Half of 5th Grade Government Employees to Be Recruited through Internship

The president-elect’s transition team on Jan. 26 is reported to be considering the introduction of a new employment system for high-ranking government posts, such as the internship system, in addition to the existing national examination to select high-ranking administrative officials.

A member of the transition team’s subcommittee for state affairs said, "The current way to select high-ranking public officials through the standardized test should be changed in order to employ talented people of creativity and ability, thereby increasing competition in officialdom. Half of new government officials in high posts could be recruited though the national test, and the other half could be selected in other ways including internship. He also suggested other alternatives including selecting first through interview tests only and then having them go through two years of education or internship before final decision on the recruitment. The transition team member added that it was considering lowering the standards for applicants.

Jeong-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com