S. Korean college acceptance exams continue under prevention of A/H1-N1 flu spreading

South Korean students have taken their crucial college entrance exams under strict measures to prevent the spreading of A/H1-N1 flu. The country's Education Ministry advised junior students not to gather at the gates of schools where their seniors were having exams.

But despite the warnings, crowds of junior students appeared at the gates. They danced, chanted encouraging slogans and gave out coffee to the exam-takers. Days before the test, parents crowded at Buddhist temples around the country.

They prayed for their children's success in the examinations. The competition for university acceptance in South Korea is intense. About 680-thousand students have taken the exams. But barely half will be accepted by the country's top universities. The state-sponsored College Scholastic Aptitude Test is the most important exam for South Korean students. It is seen as determining students' future careers and marital prospects.