By Lee Kyung-min
Starting next year, applicants trying to become police officers will be required to take drug tests, the National Police Agency (NPA) said Monday.
The decision comes amid allegations that many applicants have used steroids or muscle-boosting drugs to heighten their performance in the physical tests potential recruits undergo.
The NPA said drug tests will be required for those who receive scores deemed “unusually high” during the physical tests.
Doping tests cost about 300,000 won per person, and the NPA said it has set aside some 59 million won ($54,000) for them.
The police recruitment exam has been getting more competitive with the number of applicants averaging about 17 for every job, since President Park Geun-hye said late last year that the government will increase the number of police officers by 20,000 by 2017.
Physical tests accounts for a quarter of the total qualifying score, the second biggest factor after the written test, which accounts for 50 percent. The rest of the scores are determined by an interview (20 percent) and securing the required licenses (5 percent).
The applicants, both men and women, are timed on 100 and 1,000 meter runs, and are scored on sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups.