COVID-19 Drives Gongsi-jok Online... Decrease in Academy Students and Surge in Online Lecture Attendees

Concerns Over COVID-19 Infection in Small Classrooms
Internet Lectures and YouTube Replace Study Rooms
Study Cafes in Noryangjin See Customer Disappearance

On the morning of the 8th, the streets of Daehak-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul are quiet. As online lectures have become the trend among public service exam students, the exam villages are no longer crowded with students as before. Photo by Oh Gyumin moh011@

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] Choi (24), who is preparing for the police officer candidate exam, does not attend classes at an academy. He is worried about COVID-19 infection because the academy classrooms are small. Instead, Choi listens to online lectures. He said, "(Online lectures) have the advantage of being able to listen repeatedly," and "We also conduct study sessions via Zoom, allowing each person to have their own study time."

As COVID-19 cases increased, the study methods of civil service exam candidates have also changed. Unlike before, when they lived in exam villages and attended lectures and study rooms, studying online through internet lectures and YouTube has become the trend.

Kim (33), who took the 7th-grade civil service exam last year, also only took online lectures and received his certificate of passing this year. Kim revealed his secret to success, saying, "In times like these, listening to online lectures is suitable for maintaining continuity in studying."

Many civil service exam candidates have started studying while watching ‘Study With Me’ videos live-streamed on YouTube, showing their study routines. As of 7 p.m. on the 7th, when searching ‘Gongsisaeng Study With Me’ on YouTube, one channel had 833 live viewers. Four other channels had around 100 viewers each. A 12-hour-long study video had about 20,000 views. Kim (26), preparing for the 9th-grade civil service exam, said, "Studying with YouTubers motivates me and makes me feel less lonely."

Representative exam villages in Seoul, such as Noryangjin and Daehak-dong, showed a somewhat quiet atmosphere. On the afternoon of the 7th, Noryangjin civil service academies had started classes in January but appeared less crowded than before. On the morning of the 8th, it was almost impossible to find people carrying backpacks in the Daehak-dong exam village. Among five nearby study cafes, three had no students studying at all.

Jung Jae-woo (28), preparing for the 5th-grade administrative exam in the Daehak-dong exam village, said, "The number of 5th-grade public service candidates coming here has decreased since COVID-19," and added, "I am studying here, but most are learning through online lectures."

Im Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, said, "Finding and learning study methods that suit oneself through online platforms is expected to become a more common phenomenon in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.