"One Jae-su Is Enough for Me"... The Banner That Made Examinees Smile

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The banner supporting the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) by Jeon Jae-su, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is once again a hot topic this year.

On the 13th, a day before the 2025 CSAT, photos of the banner hung in the streets of Buk-gu, Busan, Jeon’s electoral district, were shared across various online communities and social networking services (SNS). The banner reads, "Good luck to all test takers! One retake is enough for me." A netizen who posted a video featuring this banner on SNS said, "The banner is amusing. Wishing everyone great success on the CSAT. I chuckled while waiting at a traffic light, so I took a quick video." The video has garnered over 3.73 million views within six days of posting.

A banner hung in the constituency of Jeon Jae-su, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Instagram

Previously, in November 2017, Jeon faced a minor controversy after putting up a CSAT support banner. At that time, the banner read, "Test takers! Keep going until the end! Democratic Party of Korea Jeon Jae-su." Netizens who saw it made a pun on Jeon’s name, which can be read as "I retook the test," and humorously protested, saying, "Cheer up, but I retook the test. Is this really the right kind of support?"

As the photo gained attention, Jeon Jae-su’s office issued a clarification, which also became a humorous episode. The office stated, "Contrary to recent suspicions, Jeon Jae-su has run for election four times but did not retake the test," and regarding doubts about whether the banner was truly supportive of test takers, they said, "He sincerely supports them." It is known that Jeon entered Dongguk University’s Department of History without retaking the test.

A few days after the office’s explanation was posted, Jeon himself posted on SNS, "Dad, why is my name 'retake'?" which brought laughter. Since then, Jeon has put up CSAT support banners every year. In 2018, through a Facebook post titled "One retake is enough for me. Cheer up," he said, "I put up the banner with heartfelt support," and added, "I wholeheartedly support the earnest wishes of parents and test takers."

On the 13th, the preliminary assembly day for the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test, examinees visiting Seongsu High School in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, are checking the seating arrangement for the exam rooms.

Meanwhile, this year’s CSAT, held on the 14th, saw the largest number of repeat test takers ('N-su-saeng') in 21 years. According to the Ministry of Education and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) on the 13th, the number of CSAT applicants this year increased by 18,082 from last year to 522,670. Among them, 340,777 (65.2%) are current high school seniors, and 161,784 (31%) are graduates.

The proportion of graduates among all test takers decreased by 0.7 percentage points compared to last year, but the number of graduates is the largest since the 2004 CSAT (184,317). The increase in CSAT applicants appears to be due to the expansion of medical school quotas, while various factors such as the expansion of the non-major (major elective system) and the exclusion of killer questions are expected to influence college admissions.