ONLINE GRADUATION CEREMONY

[Anchor Lead]

It's the graduation season in Korea, but because of the pandemic schools are holding their graduation ceremonies mostly online. Take a look.

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A special day for high school students, as they wrap up their three-year journey. But the graduation ceremony is only attended by 20 people, including student representatives and teachers. The session is kept as brief as possible, ending in just 10 minutes. Other classmates watch the ceremony online. Their principal congratulates them remotely. 

[Soundbite] CHUNG HAE-HWANG(DAEJEON DUNSAN GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL) : "You have a bright future ahead of you. I hope you will show your excellence to the world."

Students are given different time slots to come and pick up the diplomas, to prevent crowding. 

[Soundbite] CHO SEO-YOUNG(HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE) : "I wish I could take pictures with my classmates. Sadly, our graduation ceremony ended with just receiving photo albums."

This school held graduation ceremonies by class. A sharp contrast to the conventional graduation ceremonies full of vigor and excitement.

[Soundbite] MIN JI-YE(HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE) : "It's the last graduation ceremony of my school years. It's too bad we can only hold it in our classroom and can't have our parents watch it."

[Soundbite] LEE SUN-SOOK(PARENT) : "I understand that we have no other choice but to keep the graduation ceremony as safe as possible because of the pandemic."

With many other schools in the nation planning to hold graduation ceremonies online, students in the era of COVID-19 will be missing out on the emotional experience of congratulating classmates and saying goodbye to the school they love.