“Suneung, fighting!” — Stars cheered on Korea’s students taking the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) — also known as suneung — college entrance exam on Thursday.
BTS members RM and V each left short but sincere messages on their Instagram accounts. “Suneung, fighting,” wrote RM, with a picture of a long pepero snack. V also said “Fighting on your Suneung. Fighting!” in a short video.
The word fighting is used colloquially in Korean to cheer someone on, especially when they are about to start their endeavors.
“Everyone taking your Suneung this year, fighting,” wrote singer G-Dragon on his Instagram account with a picture of himself smiling. Singer Karina of girl group aespa also wished Suneung takers well with a picture of herself dressed in a Santa Claus outfit with the caption, “Santa came early this year to wish you good luck.”
Girl groups ILLIT and Kiiras also shared their messages of support for the students.
“We salute every one of you for not giving up and coming this far,” the group said in a video uploaded on YouTube on Wednesday. “The passion, perseverance and effort you’ve shown up to this day — that’s all you. Take a deep breath and trust in all the effort you’ve made so far.”
“We applaud you all for all the effort you’ve made up until this day,” said members of Kiiras in a video. “We know that all the effort will give you back great results.”
Son Heung-min, captain of the national football team, also shared his message through Instagram.
“Today is the day that your long journey comes to an end,” wrote the footballer. “I sincerely look up to you and all the tears and sweat you would have endured over the past 12 years. You should be proud and confident of being yourself, who made it this far.”
More than 550,000 students will take Korea’s college entrance exam on Thursday, the largest number in seven years, following a surge in applicants born in 2007 and a noticeable shift in subject selection trends.
K-pop singers born in 2007 who are taking the CSAT this year include Kyungmin of TWS, Han Yu-jin of ZeroBaseOne and Donghyeon of KickFlip.
