The Korea Times

Is CSAT obsolete? Calls grow for overhaul after test difficulty uproar

Korea’s all-important annual college entrance test, widely known as the CSAT, is facing an unprecedented crisis as furor over this year’s difficulty and alleged question flaws fuels calls not just for drastic reform but even for its abolition. Long treated as the arbiter of academic success, the exam is now under intense scrutiny over whether it still has a place in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). In an open letter sent to President Lee Jae Myung last week, 15 senior educators, including Park Do-soon, one of the CSAT architects, called for the abolition of the test. They criticized what they called a “lineup” test that, in their view, focuses on ranking students instead of educating them. “While the government talks of making Korea a top-three AI power, schools remain locked in 20th century rote learning and multiple-choice drills,” they said in a joint statement. “We must abolish the current system of ranking students through the CSAT and multiple-choice evaluations. It’s time to make a significant shift in education ― one that helps our children develop cri

Dec 14, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Is CSAT obsolete? Calls grow for overhaul after test difficulty uproar

Foreign Affairs

New ESTA social media rule sparks unease among Korean travelers

A woman planning to visit her aunt in the United States with her husband and son next year says she is watching the latest U.S. travel screening proposal about tougher social media scrutiny with growing unease. The 41-year-old said on condition of anonymity that the U.S. government's new plan will not affect her travel plans. But if it weren't for her aunt, she said, she would already be looking elsewhere for her next holiday. “I do not think anything would happen to my family during the immigration process, but if it does, it’s a big deal,” she told The Korea Times Thursday. “That thought really scares me.” Under a proposal filed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), visitors from Korea and more than 40 other nations could be required to disclose their social media activity from the past five years as a condition of entry to the U.S. This change would affect foreign visitors using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which allows short stays of up to 90 days for tourism or business under a visa waiver program. The proposed rule would make social media

Dec 12, 2025By Jung Min-ho

New ESTA social media rule sparks unease among Korean travelers

US plans to require 5 years of social media history from foreign tourists

Global Community

Push to make Seoul a city worth moving to ― and staying in

Seoul is widely recognized as a popular destination for international students, yet experts contend the capital city is falling short on a core economic metric: the retention of high-skilled workers. This emerging gap threatens future productivity and global competitiveness. Speaking at the “Global Talent Strategy Forum: Seoul, Your Next Chapter” on Wednesday, scholars and industry executives cautioned that, without bold migration policies and corporate reforms, Seoul could remain little more than a training ground for competing global hubs. They called on officials to pursue policies that both draw foreign talent and keep it in the city. The event, organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, was held to evaluate the city’s position in the global competition for talent and discuss ways to improve it. It came months after U.K. higher‑education agency QS named Seoul the world’s best city for overseas study, a ranking built on its safe environment and affordability, among many other factors. Speakers at the forum said that while those strengths have made Seoul a magnet for st

Dec 10, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Push to make Seoul a city worth moving to ― and staying in

Society

Facing enrollment crisis, Seoul boosts funding, support for small schools

Education officials in Seoul are stepping up support for the city's smallest schools, as falling student numbers reshape classrooms across the capital and beyond. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced Tuesday that 11 elementary schools and one middle school were newly designated as “Seoul-type small schools,” expanding a program launched in 2017 to help such institutions operate more sustainably. Previously, eight schools had received financial support and other benefits under the initiative. “We will continue to provide support through the Seoul-style small school policy so that small schools, in cooperation with their local communities, can grow into ones that satisfy students, parents and teachers alike,” Education Superintendent Jung Keun-sik said. The announcement comes amid a drop in enrollment at many schools. These so-called small schools — elementary schools with 240 or fewer students and middle schools with 300 or fewer — are becoming increasingly common. Seoul now has 185 such schools, up from 101 in 2021, an increase of 84 in just four years. Korea

Dec 9, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Facing enrollment crisis, Seoul boosts funding, support for small schools

Foreign Affairs

Seoul mayor visits Malaysia, citing K-culture as catalyst for tourism revival

In a calibrated bid to fuse city policy with global pop culture, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is wagering that the worldwide pull of K-pop and K-dramas can help tourism at home. To achieve that goal, Oh recently toured Malaysia, leaning on Korea’s cultural soft power to recast the capital as a must-see destination for young travelers already enthralled by its music and style. As part of his Asia trip, the mayor attended “Seoul My Soul in Kuala Lumpur” on Sunday at the Fahrenheit88 shopping mall in the city center, where the Seoul tourism agency and city government held a large-scale promotion event under the theme “Seouliday.” The term is a portmanteau meaning a Seoul-style holiday, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday. Oh stepped onto the stage to deliver a tourism pitch in English, introducing Naksan Park and N Seoul Tower, which appear in the Netflix series “K-pop Demon Hunters.” He also highlighted winter attractions such as the Gwanghwamun Square Christmas Market and the Cheonggyecheon Lantern Festival in promotional videos. Addressing local fans, he sai

Dec 9, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Seoul mayor visits Malaysia, citing K-culture as catalyst for tourism revival

Foreign Affairs

Seoul mayor backs K-beauty push in Vietnam

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is stepping up support for Korea’s beauty industry, using his recent visit to Hanoi to promote “K-beauty” in one of its fastest-growing overseas markets. The mayor on Thursday toured “Beyond the Beauty, B.the.B@DDP,” a K-beauty promotion zone set up at the Vincom Mega Mall Royal City in the Vietnamese capital, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday. The pop-up event ― part of his six-day Asia business trip that began on Dec. 4 ― is designed as an interactive showroom that lets visitors test products and services by category. A total of 13 promising Seoul-based beauty companies took part, showcasing their products. The event drew a large crowd of young people, including a TikTok influencer with 1 million followers and some 200 people in their 20s and 30s, underscoring the rising appeal of Korean beauty products among Vietnam’s younger consumers, according to city officials. Rising online retail and social media-driven consumption have helped Vietnam become one of Korea’s top five export markets for beauty products in recent years,

Dec 8, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Seoul mayor backs K-beauty push in Vietnam

Korean Heritage

Seoul plans major overhaul of 84-year-old Tongin Market

Tongin Market, an 84‑year‑old traditional market in central Seoul that dates back to the 1910-45 Japanese occupation of Korea, is set to undergo a major design overhaul as the city government moves to blend heritage with modern infrastructure. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday, the renovation is part of its “traditional market design innovation” initiative, which also includes Sinjungang Market (Seoul Central Market) near Sindang Station in central Seoul. Officials say the project is intended to modernize aging infrastructure and strengthen Tongin Market’s role as a cultural and tourism anchor for the neighborhood. “Through the program, we will strive both to preserve the unique history and identity of the market and to ensure that it can take root as a sustainable urban asset,” said Lee Hae-sun, a senior official at the city government. To carry out the overhaul, the city government plans to invest 9.75 billion won ($6.63 million) in a comprehensive redesign slated for completion by the end of next year. The project will be led by Jiyo Architects, w

Dec 8, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Seoul plans major overhaul of 84-year-old Tongin Market

Society

EXPLAINER New regulation aims to clarify ambiguity in ‘yellow envelope law’

Ahead of the implementation of the “yellow envelope law” on March 10, 2026, the government on Monday announced a regulatory overhaul that will reshape how labor unions representing subcontracted employees can negotiate with parent companies, as officials move to resolve ambiguities about who counts as an employer and how bargaining will proceed. Starting Tuesday, the Ministry of Employment and Labor will begin collecting public opinion on amendments to the enforcement ordinances of the labor law. The revision breaks new ground by extending the definition of “employer” to include not only direct contract holders, but also entities with “substantive and specific control” over the working conditions of subcontracted workers. This means parent companies can be pressed to negotiate with labor unions representing workers employed by their subcontractors ― a significant change that will have an especially strong effect on major companies that operate through widespread use of subcontracted labor and layered supply chains, common in the shipbuilding and construction industries. Un

Nov 24, 2025By Jung Min-ho

[EXPLAINER] New regulation aims to clarify ambiguity in ‘yellow envelope law’

Gov’t plans mock councils to ease rollout of ‘yellow envelope law’

Society

Outsmarted by AI? Video backlash exposes teachers' rising anxiety

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education came under fire after a promotional video for its AI learning platform portrayed teachers as inferior to artificial intelligence (AI), triggering an outcry among educators and reigniting a broader discussion about human oversight in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. The two-minute video, posted on social media on Nov. 14, was meant to raise awareness of “Hi-Learning,” a pilot system introduced this semester for “future-oriented education.” It allows AI to grade student answers in subjects like Korean, social studies and science. In the video, a bewildered teacher struggles to answer a student’s question about an exam result, only for “Hi-Learning AI” to jump in with quick, insightful explanations. When the student asks for further details, the teacher looks helplessly at the AI, which promptly gives an answer. In another scene, the teacher tries to reassure the student by saying, “If you work harder, you will get a good result.” But the AI interrupts by saying, “Those are empty words. Your pupils are trembling and

Nov 20, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Outsmarted by AI? Video backlash exposes teachers' rising anxiety

Global Community

Over 840 labor violations uncovered at worksites employing foreign nationals

The government uncovered widespread labor rights violations during two rounds of targeted inspections this year at worksites employing foreign workers. The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced Wednesday that its probe discovered a total of 846 violations at 182 worksites among 196 high-risk workplaces inspected, from late April to June and again in September. While a broad 2022 review of 1,365 workplaces uncovered 5,162 violations, this year’s more narrowly targeted inspections of 182 high-risk sites still revealed 846 violations. Officials said the inspections uncovered troubling patterns of mistreatment toward foreign workers, including 10 workplaces that were found to have committed physical assault and blatant discrimination. Wage theft was the most prevalent offense, with a total of 1.7 billion won ($1.16 million) in unpaid wages identified at 123 businesses. Additionally, 65 companies were cited for forcing excessive overtime, and 22 denied workers their legally mandated breaks or days off. The violators were found to have exploited workers’ noncitizen status, withholding

Nov 19, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Jung Min-ho

Read more

Is CSAT obsolete? Calls grow for overhaul after test difficulty uproar

New ESTA social media rule sparks unease among Korean travelers

Push to make Seoul a city worth moving to ― and staying in

Facing enrollment crisis, Seoul boosts funding, support for small schools

Seoul mayor visits Malaysia, citing K-culture as catalyst for tourism revival

Seoul mayor backs K-beauty push in Vietnam

Seoul plans major overhaul of 84-year-old Tongin Market

EXPLAINER New regulation aims to clarify ambiguity in ‘yellow envelope law’

Outsmarted by AI? Video backlash exposes teachers' rising anxiety

Over 840 labor violations uncovered at worksites employing foreign nationals

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