PSAT Introduced for Korean Language Subject
Korean History Also Replaced by "Hangunggeom"
Starting in 2027, the Korean language subject in the Level 7 local civil service open recruitment exam will be replaced by the Public Service Aptitude Test (PSAT). The Korean history subject in the Level 9 open recruitment exam will be replaced by the Korean History Proficiency Test (Hangunggeom), thereby reducing the burden on examinees.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that partial amendments to the 'Local Public Officials Appointment Decree' and the 'Regulations on the Appointment of Local Research and Guidance Officials,' which contain these changes, were approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 28th.
According to the amendments, the Korean language subject in the Level 7 local civil service open recruitment exam will be replaced by the PSAT, and the examination procedures will also be changed. The reform was made in response to criticism that the current Korean language subject focuses excessively on rote memorization, placing an undue burden on examinees and having little relevance to actual job duties. The PSAT is already being used in the Level 5 administrative examination and the national Level 7 civil service exam.
The current two-stage process of written test and interview will be subdivided into three stages: the first stage is the PSAT, the second stage is the subject-specific written test, and the third stage is the interview. In the first stage, successful candidates will be determined in order of highest PSAT scores, within a range ten times the number of available positions. A new rule has been established that allows examinees who fail the interview to be exempt from the first stage in the next exam cycle.
Additionally, starting in 2027, the Korean history subject in the Level 9 local civil service open recruitment exam will be replaced by Level 3 of the Hangunggeom, which is administered by the National Institute of Korean History. Previously, in the Level 7 local civil service open recruitment exam, Level 2 of the Hangunggeom was introduced as a replacement in 2021. Furthermore, while currently all candidates with the same total written test score in the Level 9 open recruitment exam are accepted, going forward, successful candidates will be determined in order of highest scores in the second subject-specific written test.
In addition, until now, newly hired local civil servants were required to submit a 'recruitment physical examination report,' which incurred costs. In the future, each local government will be able to use a 'recruitment health check-up substitute notification,' which can be issued free of charge, taking into account the characteristics of the job.
Ko Kidong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated, "With this reform of the examination subjects, we expect to reduce the burden on local civil service examinees while also being able to select candidates with higher job competency."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
