Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Conducts Final Conscription Police Recruitment Exam Ahead of Abolition

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] With the complete abolition of the Mandatory Police System scheduled for 2023, the final recruitment of mandatory police officers is about to begin.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 22nd that the "378th Mandatory Police Recruitment Exam" will be held for 18 days from the 22nd of this month until the 15th of next month at the Mobile Headquarters under the Seoul Police Agency.

This exam plans to select a total of 130 candidates, including 106 general mandatory police officers and 24 special skill (driving and cooking) mandatory police officers. A total of 3,893 applicants have registered, showing a high competition rate of about 30 to 1. The exam will be conducted through aptitude tests and physical fitness tests, and the final successful candidates will be selected through a public lottery on the 20th of next month. They are scheduled to enlist in two groups (1141st and 1142nd) around October to November this year.

Due to the spread of COVID-19, the Seoul Police Agency temporarily suspended the mandatory police recruitment exam around December last year, but considering the practical circumstances that the enlistment dates could not be postponed due to the unit consolidation plan, the recruitment exam was resumed around February this year.

In this process, in prior cooperation with the Central Disease Control Headquarters, measures such as excluding COVID-19 confirmed (contacts) applicants, managing fewer than 50 people in the exam venue, mandatory hand sanitization, wearing disposable gloves and KF-94 masks at all times, and strictly adhering to quarantine rules were implemented to minimize COVID-19 risks while conducting the recruitment exam steadily.

Since the first group enlisted on February 4, 1983, mandatory police officers have assisted in security duties such as responding to assemblies and demonstrations, crime prevention activities, and maintaining traffic order. However, with the "Stepwise Reduction of Mandatory Police and Increase of Police Personnel" confirmed as a national agenda in 2017, the number of mandatory police officers has been reduced by 20% annually since 2018.

The police plan to replace the work gaps caused by the reduction of mandatory police officers by establishing police mobile units and hiring personnel dedicated to guarding police facilities.

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