South Korea delays market open, halts air plane landings for crucial annual exam

Record ID: 2273038

  • Title: South Korea delays market open, halts air plane landings for crucial annual exam
  • Date: 13th November 2025
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (NOVEMBER 13, 2025) (REUTERS)  ENTRANCE GATE OF KYUNGBOCK HIGH SCHOOL  VARIOUS OF STUDENTS WALKING INTO THE ENTRANCE LETTER ON POSTER ATTACHED ON ENTRANCE READING (Korean): “COLLEGE SCHOLASTIC ABILITY TEST VENUE, OUTSIDERS ARE NEVER ALLOWED TO ENTER” VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HOLDING SIGNS / SIGN READING (Korean): ”CHEER FOR ANNUAL COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAM, GET A C
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: FLIGHTRADAR24.COM South Korea college exam flight landing market
  • Location: SEOUL, INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA / INTERNET
  • City: SEOUL, INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA / INTERNET
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Education,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA001162613112025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:South Korea slowed the country for its annual college entrance exam on Thursday (November 13), delaying the stock market’s opening and halting airplanes landing.
    Signs warned outsiders to keep out as the students were rushing to get inside a high school in Seoul to take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). Parents were standing watch at gates and worshippers lighting candles at temples.
    The crucial test also prompted a one-hour delay to the stock market's open, with trading starting at 10 a.m. local time (0100 GMT). Authorities also barred aircraft from landing nationwide during the 30-minute English listening section from 1:05 p.m. to 1:40 p.m. local time (0405 to 0440 GMT), sending arrivals into holding patterns, flight-tracking images showed.
    "This exam has been a goal for nearly 20 years and also a new beginning," said Yeseon Kim, whose daughter sat the test.
    Another mother, Kim Jiyoun, said the heavy police presence and traffic controls "might look too much to foreigners", but showed the nation was "doing everything it could" for students.
    A total of 554,174 candidates registered this year, up 31,504, or 6.0%, from 2024, the most in seven years since the 2019 academic year when 594,924 sat the test.
    (Production: Dogyun Kim, Yunji Ha, Heejung Jung)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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