In South Korea, there is one exam. One day. One shot. The Suneung — the College Scholastic Ability Test — happens every November, and on that morning, planes are rerouted, construction sites go quiet, and the entire country holds its breath. Getting a near-perfect score on it is the kind of thing that changes the trajectory of your life. Getting a near-perfect score on it while being the grandson of Samsung's late chairman is the kind of thing Korea talks about for months.
Im Dong-hyun, 19, son of Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin and grandson of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, was admitted to Seoul National University's Department of Economics through early admission for the 2026 academic year. His uncle, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, studied at the same university back in 1987. The family legacy at Korea's most prestigious institution continues — but the story isn't really about legacy. It's about what Dong-hyun said when he was asked how he did it.
He gave up his phone for three years.
Not reduced his screen time. Not set app limits. Completely disconnected — no smartphone, no video games — throughout all of middle and high school, during the most important academic stretch of his life. He shared this at a study seminar in Daechi-dong, the neighborhood in Gangnam that's basically ground zero for Korea's private tutoring industry. The room was full of students and anxious parents. He told them: "This may be difficult advice, but I strongly recommend completely disconnecting from smartphones and games for three years. I'm confident it greatly helped my concentration and focus."
For mathematics specifically, he said he solved approximately 2,000 problems for each school exam. Not 200. Two thousand. To build what he called "mathematical stamina" — the ability to work through problems without fatigue, without losing the thread mid-calculation.
He also said something that resonated in a way the study strategy didn't quite prepare you for: "The joy of returning to smartphones and games after three years, once all exams were over, was quite rewarding."
Three years of patience, paid off in one morning.
The Suneung he sat — the 2025 exam — was considered one of the hardest in recent years. It was so difficult, in fact, that the head of the state agency overseeing it resigned, taking formal responsibility for failing to manage the difficulty level. Dong-hyun reportedly missed just one question. That score sparked online discussion for weeks before his university admission was confirmed.
At the entrance ceremony in late February, Lee Boo-jin stood beside her son on the SNU campus in Gwanak District, smiling throughout the morning. His grandmother Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, was also there — and was photographed hugging him warmly.
For foreign observers, this story is a window into how Korea approaches education — and how seriously it takes the idea that discipline, not just talent, is what separates outcomes. The exam doesn't care who your family is. It's the same paper, the same morning, for everyone. What you do in the three years before it is up to you.
Dong-hyun's answer to that was simple. He put the phone down and didn't pick it back up.