Although the day she passed is almost 15 years ago, the story has risen to prominence recently after it has been reshared thousands of times on Reddit – and in the process has made international news.
In the weeks following her successful test, she became a national celebrity for her tenacity and commitment.
Cha Sa-Soon’s first attempt at the written test took place in April 2005, but she unfortunately failed.
Despite the disappointment, she continued to relentlessly take the test for the next few years. In total, Sa-soon sat the exam every day, five days a week over three years.
She then reduced this to two exams a week, until she finally passed the written test on her 860th attempt.
She then attempted to pass the practical test. But as you might imagine, this was also a challenging ordeal.
Cha Sa-Soon had to take the practical test an eye-watering 100 times, bringing the total number of driving examinations up to 960 before being able to have a full driving licence.
The estimated cost for all these exams was around £11,000 – not including driving lessons.
Her continued dedication to passing was driven by the fact that she needed to be able to drive for her vegetable-selling business.
According to Cha Sa-Soon’s driving instructor, when she finally passed, it was ‘a huge burden off their backs’.
Cha Sa-Soon’s instructor, at Jeonbuk Driving School, said: “When she finally got her licence, we all went out cheering and hugged her, giving her flowers.
“We hadn’t had the guts to tell her to quit because she kept showing up.”
Following the news of her success at the 960th attempt, South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai gifted her a brand new vehicle worth £11,640.
Her story recently resurfaced on global content sharing platform, Reddit, where members have been sharing their thoughts.
One Redditor said: “I believe if you take a test nearly 1,000 times, you might have the whole thing committed to memory at that point.”
Another said: “But now that she passed a very specific driving situation under ideal circumstances, surely she’s fully capable of driving a death machine under all types of conditions, right?”
And another wrote: “960 times? That sounds like a systemic failure. It wastes everyone’s time if you don’t have a mandatory 1-month or 1-week wait period.”
What do you make of Cha Sa-Soon’s story? Do you have your own incredible journey to obtain your driving licence? Leave your comments below.
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