Republic of Korea public service examinations

The Republic of Korea public service examinations are examinations held to screen applicants to the South Korean Civil Service, South Korean Foreign Service and South Korean Legal Service. Until their reformation in 2010, applicants who succeeded in the higher level exams could expect to join the service at a grade equivalent to many years of service. The examinations were open to all Republic of Korea citizens, and the applicant need not be the holder of a degree or have any other experience; passing the exams were in themselves sufficient for recruitment; however the exams were notoriously hard.

Background

Korea has a long history of selecting by public examination, in pre Republic times by the Gwageo examinations, to choose those most able to fill the ranks of public office.

Until reformation of the system in 2010 that will see the system phased out,^[1] the Korean civil service exams were used to select applicants for the Korean Civil Service, at the ninth (new entry) level. Following recruitment promotion is based primarily on seniority, except for a number of direct entry recruitments at the seventh and fifth level,^[2] through the passing of the seventh and fifth level examinations (고등고시). For those passing the exam and entering the service at the fifth level this is equivalent to 25 years of seniority working from the bottom up.^[1]

Similar exams existed for the legal profession, called the bar examination (the Korean system differed significantly from those in other jurdistictions in that passing the exam is in itself was sufficient to enter the profession and one need not have attended a law school and received a law degree) and for the Korean foreign service.

Because of the rewards possible to those passing the higher levels of the exams, specialist cramming schools and lodgings have developed to help would be applicants prepare for the exams. The exams acted as a final hope for those who had not gained entry to a top university, or whose background has not allowed them to pursue the extra curricular activities now demanded by employers in South Korea; and the exams were seen as promoting social mobility as recruitment depended on success in the examinations regardless of educational and family background.

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