National Police Agency Refutes Claims That 60-70% of Successful Candidates Will Be Women
Says "Actual Recruitment Results Differ"
More Men Passed Under Circuit-Style Physical Fitness Test
As the recruitment method for police officers (entry-level patrol officers) will shift to a gender-integrated selection system starting next year, claims have emerged that "60-70% of successful candidates will be women." In response, the National Police Agency stated on September 3 that these concerns are unfounded.
According to the National Police Agency, beginning with next year's open recruitment for entry-level patrol officers, a "gender-integrated selection system" will be implemented. Previously, separate quotas were set for male and female candidates, but from next year, these quotas will be combined, and the written exam and physical fitness test will be conducted without distinction by gender.
Physical fitness test for the 2025 police officer examination held last April at the Incheon Police Agency fitness center in Namdong-gu, Incheon. Photo by Yonhap News
Additionally, a "circuit-style physical fitness test" will be introduced, replacing the previous scoring system with a pass/fail format. Both men and women must complete five courses-obstacle running, pole hurdling, pushing and pulling, rescue simulation, and trigger pulling-while wearing a 4.2 kg vest, all within 4 minutes and 40 seconds to pass. Previously, each event such as push-ups and grip strength was individually scored.
In response, some in the private education sector have argued that the new recruitment method is much more advantageous for female candidates. This is because, typically, women tend to score higher on the written exam, and the physical fitness test, where men have traditionally performed better, will now only require candidates to meet a minimum standard to pass.
A well-known academy instructor recently claimed on a YouTube broadcast that "changing the physical fitness test to a pass/fail system effectively gives an advantage to women," and asserted, "60-70% of successful candidates in next year's open recruitment for patrol officers will be women." In the previous system, where quotas for men and women were separate, the quota for women was typically around 20%.
National Police Agency: "Actual results differ from concerns... More male candidates passed in recruitments using the circuit-style physical fitness test"
In response, the National Police Agency released an explanatory statement on the same day, refuting these claims as inconsistent with actual results. The agency revealed that since 2023, when the circuit-style physical fitness test was piloted in the recruitment of police lieutenants and in career-track police administration hiring, the pass rates were in the high 90% range for men and around 70% for women.
Furthermore, the agency disclosed that for the police lieutenant recruitment, which adopted the circuit-style physical fitness test starting in 2023, there were 36 men (72%) and 14 women (28%) who passed in 2023, and 40 men (80%) and 10 women (20%) in 2024. This shows that more men passed under the new recruitment method.
The agency also explained that "the circuit-style physical fitness test is a method used in police recruitment in places such as the New York Police Department in the United States and in Canada," and emphasized that it is suitable for the actual duties required on the job.
Previously, in 2021, the National Police Commission reviewed and approved the phased introduction of gender-integrated recruitment and the circuit-style physical fitness test. Since then, gender-integrated selection has been applied in some recruitment areas, and it will be expanded to include open recruitment for entry-level patrol officers starting in 2026.
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