Jane Han is the North America editor for The Korea Times. Based in Seattle, she has covered business, culture and social issues across the United States for over 15 years. She previously worked at The Boston Globe.
Korea’s 'insane' English test becomes global talking point as readers weigh in
Screenshots from BBC’s Instagram page show a test room, left, and a sample English question that drew global attention, right. Captured from Instagram
By Jane Han
SEATTLE — The world is now taking a look at Korea’s college entrance exam — and arguing over whether the English questions were manageable puzzles or mind-bending traps. What began as a domestic controversy over this year’s unusually difficult English section has evolved into a global conversation, with foreign media dissecting the exam and readers abroad trying the questions themselves.
Outlets including The Independent, the BBC and The Times of India have spotlighted sample items from the English test, inviting audiences to gauge just how challenging the material really was. Foreign media noted that the English section produced the lowest share of top scorers since the grading system was introduced. News that the exam chief resigned only intensified global interest in what made this portion of Korea’s College Scholastic Ability Test, or Suneung, so controversial.
One widely shared reading passage asked students to identify the most logical conclusion in a paragraph based on Immanuel Kant’s philosophy of law. Another incorporated gaming terminology in a short text and required test takers to infer an unstated implication. A third challenged readers to detect subtle tonal shifts across abstract passages, the kind of nuance that split opinions among native English speakers online.
Reactions among readers abroad have been sharply mixed. Some said the questions were straightforward once they slowed down. Others described them as linguistic gymnastics. One commenter on Instagram wrote, “I got it. I have spoken English my whole life and it’s my only language. But for someone who has never spoken English or is learning, I can see this being very difficult.”
Another user replied to a sample test question, “Lots of words that aren’t commonly used in daily speech, plus having to use fairly complex reasoning.”
On Reddit, one commenter summed it up as, “When the Suneung English is harder than the SAT, wow.”
Foreign media also emphasized the cultural weight of the exam. Reports noted that South Korea suspends flights, reroutes traffic and adjusts work hours on exam day to create ideal test conditions. For international readers, that backdrop made the difficulty of the English section more striking. When an entire country pauses for an exam, expectations for fairness are high.
The resignation of the exam chief was framed abroad as a rare acknowledgment of misjudgment in a system known for high stakes and fierce competition. For many observers, the episode raised broader questions about how difficult a national exam should be and what skills such tests should measure.