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Education officials, teachers, parents and students may be heaving a sigh of relief that the weekly weather forecast for Thursday, Nov. 12, shows the day will not be that cold, with the lowest temperature in the early morning expected to be 6 degrees Celsius (42.8 degrees F).
Why are so many people concerned about the weather for Nov. 12?
One of the most crucial annual events in the Republic of Korea will be held on that day, six days from now. It will determine the fate of 631,187 high school seniors, graduates and those who have taught themselves.
The young people, most of them under 19, will remain all day at one of the 1,212 locations across the nation to take the annual state-run exam for college entrance, the "College Scholastic Ability Test," or "Suneung," in Korean.
The exam, made official in 1994, plays a decisive role in determining which university the test takers may enter, and will affect their careers and even their marriage prospects.
Korean society usually makes a great fuss on this day and this year will be no exception, with normal life coming to a halt that morning.
Newspapers and TV broadcasts, as they have done during past decades, kindly advise the nervous young people to relax, go to sleep early on the eve of the exam, be sure to have breakfast but eat lightly, and wear two or three thin layers of clothing instead of just one heavy coat.
Arrival times at most workplaces will be delayed for an hour, from 9 to 10, to ease the morning traffic jam and thus help the examinees arrive at the test sites no later than 8:10.
All the taxi drivers who will have worked two days in a row, and thus should have the next day off, will be allowed to work on the day of the exam. Also, the operation of buses and subways will be increased by 20 o 30 percent.
Who is responsible for a student being late for such an important event? Waking up earlier in the morning to arrive on time is the responsibility of the examinees and their families.
Even flights are grounded to prevent any possible noise during the Korean and English dictation sections of the exam, and all means of transportation must slow down near exam sites. Examinees' school juniors and family members gather outside test sites to cheer them on, emergency personnel and police patrol cars stand ready to help and citizens are encouraged to stay off the roads.
Temples and churches are crowded with parents praying for their children to do well in the exam.
Some foreign newcomers may ask, "What's going on here?"It may sound like the start of a war to them. Indeed, the young people are off to do battle with the college entrance exam that will largely determine the course of their lives.
The exam day, though, is a happy day for middle and high school students, for schools are out because their classrooms will be used for the exam, or their teachers will be put to work as proctors.
The day is also the "day of release" for scores of professors and teachers, who will be allowed to go home after a month-long confinement at a secret location where they are now busy making the exam questions.
One of the foremost goals of Korean parents, especially mothers, is for their children to enter one of the nation's exclusive universities, most of which are in Seoul.
Failure on the competitive test is almost tantamount to a family disaster, and if that happens, mothers lose face before their friends and relatives whose children are successful.
When high school students enter their senior year, the lives of their families change to help them concentrate on preparing for the important exam. Typically, there is no music, no parties and no guests throughout the year.
All this fuss, which is rare in other parts of the world, is a direct result of the government's unlimited intervention based on its almighty regulatory measures of the college entrance process, even though most universities are private.
One of the top policy goals of the government of President Park Geun-hye has been deregulation, particularly a reduction of administrative restrictions as well as less intervention in the daily lives and business activities of citizens.
Bureaucrats seem to believe, however, that they will have nothing to do if they are forced to take their hands off the college entrance process, vesting the universities with the full right to choose their students according to their own criteria and traditions.
To recall, the government has changed the college entrance exam formula many times over the years. Anyone who remembers how many times the system has been altered over the past half-century deserves to be called a "genius."
In the 1960s and '70s, we advanced to university through independent exams given by each school we applied to immediately after we graduated from high school. In those days, each university chose its students according to the results of its own exams and its interviews. In those days, we had much more freedom to choose our university.
Today, the seniors should attend classes until their commencement ceremony in February, not stop after they take the "Suneung" next Thursday.
The government's only role in the process should be preventing corrupt and illegal practices in the recruitment of freshmen at any and all universities.
How much longer will this outdated and dictatorial system continue?
Leave it in the hands of the universities so that the people, and educational officials in particular, will not be concerned anymore about what the weather will be like on exam day.
Park Moo-jong is an adviser to The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the daily from 2004 to 2014 after he had worked as a reporter since 1974. He can be reached at moojng@ktimes.co.kr.
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