One foggy morning last November, officer Kang Jin-jin heard the distress call on his police radio: An 18-year-old girl about to take the national college-entrance exam had left her admission ticket at home.
Mr. Kang dashed off to the girl's apartment, got the ticket from her father, and raced across town on his motorcycle, arriving at the school just in time for the test.
"I had to ignore traffic signs and turn on the siren," he said. "It was a bit risky, but I tried my best."
Mr. Kang's heroic effort is hardly an isolated one. On the day each November that high-school seniors take the college-entrance test -- Nov. 13, this year -- South Korea is a changed country.
Many offices and the stock market open at 10 a.m., an hour later than usual, to keep the roads free for students on their way to the test. All other students get the day off to keep schools quiet for the test takers. And while students are taking the listening portions of the tests, planes can't land or take off at the nation's airports. Aircraft arriving from other countries are ordered to circle at altitudes above 10,000 feet.
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