Ahead of Chuseok in Noryangjin Academy District... Public Exam Students "No Time to Visit Hometown," Merchants "Things Are Tough"

"Student, lunch is ready!"

On the afternoon of the 22nd at 1 PM, civil service exam candidates were scattered along the Noryangjin Cupbap Street in Seoul, where 23 cupbap shops stand in a row, eating their lunch. Each wore earphones or headsets to block out noise, immediately mixing their cupbap and stuffing it into their mouths. After quickly finishing their meals, the students bought coffee and returned to their academies. However, not all cupbap shops were crowded. Eight out of the 23 shops were quiet with no customers. Some cupbap shop owners waited endlessly for customers while frying meat to put on the rice. Although the cupbap street used to be packed with crowds during lunchtime, that day there were no passersby except for a few exam candidates chatting in small groups.

On the 22nd, students preparing for the civil service exam are having lunch at the Cupbap Street in Noryangjin, Seoul.
Photo by Gong Byung-sun mydillon@

As the soaring popularity of the civil service exam cooled down and the number of examinees decreased, the Noryangjin civil service exam academy district was even quieter ahead of Chuseok.

September is usually the off-season for the Noryangjin academy district. This is because the national level 9th-grade civil service exam is held in April, and the police officer recruitment exams take place in March and August, concentrating the public recruitment exams in the first half of the year. Therefore, the Chuseok holiday is a time when examinees take a breather and rest. However, merchants in the Noryangjin academy district said, "The street has never been this empty during Chuseok." Supporting this statement is the continuously declining competition rate for the civil service exam. This year, the competition rate for the national 9th-grade exam was 22.8 to 1, the lowest in 31 years. The competition rate, which was 39.2 to 1 in 2019, has steadily decreased to 37.2 to 1 in 2020, 35 to 1 in 2021, and 29.2 to 1 last year. A representative from an academy specializing in police officer exams pointed to the street with a finger and said, "In the past, even before Chuseok, the streets were full of people, and there was an atmosphere where teachers and students shared Chuseok food at the academy, but these days, that doesn't happen. The era when students filled classrooms as soon as an academy opened is over. Now, students tend to flock to only a few academies."

Restaurants catering to civil service exam candidates are equally quiet. Although there were expectations that sales would recover after the COVID-19 period ended, the popularity of civil service exams has recently waned. The fact that academies offer not only in-person lectures but also online classes means that examinees do not necessarily come all the way to Noryangjin, which negatively affects sales. Many restaurants in the area will close their shutters entirely during this Chuseok holiday when many examinees return to their hometowns. Kim (32, male), who runs a buffet in Noryangjin, said, "When business was good, we had about 600 customers a day, but now it has dropped to around 300. We expect about 200 customers this Chuseok."

The last mainstays protecting the fading Noryangjin academy district are examinees who have been preparing for a long time or are older. Many of them say they will not return home this Chuseok. Their reasons vary, including "I feel pressured by my parents" and "This time, I want to pass." Ko Hyung-jin (29, male), who is preparing for next year's 9th-grade civil service exam, said, "My hometown is Jeju Island, but I couldn't get a plane ticket, so I decided not to go home for Chuseok and study instead. Although the number of people applying for civil service has decreased, I am still studying under tension." Some academies hold classes during Chuseok for these students. Among the 12 instructors at Parkmungak Civil Service Academy who teach 9th-grade civil service exam candidates, six continue lectures during the Chuseok holiday. A Parkmungak representative said, "We informed the teachers to take a break during Chuseok, but about half decided to come and conduct classes. These classes help examinees who do not return home during Chuseok avoid wasting time."