Increase Detection of Feigned Illness in Military Service Evaluations

Enlistees are undergoing physical examinations at the Military Manpower Administration.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]The cognitive ability test used to screen individuals with reduced intellectual capacity in the military service examination is changing for the first time in 11 years.

On the 14th, the Military Manpower Administration announced that starting from next year's military service examination, it will strengthen psychological testing by applying a new cognitive ability test tool newly developed by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA).

The evaluation areas have been reorganized from the existing four categories?vocabulary, spatial perception, figure reasoning, and number sequence reasoning?to six types by adding two new categories: verbal reasoning and basic arithmetic. The number of test items increased from 58 to 89, focusing on screening borderline intellectual levels. In particular, the difficulty level was divided into six stages to enhance the ability to detect malingering by distinguishing between those with genuinely low intellectual ability and those pretending, the Military Manpower Administration explained.

According to the Military Service Act, the military service examination for 19-year-old males in the Republic of Korea is divided into physical examination and psychological examination. The psychological examination includes a personality test to assess mental health status and personality traits, and a cognitive ability test to screen individuals with reduced intellectual capacity.

The Military Manpower Administration fully improved the personality test tool used in the military service examination in 2017, which had been in use since 2010, but the cognitive ability test tool introduced at the same time has been used until now.

A Military Manpower Administration official said, "There was a need to reflect the current era's circumstances and changes in the intellectual abilities of those subject to military service in the cognitive ability test," adding, "We plan to continuously strengthen psychological testing to prevent accidents within the military by blocking those unfit for military service before enlistment and to minimize maladjustment."

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