Thousands of S.Koreans take gruelling college exam in pandemic's shadow

Students wait to take the annual College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a nationwide university entrance exam, amid coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at a school in Seoul, South Korea November 18, 2021. Jung Yeon-je/Pool via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) - More than half a million South Koreans sat for the annual national college entrance exams on Thursday, pandemic rules adding stress to the eight-hour event seen as life-defining in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

This year's test-takers didn't face the delays and uncertainties of the first pandemic-era exams last year, but COVID-19 measures have left their mark on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) widely considered as indispensable for landing one of a limited number of jobs in a competitive society.