By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

Tour guides in Korea will have to go through a qualifying examination from September.

The Tourism Promotion Law, revised in March, goes into effect on Sept. 26, obliging prospective tour guides for inbound tourists to pass an examination and receive certification.

"Tour guides introduce Korea in foreign languages to tourists. If they don't meet certain qualifications, adverse side effects might arise," said Kang Young-man of the Korea Tourist Guide Association. "Speaking a foreign language fluently is not everything for a guide. They should also know Korean culture and history."

The association estimates that some 1,000 out of total 4,000 tour guides in Korea do not have the certification and most of them are guides for Chinese tourists.

"Some Chinese-Korean or Chinese in Korea work as guides without proper knowledge of Korean history and culture," Kang said.

The new law is expected to raise the overall quality of tour guides.

"There were 6 million visitors to Korea last year and if 1 percent of them revisit Korea knowing more about the country, that would mean a lot to Korean tourism," Kang said. "That's what we aim for and what tour guides can do."

The qualification was first introduced in 1962 and 16,260 guides have since earned certificates. However, it has not been mandatory. Under the revised rules, all tour guides for foreigners in Korea, regardless of nationality, will now be required to receive the certification.

The qualification test consists of a written examination, language test and a personal interview. Those who majored in the tourism industry will be exempted from part of the written exam, and the language test can be substituted for by other official foreign language tests.

The test was previously conducted by the Korea Tourism Organization, but has now been transferred to the Human Resources Development Service of Korea (HRDSK).

The biggest difference in the new test will be the interview. The old interview assessed foreign language proficiency and tourism information separately, whereas now the information must be conveyed in the selected language.

"The new test gained support from the industry because the old one was rather impractical," an HRDSK official said. "Some worry the new test might be too difficult, but generally applicants are confident in their language proficiency."

Existing tour guides will be given a one-year grace period to take the test, but will be completely banned from working as tour guides after that period ends.

meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr