Police Chief Apologizes for Controversy Over Police Officer Written Exam 'Question Leak'... "Seeking Solutions to Prevent Harm"

"No Disruptions Due to Additional Admissions"
Internal Audit Expected Over Management Issues

Commissioner Kim Chang-ryong of the National Police Agency. / Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Regarding the controversy over the leak of questions in the police constable recruitment written exam held on the 19th, Commissioner General Kim Chang-ryong of the National Police Agency apologized and promised to prepare measures to prevent recurrence.

At a press conference on the 21st, Commissioner Kim said, "I apologize for causing surprise to many examinees due to the police's mismanagement," and added, "We have internally reviewed various measures to ensure that no one suffers from unfairness and have derived appropriate solutions."

When the controversy over the prior leak of questions in the constable recruitment written exam arose, the National Police Agency announced the previous day that it confirmed issues in exam management, such as some regional police agency test sites announcing errata sheets earlier than the scheduled time. The problematic test sites were 25 classrooms out of 2,684 classrooms nationwide.

Accordingly, the National Police Agency decided that since there was no error in the 9th question of the Police Studies subject, the correct answer remains as originally '④', and scoring will be based on this. Written exam passers will be selected (Group A) according to the previously announced number of recruits per regional police agency.

Separately, all candidates who failed the written exam will be granted adjustment points equivalent to one question in Police Studies. This measure is to rescue examinees who narrowly failed due to fairness issues related to question 9. If their total scores exceed the Group A cutoff, they will be selected as additional written exam passers (Group B) and proceed with the recruitment process.

The final selection of successful candidates will be conducted separately for Groups A and B. Group A candidates will be selected in order of highest total scores combining written, physical, and interview exam scores, up to the initially announced number. This process is the same as the existing selection method.

Commissioner Kim stated, "The previously selected candidates will be chosen as announced, and additional successful candidates will pass if their total scores exceed the passing score, so we judge there is no problem in terms of fairness and justice," adding, "We will carefully review the entire process again and thoroughly analyze the issues to devise alternatives."

Since additional passers will be selected regardless of the number, the final number of selected candidates is expected to increase beyond the original plan. Regarding this, Commissioner Kim said, "Since there are still planned recruitments, we believe there is no major problem." Deputy Commissioner Song Min-heon of the National Police Agency also explained, "There are many variables such as dismissal during the Central Police Academy training course and the appointment deferment system," and "There is no significant disruption due to additional passers."

In addition to these measures, the police plan to conduct an internal investigation into the problematic parts. Regarding the internal investigation, Commissioner Kim responded, "Since there was wrongdoing, the investigation will naturally proceed."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.