Starting Next Year, Police Open Recruitment Physical Fitness Test Standards Will Be Raised

Women's Push-Ups Changed to the Same 'Proper Form' as Men

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Starting next year, the physical fitness test standards for police officer recruitment exams will be raised. The push-up posture for female police officer candidates, which has been controversial, is also expected to be changed to the same 'standard posture' as males.

According to the police on the 20th, the National Police Agency recently reported the "Partial Amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Police Officer Appointment Decree" at the National Police Commission meeting. The amendment mainly aims to align the evaluation criteria for three physical test events?sit-ups, grip strength (left and right), and push-ups?in the police officer recruitment exam with those of the officer candidate exam.

The current evaluation criteria for the officer candidate physical test for males require at least 58 sit-ups in one minute to achieve a perfect score (10 points), and at least 32 sit-ups to avoid the lowest score (1 point). For grip strength, a score of 64 kg or more is perfect, while 39 kg or less is the lowest. For push-ups, 61 or more in one minute is needed for a perfect score, and 15 or fewer results in the lowest score.

The police officer recruitment physical test standards were lower than these. While the perfect score for sit-ups is also 58 or more in one minute, the minimum to avoid the lowest score was 21, which is 10 fewer than the officer candidate standard. The perfect score criteria for grip strength and push-ups were also lower at 61 kg and 58 repetitions, respectively, compared to the officer candidate standards.

The evaluation criteria for female police officer candidates were also below those for officer candidates. For example, female officer candidates needed only 13 sit-ups to avoid the lowest score, whereas officer candidates needed at least 23. The perfect grip strength score was 44 kg for officer candidates and 40 kg for police officer recruitment candidates, showing a difference.

However, the push-up standard for female police officers was reportedly not changed in this amendment. The current perfect score for officer candidates is 31 or more push-ups, while for police officer recruitment it is 50 or more. This is because officer candidates perform push-ups in the standard posture with knees on the ground, similar to males, whereas female police officer candidates perform push-ups with their knees down. A police official stated, "This amendment does not include regulations regarding posture." The National Police Agency plans to submit a partial amendment to the "Regulations on Police Officer Recruitment Exams" to the National Police Commission in the second half of this year to change the female police officer push-up posture to the same standard posture as males and improve this aspect.

The raised physical fitness test standards for police officer recruitment will be applied for about three years from next year until 2025. Starting in 2026, the police will introduce a "rotational physical fitness test" applying the same standards for both males and females during police officer recruitment. The revised physical test will no longer be separate events such as push-ups or sit-ups but will consist of five courses performed in rotation: ▲obstacle running (about 340m) ▲pole vault hurdle jumping ▲pushing and pulling ▲rescue ▲trigger pulling. Candidates must complete these within the set time to pass.