S. Korea solely excluded from TOEFL exam sites

Posted on : 2007-04-15 20:28 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST

South Koreans wishing to apply for the TOEFL exam, an American English proficiency test, were enraged Sunday after discovering that their country was solely excluded from an upcoming test session.

The U.S.-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) announced on its earlier in the day on its Web site that Japanese applicants would be able to register for its' Internet-based exam in July, while asking those in Korea to revisit the site later for further notice.

ETS previously stated its Internet-based exam would not be available in South Korea and Japan in July this year. ETS's Seoul office wasn't immediately available for comment.

Tens of thousands of South Korean students take English proficiency tests by ETS each year before they apply to study in English-speaking countries or work for business and government organizations.

ETS's inconsistency in its policy lately has brought about much confusion and frustration among South Korean applicants.

Despite their decision not to make the test available in South Korea in July, registration for the July session was briefly made available in the country through ETS's phone application service on Friday but closed shortly afterward from a lack of registrants.

With no official announcements from ETS's Seoul office, registration hopefuls said they were glued to their computers and phones to grab the opportunity if applications became available.

"I kept visiting a TOEFL information Web site since morning to see if there was any news," a person with the ID "Oneul" wrote on a TOEFL information sharing online community.

Another person with the ID "Gaemimeogeo" said, "I want to finally get some rest today. I cannot even remember how many days I spent in front of the computer," expressing frustration while hoping for registrations to open.

Seoul, April 15 (Yonhap News)