It's the most important day of their young lives,... something they've been squarely focusing their attention on for years.
Today, over 594-thousand high school seniors all across South Korea will be taking their college entrance exam or 'Suneung' as it's known here.
It's considered crucial as many Koreans strongly believe the college you attend shapes your future success.
For more, we connect to our Yoon Jung-min, who is at one of the test sites.
Jung-min, where are you... and how's the vibe less than two hours before the test starts...

Hi, Mark. I'm standing in front of Seoul High School, one of the hundreds of test sites where today's 'Suneung' will be taking place.
It's quite chilly, but the weather isn't going to stop the students doing their best in what is seen as the most important test in their lives.

As you touched upon,... nearly 600-thousand students...mostly high school seniors....will be taking the College Scholastic Ability Test or CSAT at 1-thousand-190 test sites nationwide.
The exams will begin at 8:40AM and will last up to nine hours.
The students will be taking Korean language, mathematics, English, Korean history and more tests.
They can choose to take either social science or natural science as well as a third language test.
This year, the education ministry is allowing students to wear face masks during the test due to the unhealthy levels of fine dust.

These exams are so important as students spend years studying day and night for them, and the results determine which universities they will be go to next year.
As you said,... Koreans believe a college shapes a student's future... so many of them study around the clock with little sleep to get into the best college possible.

So, it's no wonder the whole country gets behind the test-takers.
Today, workers in the public sector and a lot in the private sector will start work an hour later than usual -- at 10AM -- to ensure traffic on the roads is lighter and the test-takers can be on time.
The country's stock markets will open and close an hour later than normal, too.
More subway trains and buses are in operation and police officers on motorbikes will be on hand to rush students to test centers if they are running late.
In the afternoon, from 1 p.m., even flights will be put on hold for about 30 minutes during English listening comprehension section to minimize disturbance.
Traffic near the test sites will be controlled as well.

Also, for the big day, groups of juniors gather outside the test-sites to cheer on their seniors.
They chant encouraging words, hand out snacks and wish them good luck.
Parents are also milling around to support their son or daughter and provide some encouragement on a stressful day for their child and probably for them as well.

That's all I have for now, but I'll bring more updates for our next newscast at 10 a.m.
Back to you, Mark.