South Korea Halts All Flights Nationwide for CSAT Listening Window

(SOUTH KOREA) South Korea will halt all military and civilian flight takeoffs and landings nationwide for 35 minutes on November 13, 2025, pausing skies from 1:05 p.m. to 1:40 p.m. to ensure silence during the English listening section of the CSAT, the country’s high-stakes university entrance exam. The rare, tightly timed flight suspension will apply to all scheduled departures and arrivals, including commercial services, South Korean military aircraft, and U.S. Forces Korea flights, as exam proctors cue up the most noise-sensitive portion of the test.

The measure is designed to eliminate noise interference as students across the country work through the English listening comprehension portion of the CSAT. The listening segment lasts 25 minutes within a 70-minute English exam period, and officials have set a 35-minute window to create a noise-free buffer before and after the audio begins. Aircraft already in the air during that period must cruise at or above 3,000 meters, or 9,842 feet, until the restriction ends, unless they declare an emergency that requires an immediate landing.

About 140 flights will be rescheduled in advance to comply with the restriction, with 65 international services and 75 domestic flights adjusted to avoid the blackout. Authorities emphasized that the airspace pause is temporary and planned down to the minute, but they advised travelers to check for retimed departures and arrivals.

“We ask all passengers to check their departure times in advance,” said Joo Jong-wan, head of aviation policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which oversees airline operations and air traffic control across the country.

The pause in takeoffs and landings sits at the heart of a wider, coordinated national effort to preserve calm around test sites as students sit the CSAT. Alongside the flight suspension, drones and ultralight aircraft are banned during the same window. Defense drills that involve loud noise, including artillery fire and tank maneuvers, are suspended to avoid any audio interruptions bleeding into classrooms. Police dispatch units will be on standby to escort late-arriving test-takers to nearby schools, clearing intersections and guiding them through heavy traffic if they fall behind on time.

Markets will also start later to ease the morning commute for examinees. The Kospi, Kosdaq, and Konex stock exchanges will open one hour late at 10 a.m., smoothing traffic flows on subways and roads as students head to their test centers. Many businesses and government offices plan to adjust their opening hours as well, giving families and staff more time to get students to exam halls before the first bell. In some neighborhoods, roads are briefly closed near schools and local transport is staged to prioritize students close to the 8 a.m. reporting time.

The CSAT, known locally as Suneung, is widely viewed as a career-defining examination in South Korea. In 2025, 371,897 senior high schoolers—67.1% of all test-takers—are sitting for the exam alongside 159,922 repeat test-takers and 22,355 homeschooled candidates. The results can determine entry to top universities and shape future prospects in a country where competition for places at elite institutions is intense. Only about 2% of candidates secure spots in the highly sought-after SKY universities—Seoul National, Korea, and Yonsei—concentrating pressure on students and families to perform on the day.

The aviation freeze is one of the most visible signs of how far South Korea goes to protect the testing environment. For 35 minutes in the early afternoon, jets hold at altitude and ground crews stand by as engines sit idle on tarmacs around the country. Air traffic controllers coordinate with airlines and pilots to sequence departures and arrivals before and after the 1:05 p.m. to 1:40 p.m. window, building in buffers so that approach paths and climb-outs do not interfere with the listening audio piped into classrooms. For long-haul flights already airborne, pilots receive instructions to stay at or above 3,000 meters as they transit South Korean airspace until the all-clear.

While the 35-minute pause is brief, its reach is comprehensive. The order covers commercial passenger flights, cargo services, military aircraft, and U.S. Forces Korea operations, ensuring that no engines roar over test centers during the listening track. The temporary ban extends beyond powered aircraft to include drones and ultralight models, which have proliferated in recent years and can produce high-pitched noise close to the ground. Even defense drills that typically run on fixed schedules are paused, removing artillery booms and armored vehicle movement from the soundscape as thousands of classrooms synchronize their exam clocks.

Transport officials said the pre-planned rescheduling of about 140 flights—65 international and 75 domestic—was arranged days in advance to minimize disruption. Airlines were instructed to adjust schedules around the 35-minute airfield closures, with many departures brought forward or pushed back to avoid runway use during the listening session. A small number of arrivals have been retimed to hold outside the terminal area until they can be sequenced in after 1:40 p.m. For passengers, the practical impact should be short delays or early departures for affected services, not cancellations, as the bulk of the day’s timetable remains unchanged.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which releases guidance each year ahead of CSAT day, said the national coordination spans airports, air traffic control, the military, police, rail operators, and financial markets. The annual operations notice combines the flight suspension with surface measures that prioritize student travel, including traffic control near test sites and police escorts when needed. The ministry’s public information channels typically post the timing and scope of restrictions the week of the exam; travelers can consult the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for official updates.

Although the listening portion runs 25 minutes within a 70-minute English exam block, the wider half-hour plus window is a deliberate choice. It creates a noise buffer that reduces the risk of a late departure or early arrival blasting over neighborhoods within earshot of schools. Controllers at major airports use this interval to build holding patterns and assign reroutes if necessary, while regional airports pause runway operations entirely. The coordination extends to heliports and military airfields, with commanders advised to avoid engine run-ups and training circuits that could carry across districts during the listening audio.

Police will stage outside schools across the country to help students who cut it close to the reporting time. Officers often lead late test-takers through traffic with lights on, a common sight on CSAT day as families misjudge travel times or buses fall behind schedule. Local transport agencies arrange extra buses and adjust signals near clusters of exam sites so that sidewalks and intersections move smoothly when students arrive and leave. In past years, sirens, loudspeaker announcements, and outdoor event sound systems have been dialed down during the listening window, part of a broader push to keep sound levels steady and predictable.

The emphasis on silence captures how pivotal the CSAT is for many South Korean families. With 371,897 current seniors sitting the test—making up 67.1% of the total—alongside 159,922 retakers and 22,355 homeschooled candidates, the stakes are visible in long lines outside schools and in the quiet corridors once exams begin. Parents often gather near school gates, while teachers and school staff enforce tight timelines inside. The listening section’s structure—short audio clips followed by multiple-choice questions—makes even brief interruptions costly, prompting the aviation curbs and noise controls that ripple far beyond classroom walls.

For airlines, the short shutdown has become a known fixture on the calendar. Dispatchers map rotations so that aircraft and crews are not trapped on the ground during the 35-minute pause, and pilots are briefed to expect level-offs at or above 3,000 meters while traversing South Korean airspace during the window. Ground handlers sequence pushbacks to avoid gridlock when operations resume at 1:40 p.m., and gate agents alert travelers when boarding times are moved forward to meet revised departure slots. With the number of affected flights held to around 140, carriers expect operations to normalize quickly in the afternoon.

The inclusion of U.S. Forces Korea flights under the restriction underscores its wide legal scope. Military training that creates loud impulses, such as artillery practice and tank maneuvers, will be off the schedule during the listening session, reflecting a cross-agency agreement to keep ambient noise down citywide and near rural test centers. Drone hobbyists and commercial operators face a temporary no-fly period, and ultralight aircraft clubs have been instructed not to take off during the designated minutes, mirroring the curbs on larger, powered aircraft.

Travelers planning to fly on November 13, 2025 should expect slight changes rather than wholesale disruption. Airlines have already retimed approximately 65 international and 75 domestic flights, and controllers will hold passing aircraft above 3,000 meters, with the exception of emergencies. The advice from transport officials is simple and direct.

“We ask all passengers to check their departure times in advance,” said Joo Jong-wan, the ministry’s head of aviation policy, pointing passengers to airline notifications and airport boards for the latest updates as the CSAT listening window approaches.

Even as engines sit quiet for 35 minutes, the rest of the country moves in lockstep with the exam schedule. Stock markets start at 10 a.m., businesses and public offices shift opening hours, and police, schools, and families converge on a shared aim: a calm environment for a single day that can shape a student’s path. The CSAT’s reach is felt not only in classrooms but in the coordinated hum of a nation that, for a brief stretch each year, sets aside departures and arrivals to make room for 25 minutes of listening.