Image from Google
I think this is one of those only-in-Korea stories. Korean government announced plan to strengthen the current regulation on late-hour classes in Hakwons, the after-school test prep institutions (more simply put, cram schools.) Currently Hakwons are "advised" to send their kids back home by at least 10PM. However, according to the article, in real life many Hakwons hold classes until 11PM. Yes, you read it right -- 11PM wasn't a typo. Add to that the commute hours and some "spill-over" study to do, and you can see why so many Korean kids suffer from sleep deprivation.
The government wants to migitate the situation by enforcing 10PM curfew on all Hakwon classes. But that doesn't make the Korean society less competitive all of a sudden. Korean kids still have to make it to good colleges and get a decent job after graduation to even barely survive in this hyper-competitive society. That means they have to study the hell out of themselves, and even if Hakwon now finishes at 10PM instead of 11PM, students have to resume their study after they hit home. Hence the boost of e-learning companies' stock prices; For example, Digital Daesung, a Korean e-learning company, saw its stock price surge by about 25% after the government announcement. They say Korea is a dynamic country. Sometimes the country can be too dynamic. Koreans need some rest (myself included, perhaps), and highschool kids are no exception.
