Because scores are not curved, unexpected spikes in difficulty can significantly affect university admissions outcomes.

A ministry investigation found that 19 English questions were rewritten shortly before the exam, limiting time for proper difficulty assessment. Only 33% of English item writers were active teachers, below the cross-subject average, weakening alignment with classroom learning levels.

What will change

Under the overhaul, at least half of English test writers will be practicing teachers, screening of expertise will be tightened, and an integrated review committee will oversee difficulty calibration. 

Artificial intelligence tools will also be introduced to assist with passage generation and difficulty prediction, with pilot use planned for 2028.

Where South Korea lies in global English proficiency

The reforms come as South Korea’s English proficiency faces global comparison. 

According to the State University of New York’s (SUNY) South Korean arm, the country placed a lowly 49th in the  EF English Proficiency Index 2023. South Korea scored 525 — classified as “moderate proficiency” — down 13 spots from the previous year.

EF English Proficiency Index 2023 ranked the Netherlands first with a score of 661, followed by Singapore at 642, with other top performers concentrated in Northern Europe . 

Despite early exposure to English and widespread private education, only a minority of Korean learners attain strong conversational fluency, according to SUNY Korea’s analysis. 

“The reasons seem to stem from cultural and social differences, the significant differences between the two languages: Korean and English, and the Korean Educational System,” the university noted. 

With the planned overhaul of Suneung’s English section, officials hope the reforms will restore fairness and ensure the exam reflects realistic learning outcomes rather than magnifying systemic gaps.

Washington’s departure follows a formal notification of intent submitted by President Donald Trump one year earlier, as required under U.S. law. The move makes the U.S. the first country in WHO history to withdraw its membership.

The Trump administration justified the exit by citing disagreements with the WHO’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, accusations of political bias, and dissatisfaction with pandemic policies.

Senior U.S. officials argued the country would continue to engage in global health through bilateral agreements and existing partnerships outside WHO structures.

"The Trump Admin is working to make sure that we have those bilateral agreements in place for that kind of health cooperation — but we don't need the WHO as an intermediary essentially to push Chinese interests on the American people," National Institutes of Health's Director Jay Bhattacharya told Fox News.

That rationale echoes what Argentinian President Javier Milei has stated in his decision to also withdraw Argentina from the WHO , a move scheduled to take effect on March 17, 2026.

The Milei government has framed its exit as a defence of national sovereignty and a response to what it describes as “deep differences” with WHO policies, especially concerning the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Argentina’s annual financial contributions to WHO have been comparatively small , and Buenos Aires has claimed that its withdrawal will not disrupt domestic health services.

Critics, however, warn that leaving a global coordination platform could limit access to information sharing, vaccine procurement mechanisms and technical cooperation that support responses to outbreaks and endemic diseases.

Why WHO matters

The World Health Organisation is the specialised health agency of the United Nations. Its core mission includes:

Nearly all United Nations member states have traditionally been members of the WHO. As of early 2026, with the U.S. exit complete, the organisation retains 193 members, the vast majority of the world’s nations.

They include the total amount charged, pick-up and drop-off times, late-night and out-of-district surcharges, and clear instructions on how to report suspected violations.

For city officials, the change was aimed at closing a key information gap for overseas visitors, who are often unable to verify charges because traditional taxi receipts are printed only in Korean. As a result, foreign passengers are seen as more vulnerable to inflated fares and unlawful practices.

Private ride-hailing platforms, including Kakao Mobility and Tada, have also been asked to introduce English fare breakdowns to ensure greater transparency across the sector.

Nearly 500 complaints

According to city data, 487 complaints of alleged overcharging were filed by foreign passengers between June and December 2025 after the launch of a QR-based reporting system. ed.

The city has paired the new receipts with a broader public awareness drive, installing complaint-guidance stickers inside around 71,000 taxis and placing banners and posters at 78 taxi ranks near major tourist areas, as well as in 11 districts popular with foreign visitors, including Myeong-dong, Hongdae and Itaewon.

Yeo Jang-kwon, head of the city’s Transportation Bureau, said the measures were designed to deter illegal practices and reassure visitors. 

Taxi drivers in Seoul have been notorious for grifting foreign cab hailers.

Last September, a Japanese television crew posing as tourists was charged 45,000 won ($30) for a trip from Myeong-dong to Hongdae — nearly four times the standard fare. 

The driver was later fined after a city investigation, and the incident fuelled public criticism and prompted tougher enforcement against unfair treatment of foreign travellers.

According to official results from Portugal’s Ministry of Internal Administration, only António José Seguro of the Socialist Party and André Ventura, leader of the right-wing Chega party, finished first or second in every region of the country, locking in their places in the runoff.

Seguro, the centre-left Socialist candidate aligned with the S&D group in Europe, finished first overall with 31% of the national vote , leading in almost every municipality and all but two regions. His support base stretches across much of mainland Portugal, reflecting the continued strength of the Socialist Party in both urban centres and large parts of the interior.

Ventura followed in second place with 24%, marking another breakthrough for Chega. The party won outright in two regions and placed second everywhere else, confirming its transformation from a protest movement into a nationwide political force.

Liberal Initiative candidate João Cotrim Figueiredo also secured 16%, placing third in most autonomous regions, while Henrique Gouveia e Melo, running as an independent backed by the conservative PPM, finished with 12%, also claiming third place in several areas.

Neither came close to challenging the two front-runners nationally, underscoring how polarised the race has become.

The upcoming runoff will determine who succeeds President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, whose role, while largely ceremonial, carries significant influence through veto powers and the ability to dissolve parliament.

With Portugal facing economic pressures and broader European uncertainty, the second round is expected to draw sharp contrasts between Seguro’s institutional continuity and Ventura’s populist challenge.

That moment says a lot about how English really works.

English spread through colonisation: through schools, churches, government, and media. But once it arrived, people didn’t just copy it. They adapted it, mixed it with local languages, humour, food, music, and everyday life. Over time, those local versions became the most real forms of English in those places.

We’ve seen this before. Words from Latin America and Asia have been part of English for years: macho, gringo, taco, guacamole, ceviche, reggaeton, cartel. These words stayed because English needed them. There was no better way to say what they meant.

In March 2025, the OED leaned fully into this idea with a “World English” update . It added everyday words like gigil from the Philippines, which means the urge to squeeze something cute, and alamak from Malaysia and Singapore, an expression of surprise or frustration. English didn’t have words for these feelings, so it borrowed them.

Then came December 2025, and a big moment for West Africa. The OED added words people already use daily: abeg and biko for polite requests, amala and moi moi for staple foods, mammy market for women-run community markets, and Ghana Must Go.

These words carry stories of migration , survival, humour, and community. And once they’re in the dictionary, no one can say they’re “not proper English.”

What’s changing is power. English is no longer shaped by one centre. It’s shaped by how people live. For years, speakers from the Global South were told their English was wrong. Now the same institutions are saying: this is English too.

Maybe English was never really “king.”Maybe it’s just a shared language constantly remade by the people who speak it. Global South isn’t just speaking English anymore. It’s rewriting it.

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World Reframed is produced in London by Global South World, part of the Impactum Group. Its editors are Duncan Hooper and Ismail Akwei.

ISSN 2978-4891