Korea Scrapped "Killer Questions" From the Suneung, and Your Students Are Split
In 2023, Korea's education ministry ordered the CSAT (Suneung) to drop ultra-hard "killer questions," aiming to cut reliance on private tutoring. High schoolers disagree on whether it worked, made the test fairer, or just moved the difficulty elsewhere.
Park English2026-09-043 min read
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Every Korean high schooler knows what a "킬러 문항" is, even if they've never said "killer question" in English. In 2023, after years of complaints that only students who paid for expensive hagwons could crack the hardest one or two questions on the CSAT, the Ministry of Education announced it would remove them entirely. The stated goal was to lower Korea's private tutoring spending, which government figures have put at roughly 26 trillion won a year, and to make the test winnable on public-school prep alone.
It's a good discussion topic precisely because your students lived through it, or are about to. Nobody in the room is neutral.
Warm-up (5 minutes)
Ask the class: "What's the hardest test question you've ever seen?" Let two or three students describe one. Then introduce the term "killer question" and confirm they know the 킬러 문항 debate — most will.
Vocabulary to pre-teach
| Word/Phrase | Simple definition |
|---|---|
| private tutoring / hagwon prep | extra paid classes outside regular school |
| fairness | everyone having the same chance, regardless of money |
| test difficulty | how hard a question or exam is |
| loophole | a gap that lets people avoid the intended rule |
| standardized test | a test taken the same way by everyone nationally |
Discussion questions
- Is it fair that some students can afford tutoring for the hardest questions and others can't?
- If killer questions are gone, does the CSAT still separate top students from average ones? How?
- Some say removing killer questions just made other parts of the test slightly harder to compensate. Is that better or worse?
- Does cutting one type of hard question actually reduce hagwon spending, or do parents just find something else to pay for?
- Should Korea keep changing the CSAT format, or is constant change part of the problem?
Structured pro/con debate (20–25 minutes)
Split the class into two sides regardless of their real opinion — this usually gets better arguments than letting them pick.
| Side A: Removing killer questions was right | Side B: It didn't fix the real problem |
|---|---|
| Reduces the advantage bought by expensive tutoring | Test is still extremely competitive and stressful |
| Makes top scores more about consistent study, less about luck or money | Hagwons just shift focus to other question types |
| Public-school teaching becomes more relevant to the actual test | Doesn't touch the deeper issue: one test deciding your whole future |
Give each side eight minutes to build three arguments using the vocabulary above, then run a timed rebuttal round — two minutes per side, no interruptions.
Extension
Ask students to write four sentences finishing: "A fairer Suneung would ___." This works well as a five-minute writing warm-down and gives you a quick read on comprehension without grading a full essay.
One thing worth admitting to your class: even education officials disagree on whether this policy is working. There's no clean answer here, and saying so out loud usually gets quieter students to speak up.