Photo gallery: In S. Korea’s “Exam Village” young voters yearn for change
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Kim Sa Myeong, 27, studies in his small room called a Goshiwon in one of the many private dorms that house students cramming for exams in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. There are 30,000 residents of a drab neighbourhood of the South Korean capital known as Exam Village, where people preparing for tests for low-level civil service jobs have gravitated for years. There is a growing sense of frustration among the young in a country where there are simply not enough jobs to go round, especially for graduates of less prestigious universities whose options are largely limited to the public sector. In Exam Village, or Goshichon in Korean, there were so many young people who wanted to cast early ballots last week that extra polling booths had to be brought in. --PHOTO: REUTERS
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Kim Sa Myeong, 27, studies in his small room called a Goshiwon in one of the many private dorms that house students cramming for exams in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
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Kim Sa Myeong, 27, studies in his small room called a Goshiwon in one of the many private dorms that house students cramming for exams in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
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Kim Sa Myeong, 27, walks out of a Goshiwon, one of the many private dorms that house students cramming for exams in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
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Kim Sa Myeong, 27, walks to the bathroom from his small room called a Goshiwon in one of the many private dorms that house students cramming for exams in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
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Kim Sa Myeong (right), 27, carries his food at a cafeteria serving to students in Goshichon in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
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Students eat US$2 (S$2.44) rice at a street stall in a Goshichon, which means "exam village" in Korean, in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
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Kim Sa Myeong, 27, walks in front of a building of private study rooms in a Goshichon in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
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Young South Korean's attend a class at a cram school in a Goshichon, which means "exam village" in Korean, in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
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A teacher gives a lecture at a cram school in a Goshichon, which means "exam village" in Korean, in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
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Residents in a Goshichon, which means "exam village" in Korean, cast their absentee ballot at a polling station in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
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Residents in a Goshichon, which means "exam village" in Korean, cast their absentee ballot at a polling station in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Kim Sa Myeong, 27, studies in his small room called a Goshiwon in one of the many private dorms that house students cramming for exams in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. There are 30,000 residents of a drab neighbourhood of the South Korean capital known as Exam Village, where people preparing for tests for low-level civil service jobs have gravitated for years. There is a growing sense of frustration among the young in a country where there are simply not enough jobs to go round, especially for graduates of less prestigious universities whose options are largely limited to the public sector. In Exam Village, or Goshichon in Korean, there were so many young people who wanted to cast early ballots last week that extra polling booths had to be brought in. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Kim Sa Myeong, 27, studies in his small room called a Goshiwon in one of the many private dorms that house students cramming for exams in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Kim Sa Myeong, 27, studies in his small room called a Goshiwon in one of the many private dorms that house students cramming for exams in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Kim Sa Myeong, 27, walks out of a Goshiwon, one of the many private dorms that house students cramming for exams in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Kim Sa Myeong, 27, walks to the bathroom from his small room called a Goshiwon in one of the many private dorms that house students cramming for exams in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Kim Sa Myeong (right), 27, carries his food at a cafeteria serving to students in Goshichon in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Students eat US$2 (S$2.44) rice at a street stall in a Goshichon, which means "exam village" in Korean, in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Kim Sa Myeong, 27, walks in front of a building of private study rooms in a Goshichon in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Young South Korean's attend a class at a cram school in a Goshichon, which means "exam village" in Korean, in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
A teacher gives a lecture at a cram school in a Goshichon, which means "exam village" in Korean, in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Residents in a Goshichon, which means "exam village" in Korean, cast their absentee ballot at a polling station in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Residents in a Goshichon, which means "exam village" in Korean, cast their absentee ballot at a polling station in Seoul on Dec 13, 2012. --PHOTO: REUTERS
SEOUL (REUTERS) - Living on US$2 (S$2.44) bowls of rice in rows of tiny rooms, thousands of young South Koreans are voting early ahead of Wednesday’s presidential election as they cram for exams that they hope will lead to a government job for life.
There are 30,000 residents of a drab neighbourhood of the South Korean capital known as Exam Village, where people preparing for tests for low-level civil service jobs have gravitated for years.
There is a growing sense of frustration among the young in a country where there are simply not enough jobs to go round, especially for graduates of less prestigious universities whose options are largely limited to the public sector.
