"I visited a temple in Korea before the Suneung (CSAT), and every single tree was covered in prayers for test scores. It was horrific." Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman, a professor at the University of Chicago, called out Korea's insane private education rat race. At the 2026 American Economic Association (AEA) annual meeting in Philadelphia, Heckman told reporters, "If a society forces competition that only looks at productivity in schools and society, that structure is not sustainable."