South Korea

=== Education ===
{{Main|Education in South Korea}}
[[File:SeoulNatlUnivMainGateAtNight.jpg|thumb|[[Seoul National University]] is considered to be the most prestigious university in South Korea.]]

A centralized administration in South Korea oversees the process for the education of children from kindergarten to the third and final year of high school. The school year is divided into two semesters, the first of which begins at the beginning of March and ends in mid-July, the second of which begins in late August and ends in mid-February. The country adopted a new educational program to increase the number of their foreign students through 2010. According to the [[Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (South Korea)|Ministry of Education, Science and Technology]], the number of scholarships for foreign students in South Korea would have (under the program) doubled by that time, and the number of foreign students would have reached 100,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.education-blog.net/2008/08/28/south-korea-now-open-for-foreign-students|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322134334/http://www.education-blog.net/2008/08/28/south-korea-now-open-for-foreign-students/|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 March 2019|title=South Korea Now Open For Foreign Students|publisher=Education-blog.net|date=28 August 2008|access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref>

South Korea is one of the top-performing Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in reading literacy, mathematics and sciences with the average student scoring 519, compared with the OECD average of 492, placing it ninth in the world. The country has one of the world's highest-educated labor forces among OECD countries.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/international/21711247-reforming-education-slow-and-hard-eminently-possible-what-world-can-learn?spc=scode&spv=xm&ah=9d7f7ab945510a56fa6d37c30b6f1709 |title=What the world can learn from the latest PISA test results |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=10 December 2016 |access-date=14 September 2017 |archive-date=22 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322025125/https://www.economist.com/news/international/21711247-reforming-education-slow-and-hard-eminently-possible-what-world-can-learn?spc=scode&spv=xm&ah=9d7f7ab945510a56fa6d37c30b6f1709 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/education/ |title=Education OECD Better Life |publisher=OECD |access-date=29 May 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531152015/http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/education/ |archive-date=31 May 2016 }}</ref> The country is well known for its highly feverish outlook on education, where its national obsession with education has been called "education fever".<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2094427-2,00.html |title=South Korea: Kids, Stop Studying So Hard! |magazine=Time |last=Ripley |first=Amanda |date=25 September 2011 |access-date=1 December 2016 |archive-date=11 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311163011/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2094427-2,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20151208175803561 |title=The overeducated generation |last=Habibi |first=Nader |date=11 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118100808/http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20151208175803561 |archive-date=18 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.saveourschools.com.au/national-issues/south-korea-education-success-has-a-dark-side |title=South Korea's Education Success Has a Dark Side |last=Cobbold |first=Trevor |date=14 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118102555/http://www.saveourschools.com.au/national-issues/south-korea-education-success-has-a-dark-side |archive-date=18 November 2016}}</ref> This obsession with education has catapulted the resource-poor nation consistently atop the global education rankings. In 2014, South Korea ranked second worldwide (after Singapore) in the national rankings of students' math and science scores by the OECD.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/11/south-korean-seniors-have-been-preparing-for-today-since-kindergarten/508031/ |title=Why South Korea Is So Fixated With the College-Entrance Exam |last=Diamond |first=Anna |website=[[The Atlantic]] |date=17 November 2016 |access-date=28 March 2024 |archive-date=19 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619113236/https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/11/south-korean-seniors-have-been-preparing-for-today-since-kindergarten/508031/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Higher education is a serious issue in South Korean society, where it is viewed as one of the fundamental cornerstones of South Korean life. Education is regarded with a high priority for South Korean families, as success in education is often a source of honor and pride for families and within South Korean society at large, and is seen as a fundamental necessity to channel one's [[social mobility]] to ultimately improve one's socioeconomic position in South Korean society.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uned.ac.cr/ocex/images/stories/SINAES_1103_%20by%20LJY%201.pdf |title=Vocational Education and Training in Korea: Achieving the Enhancement of National Competitiveness |last=Lee |first=Ji-Yeon |date=26 September 2014 |publisher=KRIVET |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220214903/http://www.uned.ac.cr/ocex/images/stories/SINAES_1103_%20by%20LJY%201.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2012/1110/Drive-for-education-drives-South-Korean-families-into-the-red |title=Drive for education drives South Korean families into the red |journal=Christian Science Monitor |last=Strother |first=Jason |date=10 November 2012 |access-date=28 March 2024 |archive-date=27 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327034517/https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2012/1110/Drive-for-education-drives-South-Korean-families-into-the-red |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:KAIST fountains view.jpg|thumb|[[KAIST]] main campus in [[Daejeon]]]]

In 2015, the country spent 5.1% of its GDP on all levels of education—roughly 0.8 percentage points above the OECD average of 4.3%.<ref>{{cite web |title=Korea |publisher=OECD |url=http://gpseducation.oecd.org/Content/EAGCountryNotes/KOR.pdf |access-date=16 August 2019 |archive-date=15 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815222742/http://gpseducation.oecd.org/Content/EAGCountryNotes/KOR.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> A strong investment in education, a militant drive to achieve academic success, as well as the passion for scholarly excellence has helped the resource-poor country rapidly grow its economy over the past 60 years from a war-torn land to a prosperous, developed country.<ref name="ICEF">{{cite web |url=http://monitor.icef.com/2014/01/high-performance-high-pressure-in-south-koreas-education-system/ |title=High performance, high pressure in South Korea's education system |publisher=ICEF Monitor |date=23 January 2014 |access-date=29 May 2016 |archive-date=9 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709074408/http://monitor.icef.com/2014/01/high-performance-high-pressure-in-south-koreas-education-system/ |url-status=live }}</ref>