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As 650,000 high school seniors take the exam that will determine which college they go to and perhaps their social standing from now on, the country steps out of their way and stays very quiet.

“This is the biggest day of their lives, so I have to stand perfectly still or I risk distracting them,” says test proctor Chae Su-beom in Seoul. (John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times)

Reporting from Seoul -

Test proctor Chae Su-beom knows the drill. Twice on this all-important day, for a seemingly interminable half-hour at a time, he is required to stand completely still. No coughing, gum-chewing, breathing heavily or even making eye contact with his exam-taking students.

Female minders face additional prohibitions: No excessive makeup or perfume that might give off a distracting scent. No high heels that could go clicketyclack on the linoleum floors.

Today, across South Korea, 650,000 high school seniors will face the most crucial evaluation of their young lives: the national college entrance examination.

And on this day each year, a nation of 48 million holds its collective breath: Grounding airplanes and shushing car horns, noisy vehicular traffic, even loud conversations.

The tightly supervised, carefully controlled testing process reveals a deep-seated national neurosis over success. In the eyes of many here, the exam results determine not only which university will accept them but will also confer social standing for a lifetime.

The exam is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. But the most critical junctures are half-hour listening portions — Korean in the morning, English in the afternoon — that demand a nation’s total silence. During these two periods, students listen to tape-recorded snippets of fast-paced dialogue or text and answer questions pertaining to them.

For test-minders like Chae, the pressure is immense.

“I am not allowed to move,” said the social studies teacher at Seocho high school in Seoul. “For students, this is the biggest day of their lives, so I have to stand perfectly still or I risk distracting them.”

Like the SAT in the United States, the Korean college exam comprises both multiple choice and written responses. But unlike its American counterpart, the Korean test, which covers language, math and history, is given only once a year and cannot be retaken.

That can lead to obsessive, and even illegal, behavior: Cheating scandals are frequent and many students are forced by nervous parents to begin preparing years in advance.

Many South Koreans choose to attend college abroad, but success on the entrance test is critical for those who remain home.

“In Korea, obsession on education backgrounds is prevalent. Therefore, the education system is like a race where everyone tries to go to the best college,” said Kim Hye-sook, an education professor at Yonsei University in Seoul.

Exam day is a test that the entire nation seems to feel it must pass.

“It’s like, ‘Get ready, set, go!’ Students all start running at the same time and take the test altogether. People invest all kinds of resources to get their children to the highest level of society,” said Kim. “But the final test score isn’t influenced by whether their parents are rich or where they live.”

Efforts to ensure fairness are often mind-boggling.

In Seoul this year, nearly 100 domestic flights at nearby Gimpo Airport will be either delayed or canceled so as not to conflict with the exam at surrounding schools, according to the Korea Airports Assn.

Morning commute hours will also be delayed in most large cities so students won’t get tangled in traffic en route to their test sites. Those who do can request a police escort to make it on time.

Even the national stock market opens an hour later, to account for tardy employees.

At each school where the exam is given, a team of police officers patrols the surrounding neighborhood to ensure quiet. That means no roaring motorcycles or unnecessary horn-blowing.

“Everyone in South Korea knows they have an obligation to contribute,” said Kim Eunhee, an English teacher who coordinates the proctors at Seocho high school.

“Even if you don’t have your own children, you have nieces and nephews who are taking the test. So you must be quiet. If you don’t cooperate you’ll be seen as an enemy to all. That’s the mentality.”

For weeks this fall, Kim and other proctors have been busy preparing. The recent national H1N1 flu scare has added to their work and worries.

Each student must not only have pen and test paper, but two masks and two bottles of hand sanitizer. Special rooms are set aside for ill students.

“Everything must be perfect,” Kim emphasized.

Despite the precautions, complaints are numerous.

Each year, district offices are flooded with gripes from parents about test-taking conditions. The chairs were not comfortable enough, they declare, or the room was too cold, or too hot.

Most issues, though, involve the minders, whose mere presence seems to distract some exam-takers. Proctors have been criticized for staring at students, standing too close or walking too noisily.

“If a minder coughs during the listening part of the test, the student is entitled to have that part of the question played over again,” Kim said.

“They even feel uncomfortable about our breathing,” said Kim Hae-ja, a literature teacher and test proctor at Seocho high school. “Because they are nervous, we are nervous too.”

Students say the precautions work. Knowing that they can demand quiet from the outside world helps in their concentration, many say.

But the imposed silence isn’t enough for some parents.

Many gather at churches and temples — and even outside some test sites — to pray for good results. Many offer their children gifts such as sticky rice cakes in the belief that the snacks will help them “stick” to the list of highest grades.

As students arrive for the test, underclassmen play cheerleaders, holding up signs that implore: “Get a high score!” or “Pick the right answer!” or “Show your best capacity!”

All of it makes proctor Chae shake his head.

He knows the regimen drilled into their heads: Do well and the right schools will open their doors for you, the good jobs will come your way, success will be yours.

Do poorly and you will be a lifelong failure.

In the weeks before the exam, he has seen students fall asleep in class after all-night study sessions. And on the eve of the test, Chae watches students leave school early, their faces showing a mixture of fear and concern.

Chae, 47, then goes to the yearly last-minute proctor meeting, where the rules of proper conduct will again be emphasized.

“I really wish this exam would be abolished,” he said. “It stirs up too much competition. The entire nation comes to a standstill.”

john.glionna@latimes.com

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The Daily Star

Wednesday, November 11, 2009
South Korea’s growing soft power gives it a larger role in global governance

By Joseph S. Nye Commentary by

When the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met in Thailand last month, South Korea was an important presence. Quietly, South Korea has moved away from being defined by its problematic North Korean neighbor, and is becoming an important middle-ranking power in global affairs. A South Korean is secretary general of the United Nations; Seoul will host next year’s G-20 summit; and the country has just reached a free-trade agreement with the European Union.
This was not always so. If geography is destiny, South Korea was dealt a weak hand. Wedged into an area where three giants – China, Japan and Russia – confront each other, Korea has had a difficult history of developing sufficient “hard” military power to defend itself. Indeed, at the beginning of the twentieth century, such efforts failed and Korea became a colony of Japan.

After World War II, the peninsula was divided along the lines of Cold War bipolarity, and American and United Nations intervention was necessary to prevent South Korea’s subjugation in the Korean War. More recently, despite its impressive hard-power resources, South Korea has found that an alliance with a distant power like the United States continues to provide a useful insurance policy for life in a difficult neighborhood.
In a recent survey of G-20 nations published in the newspaper Chosun Ilbo, the Hansun Foundation ranked South Korea 13th in the world in terms of national power. South Korea ranked ninth in hard-power resources but performed more poorly in terms of soft power. In the newspaper’s words, “state of the art factories, hi-tech weapons, advanced information communications infrastructure are the key components that a country must have for stronger international competitiveness.” But for these “hard power” ingredients to become true engines of the country’s growth and prosperity, they must be backed by more sophisticated and highly efficient “soft power.”
South Korea has impressive soft-power potential. Sometimes, Koreans compare their country of 50 million to a neighbor like China or a superpower like the United States and believe that they cannot compete with such giants. That may be true in the domain of hard military power, but it is not true of soft-power resources.
Many countries that are smaller than South Korea do well with soft power. The political clout of countries such as Canada, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian states is greater than their military and economic weight, owing to the incorporation of attractive causes such as economic aid or peacemaking in their definitions of their national interest.
For example, in the past two decades, Norway, a country of only 5 million people, has taken a lead in peace talks. Similarly, Canada and the Netherlands have enhanced their soft power not only by their policies in the UN, but also by overseas development assistance. Such legitimizing policies are readily available to South Korea.
Moreover, in terms of attractive values, South Korea has a compelling story to tell. In 1960, it had approximately the same level of economic wealth as Ghana, one of the more prosperous of the newly independent countries in Africa. Today, the two countries are vastly different. Over the next half-century, South Korea became the world’s 11th largest economy, with per capita income reaching more than $15,000. It joined the OECD and is an important member of the G-20. It has become the home of world-famous brands and a leader in the adoption of the Internet and information technology.
Even more important, South Korea also developed a democratic political system, with free elections and peaceful transfer of power between different political parties. Human rights are well protected, as is freedom of speech. South Koreans often complain about the disorderliness of their political system, and the Hansun Foundation Report rated South Korea 16th among the G-20 in the efficiency of legislative activities, and 17th in political stability and efficiency.
According to the survey, “The low standings are not surprising, given habitually violent clashes between governing and opposition parties over sensitive bills and unending bribery scandals involving politicians.” Nevertheless, while improvement in these areas would certainly enhance South Korea’s soft power, the very fact of having an open society that is able to produce and discuss such criticisms makes South Korea attractive.
Finally, there is the attractiveness of South Korean culture. The traditions of Korean art, crafts, and cuisine have already spread around the world. Korean popular culture has also crossed borders, particularly among younger people in neighboring Asian countries, while the impressive success of the Korean Diaspora in the US has further enhanced the attractiveness of the culture and country from which they came. Indeed, the late 1990s saw the rise of “Hallyu,” or “the Korean wave” – the growing popularity of all things Korean, from fashion and film to music and cuisine.
In short, South Korea has the resources to produce soft power, and its soft power is not prisoner to the geographical limitations that have constrained its hard power throughout its history. As a result, the South is beginning to design a foreign policy that will allow it to play a larger role in the international institutions and networks that will be essential to global governance.

Joseph S. Nye teaches at Harvard and is the author of “The Powers to Lead and Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics.” THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration with Project Syndicate © (www.project-syndicate.org).

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KOREA TIMES
11-11-2009 19:44

(143) HANGEUL (I)

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