A woman prepares to attache a card with a handwritten message to a mini lantern at the Jogyesa Buddhist temple, where prayers are taking place for students who are sitting for the annual College Scholastic Ability Test, known locally as Suneung, in Seoul on Nov 14, 2024. For parents who are unable to pray in person, many churches and temples stream the sessions live on YouTube. — AFP
SEOUL: Nine-hour prayer sessions, livestreamed speaking in tongues, bowing before a Buddhist altar 108 times: South Korean parents are turning to God as students sit a crucial exam on Nov 14.
The "Suneung" university entrance exam is a major event in the education-obsessed South, and officials take extreme measures, from rescheduling flights to pausing construction, to ensure students can give their best performance.
