Shim Hyun-chul has been a photojournalist for The Korea Times since 2006, covering news events throughout the country. He is committed to strict journalism ethics, and it has never changed since his first day in the newsroom. He has covered four presidential elections, two Olympic Games and countless daily assignments around the world. When he is not at work, he plays tennis. Shim is also a certified lifeguard by YMCA International, which means he can actually save lives.
D-day: College Scholastic Ability Test
By Shim Hyun-chul
Some 712,000 applicants took the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) Thursday at 1,206 examination sites nationwide.
The state-run exam is critical for the future academic career of the college hopefuls. Hundreds of police cars offered emergency transportation services to students wanting to arrive at test centers on time.
Families and school friends of test takers gathered around the test venues, cheering and wishing all the best for the college applicants. Some students brought food and a big urn to serve hot tea to test-takers from their school. Some parents accompanied test takers and tried to encourage and relax their children.
As usual, the government imposed various measures to maintain order and increased the frequency of subway and bus operations. All airplane flights, military and civilian, were put on hold during the listening parts of the Korean and English tests so students didn’t have any noise distractions. Government offices and enterprises near test centers delayed their opening by one hour to 10 a.m.
The day-long test takes almost 10 hours including breaks, consists of five sections Korean language, mathematics, English, social and natural sciences, and a second foreign language.
By Shim Hyun-chul