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A banner hangs over a street in Sillim-dong in Gwanak District, southwestern Seoul, Tuesday, demanding the government scrap its plan to phase out the state civil service tests. / Korea Times |
By Lee Hyo-sik
Students and applicants seeking to become civil servants through state exams, known here as “gosisaeng,” are collectively protesting the government’s plan to phase out the tests.
Their unprecedented protest was ignited by the disclosure that former Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu Myung-hwan’s daughter had been given special favors due to the ministry’s newly-adopted special hiring process.
As the unfairness of Yu’s daughter’s hiring has been proven, the “gosisaeng” are insisting children of senior government officials and other influential figures will all be given preferential treatment under the new recruitment system.
Individuals preparing for state-administered tests have formed an ad-hoc committee to systematically oppose the abolishment of the decades-old exams. They are collecting evidence of irregularities surrounding the recruitment of private sector experts by government agencies and the selection of law school students. They plan to refer all the illicit cases to the prosecution.
Systematic protest
The movement has come to surface since the government unveiled plans to introduce a new recruitment system for mid-ranking civil servants and diplomats early this year.
Their campaign gained a fresh momentum after the foreign ministry was found to have violated regulations in order to give special favors to Yu’s daughter in hiring her as the ministry’s trade consultant.
A leader of the committee, indentified by only his surname Jeon, said it will collect material supporting why the nation’s bar exam, and civil service and diplomat tests should remain as the method for selection, adding it will hold a range of meetings with those preparing exams.
Banners have been hung in Sillim-dong in Gwanak District and other places where many people study for the national exams, in order to sway public opinion in favor of maintaining the tests.
Since the recruitment scandal, more than 600 future examinees have joined the committee, posting messages against the government scheme to scrap the state-run exams at its community cafe; (http://cafe.daum.net/rhtlwhscl).
An operator of the cafe, named “Pungpungi” and a student preparing for the bar exam, posted a greeting message that stated the purpose of the collective action is not self-centered. “We are trying to prevent the three state exams from being abolished and want to create a ‘fair society,’ as President Lee Myung-bak has been preaching lately. The scrapping of the tests will deprive many young Koreans of opportunities to move up the social ladder, stressing it has encouraged nepotism within the foreign ministry and other state agencies,” it reads.
Another committee member raised allegations that children of professors, lawmakers and other influential figures have entered law schools through illicit means, urging members to step up efforts to uncover the cases of unethical admissions and refer them to the prosecution.
Ministry won’t budge
However, despite the nepotism scandal at the foreign ministry, Minister of Public Administration and Security Mang Hyung-kyu told lawmakers Monday that the government will proceed with its initial plan to introduce a new recruitment system for civil servants and diplomats.
Mang said to create a fair society, equal opportunities should be given to all individuals. “To achieve the goal, it is much better to recruit from those with diverse expertise in the private sector as government workers, rather than hire a group of people with similar traits through one written test.”
In May, the government unveiled a plan to select around 50 diplomats via a multi-fold assessment process.
Up to 300 individuals will first be selected based on an initial assessment. Following a series of written exams and interviews, some 60 individuals will be permitted to enter a one-year course at an institution the government has named the “Diplomatic Academy.”Around 10 of the students will be cut to leave a final total of 50 diplomats.
In August, the government also said it will abolish the civil service exam and instead recruit 50 percent of mid-level civil servants from the private sector based on their educational and professional experiences, and interviews, by 2015.
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