"Please Get It Together When Making Questions"... Netizens Outraged Over Controversy in 9th-Grade Civil Service Exam

Question 3 of the Korean language section, which sparked controversy in the 2021 municipal and provincial level 9th-grade local government official appointment written exam. Photo by Cyber National Examination Website capture

[Asia Economy, reporter Kim Soyoung] On June 5, during the 2021 local government civil service recruitment written exam, a flood of objections has been raised regarding Question 3 of the Korean language section, which asked test-takers to identify the incorrect definition of a word.

According to the Cyber National Examination Center of the Ministry of Personnel Management on June 6, immediately after the release of the 2021 municipal and provincial level 9th-grade local government official appointment written exam questions and provisional answers the previous day, a series of objections have been filed specifically about Question 3 of the Korean language section. This is because, despite the announcement that the correct answer to Question 3 is option 1, there have been ongoing claims that "there is no correct answer" for this question.

Question 3 presented four options: '① Bannajeol: half of a day's daytime, ② Dalpo: a period slightly longer than a month, ③ Geukkeujeokke: the day three days before today, ④ Haegori: an interval skipping one year.' Test-takers were asked to select the option with an incorrect definition.

According to the provisional answer key released by the Ministry of Personnel Management, the correct answer is option 1. The rationale was that 'Bannajeol' should be defined as 'half of Hannajeol (half a day),' not as 'half of a day's daytime,' as described in the option.

Search result for '반나절' in the Standard Korean Language Dictionary by the National Institute of the Korean Language. Photo by National Institute of the Korean Language Standard Korean Language Dictionary

However, most examinees filing objections cited the Standard Korean Language Dictionary by the National Institute of the Korean Language, which explains 'Bannajeol' as '(1) half of Hannajeol. (2) half of a day's daytime. =Hannajeol.' 'Harutnat' refers to 'the daytime portion of a day.'

They also expressed dissatisfaction, claiming, "The question set a trap with spacing rules in a problem that asks for word definitions."

On the other hand, some examinees who insist that the provisional answer key with option 1 as the correct answer should be maintained argued that "'Haru nat' and 'Harutnat' are different," and that "to interpret it as 'half of Harutnat,' which means Hannajeol, the explanation in option 1 should have included the interfix 't' (saisiot)." They emphasized that 'half of a day's daytime' and 'half of Harutnat' are not the same.

Some netizens suggested that the question may have been based on the pre-revised dictionary. One netizen pointed out, "When the 1999 Standard Korean Language Dictionary was first published, the definition of the word was later supplemented during the 2008 revision. Therefore, according to the current definition, option 1 is a correct definition. It seems the exam writer was unaware of the 2008 addition."

Another netizen criticized, "Please, get it together when making questions. How can you create questions so carelessly using the pre-revision dictionary, and how is it possible that no one checked the Standard Korean Language Dictionary during the review? This isn't even a university quiz; it's just a definition, but the process was so sloppy."

Regarding this issue, netizens have voiced criticism, saying, "The exam writer should take responsibility and apologize," "So this is a 2021 civil service exam question? Please make practical questions instead of these pointless ones," and "How can you make questions like this when people's lives are at stake?"

The Cyber National Examination Center will accept objections until June 8, and after a final answer confirmation meeting with subject selection committee members and experts, the final answers to all questions, including the controversial Question 3, will be released at 6 p.m. on June 14.

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