friday, officials outlined a long-term roadmap to introduce AI-based evaluation methods across the education system, including for the Suneung, which is taken by nearly half a million students each year. The ministry's plan begins with applying AI to grade written-response assessments in school settings. These include descriptive answers and essay-type questions, which South Korean educators have been gradually planning to expand in place of traditional multiple-choice formats. The Ministry stated it will review the impact of AI grading in classrooms before considering its application to Suneung. Although AI will not be used in the national exam anytime soon, the direction is clear. The ministry said it is aiming for a system that strengthens students' critical thinking and creativity without increasing teachers' workloads or fueling disputes over grading fairness. AI is expected to help by standardizing scores on subjective responses, which many educators say are hard to grade consistently. In South Korea's fiercely competitive education environment, where even small score differences can determine a student's future, public trust in grading fairness is critical. As part of its long-term goals, the ministry is also considering an AI-powered question-generation and validation system for Suneung. This would help ensure that questions are original and sufficiently distinct from one another, reducing errors and improving test quality. The policy builds on an earlier reform announced in 2023, when the ministry confirmed that from 2028, high school exams would increasingly move away from multiple-choice questions toward problem-solving and reasoning-based formats. South Korea is known to be the only OECD member country that relies exclusively on multiple-choice questions in its high-stakes national exams for high school graduation and university entrance. Meanwhile, the first pilot program using AI grading will launch this July in Gyeonggi Province. The regional education office there plans to test the system on first-year middle and high school students in Korean language, social studies, and science classes.
Korea Herald
11-06-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Star English teacher referred to prosecution over mock exam question scandal
Cho Jung-sik, a high-profile English-language instructor affiliated with the private academy Megastudy, has been referred to the prosecution on charges of purchasing mock test questions for Suneung from current teachers, local news outlets reported Wednesday. Investigative news outlet Sherlock reported that the Board of Audit and Inspection found Cho bought mock test questions intended for third-year high school students from 21 active teachers. He was referred to prosecutors on May 17 on suspicion of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and obstruction of business. According to the reports, one teacher allegedly received 58 million won ($42,000) for selling mock exam questions to Cho. Between 2018 and 2023, the same teacher reportedly earned 238 million won by selling questions to 11 academies, including Cho's. Another teacher is accused of providing insider information on question explanations for Suneung and related mock evaluations. In total, 21 current teachers are suspected of having traded exam questions with Cho. The Board said Cho admitted to the allegations during the investigation.
Korea Herald
08-06-2025
- General
- Korea Herald
Boys outscore girls in math, while girls lead in English on Suneung: data
Male students outscored their female peers in math on the national college entrance exam, or Suneung, in 2024, a trend that has continued for four consecutive years, data shows. In contrast, female students continued to lead in English, while performance in Korean remained nearly identical across genders. According to the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation on Sunday, which oversees the annual College Scholastic Ability Test, male students had a higher average score of 102.7 in math, compared to 97.1 points for female students. The average standard score in Korean was higher among female students, at 100.8 points, compared to 99.1 points for male students. These figures are not raw scores, but are weighted and adjusted to reflect performance relative to other test takers. The institute's analysis also showed that a higher percentage of male students ranked in the top two performance levels in math. Specifically, 5.9 percent of male students were in Level 1 and 9.4 percent in Level 2, compared to just 2.2 percent and 5.3 percent of female students, respectively. In Korea's college entrance exam, students are ranked in nine levels based on their relative performance, with Level 1 representing the top 4 percent of test takers and Level 2 roughly covering the top 11 percent. In English, a higher percentage of female students placed in the top two levels. Among female test takers, 6.3 percent scored in Level 1 and 16.6 percent in Level 2, slightly higher than the 6.1 percent and 16.1 percent recorded for male students. In Korean, the proportion of top-performing students was nearly the same between male and female students. In Level 1, 4.3 percent of male students and 4.4 percent of female students were represented — a difference of just 0.1 percentage point. The gap was equally narrow in Level 2, with 7.1 percent for male students and 7 percent for female students. A total of 463,486 students took the College Scholastic Ability Test in 2024, up 4.18 percent from 2023. Of them, 238,346 were male and 225,140 were female.
Korea Herald
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
How this 20-year-old landed on J-Hope's project
Raised on Lego and Reddit, Kim Onew adds new dimension to K-pop If you're a BTS fan, you might recall the floating house in J-Hope's recent music video, 'Sweet Dreams (Feat. Miguel).' That surreal vision wasn't crafted by a veteran artist with decades of experience, but by Kim Onew, a 20-year-old 3D visual effects artist already making waves in the K-pop industry. Kim has already built an impressive resume at a young age. In addition to J-Hope, he's created visuals for aespa, NewJeans and Stray Kids. His path is all the more remarkable in South Korea, where most students are expected to follow the route of preparing for the Suneung, the nation's notorious college entrance exam. 'I wasn't good at studying,' was Kim's response to how he found his way into a creative field so early. What he lacked in academic strength, he made up for with creativity. And the support of his parents who nurtured his artistic interests from a young age also helped. As a child, he would spend hours playing with Lego blocks, throwing the building instructions aside to design his own creations. 'While I built, my dad would film what I make,' Kim recalled. That's how he first became familiar with the language of video, a medium that would later become central to his career. While his peers were cramming for the Suneung, he worked on his first 3D short film, 'Jerry Beer.' It told the story of a hermit crab yearning to reach the ocean, only to find that goal obscured by environmental degradation. The film won a prize at the Korea Youth Media Festival and earned him admission to the Korea National University of Arts, from which he is currently on leave. More importantly, 'Jerry Beer' caught the attention of professionals in the industry. A career that began in DMs Kim's first professional gig began with a message from a stranger. 'One day, someone DMed me on Instagram,' he said. The direct message came from a staffer at his current company Aedia Studio. The staffer complimented 'Jerry Beer' and asked Kim if he'd be interested in joining a new project. Skeptical but curious, Kim responded. The next day, he found himself added to a group chat titled 'NewJeans x Musinsa Mujinjang Advertisement Collaboration Video.' That was the beginning. For that project, Kim created 3D fish that interact with NewJeans' Haein. It marked his official debut. Working on client projects, he said, is very different from student films. There are deadlines, expectations and detailed creative briefs. 'But I try to include something new in every project,' he said. For Stray Kids' 'Jjam' music video, Kim wanted to go about it differently by creating a rat using techniques he had seen in a making-of video for 'Avatar.' It showed how they built creatures from the bones up, layer by layer. A wall near his desk still displays his hand-drawn rat anatomy sketches. 'If you start from the skeleton and add muscles and skin, it just feels more alive,' he said. The process is demanding, but to him, it's essential. Taught by the internet and a mosquito Kim is entirely self-taught. 'I didn't have any formal education in 3D,' he said. Instead, he developed his skills through YouTube tutorials and advice shared on Reddit forums. 'On Reddit, professionals with years of experience explain how they work,' he said. 'Whenever I hit a wall, that's where I turn for solutions.' Armed with these self-taught skills, Kim continues to pursue personal creative projects alongside his client work. ROSÉ & Bruno Mars - APT [아파트 애니메이션 커버] His viral Lego parody of Rose's 'Apt.' music video, featuring a blocky version of the singer, has amassed more than 9.8 million views on YouTube. The idea came to him in the shower. 'As soon as I thought of it, I called two friends. One works in 2D, the other does calligraphy,' he said. 'They were immediately in, and we got started right away.' Inspiration sometimes comes from even stranger places. His most recent animated short, 'Champ," was sparked by an unexpected visitor: a mosquito. 'It flew into my officetel (a multipurpose building combining commercial and residential units), which has really high ceilings, and I couldn't catch it,' he said. 'I was stuck with it for three days.' That small frustration turned into the concept for a boxing-themed animated film, where a character steps into the ring to fight a mosquito. The video has amassed more than 81,000 views on YouTube. ssh@
