THIS country grounds flights, halts military training for annual college entry exam; not US, UK, China, it is...

Students in South Korea sat for the toughest exam of their lives last week. The college entrance test is serious business in the country: Flights were halted and the police were put on standby to escort students to exam centres. Dubbed the College Scholastic Ability Test or CSAT, the exam can determine the course of future lives for these students. The test saw lakhs of pupils appear at thousands of centres across the country this year alone. What is the CSAT exam? The CSAT, called suneung in the Korean language, is an annual exam that students take to secure seats at top universities. It is usually held in the third week of November. High schoolers in their third year or those with a high school diploma can sit for the highly-competitive test. The eight-hour-long test is the culmination of preparations of at least three years, including more than 10 state-run mock exams. How does South Korea prep for exam? The South Korean government takes various steps to create a conducive environment for those taking the test. So much so that it grounds flights, pauses military training, and deploys police officials in large numbers for traffic control. As many as 140 flights -- 65 domestic and 75 international -- were rescheduled on Monday due to the high-stakes exam. Defence drills such as artillery fire and tank manoeuvres were also reportedly suspended. On test day, well over 10,000 cops and more than 2,200 patrol cars were mobilised to manage increased traffic across the country.