Thought I Passed... High School Senior Commits Suicide After Confirming Failure in Local Government Exam

Busan Metropolitan Office of Education.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] A teenage examinee who thought he had passed the civil service exam later found out he had failed and made an extreme choice.

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education recently conducted a civil service exam for students from specialized high schools, and it was reported that during the confirmation process of successful candidates, a ‘Congratulations on passing’ message was also displayed to those who failed.

Mr. A was ultimately rejected in the local government civil service appointment exam on the 26th.

This exam selects level 9 facility service civil servants for third-year high school students graduating from specialized high schools.

According to the police and Busan Metropolitan Office of Education on the 28th, Mr. A saw the ‘Congratulations on passing’ message while checking his exam results but later confirmed that he had actually failed.

During the announcement of successful candidates at 10 a.m. on the 26th, the Office of Education displayed an erroneous message for about 10 minutes that caused those who failed to mistakenly believe they had passed when checking their scores. The education office discovered the error and corrected the notice in the online recruitment system.

The bereaved family is protesting, saying that the administrative mistake of displaying a ‘Congratulations on passing’ message to a student who failed the exam was the cause of Mr. A’s disappointment.

The family of Mr. A visited the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education to protest around 2 a.m. on the 28th after holding the funeral and then returned home.

A representative from the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education explained, “There was no error in the list of successful candidates itself, but for about 10 minutes, an error message appeared at the bottom of the list during the score confirmation process, causing those who failed to see it.”

It is known that Mr. A visited the education office on the day of the announcement, heard the explanation of the “administrative mistake,” returned home, and then made an extreme choice.

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education stated, “We deeply regret the unfortunate incident related to the selection of local government civil servants.”