The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that they will hold a legislative notice on some amendments to the Local Government Officials Appointment Order and the Local Research Guidance Regulation starting March 19th (Wednesday).
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has announced a reform plan for the local civil servant exams. Starting in 2027, the 7th-grade public recruitment exam will introduce the Public Service Aptitude Test (PSAT), and the Korean history subject of the 9th-grade public recruitment exam will be replaced by the Korean History Proficiency Test (level 3). This reform aims to enhance the professional capabilities of public officials and alleviate the burden on examinees.
The Korean subject in the 7th-grade public recruitment exam will be replaced by PSAT. The PSAT is a test that evaluates logic, analytical skills, and judgment, which is currently used for the 5th-grade public recruitment and legislative examination. The written exam process will also change from the existing two steps (written and interview) to three steps (1st PSAT, 2nd written exam, 3rd interview). In the first round, candidates within the top 10 percent of PSAT high scorers will be selected, and those who fail the interview will be exempt from the first round of the next examination.
The Korean history subject in the 9th-grade public recruitment exam will be replaced by the Korean History Proficiency Test (level 3), which is managed by the National Institute of Korean History. This method is similar to the 2nd-grade Korean History Proficiency Test introduced in the 7th-grade public recruitment exam in 2021. Additionally, when ties occur, instead of passing all candidates as before, the successful candidates will now be determined by their high scores in subject expertise within their stream.
Furthermore, the mandatory ’employment medical examination results’ required for local civil servant hiring can be replaced by the ’employment health examination substitute notification’ issued by the National Health Insurance Corporation. The technical series title will also be changed to ‘Science and Technology Series’.
Kim Min-jae, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated, “We expect this reform will strengthen the job competency of local civil servants and alleviate the pressure on examinees,” adding, “We will continue improving the system to attract talented individuals and enhance the competence of local civil servants.”