SEOUL — The Bank of Korea on Tuesday called for an overhaul of South Korea's hypercompetitive university entrance exam, citing the country's rapidly declining birth rate and the concentration of people in Seoul.
Every year, high school students in South Korea take the nationwide college entrance exam in hopes of gaining a spot at top schools like Seoul National University and Yonsei University. The intense pressure surrounding the process is driving more families to Seoul, driving up education and housing costs and discouraging young Koreans from marrying and having children, the bank's proposal said.