National Certifications and Public Officials Only Privileged? 77% of Citizens Say "Unnecessary"... Anti-Corruption Commission to Prepare Improvement Plan Within the Year

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seonhee] Approximately 77% of the public perceive the system that exempts certain exam subjects or automatically grants qualifications to public officials in various national professional qualification exams, such as tax accountants, judicial scriveners, and patent attorneys, as 'unnecessary.'

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced on the 12th that, according to a nationwide survey conducted from the 8th to the 30th of last month on the 'Special Recognition System for Public Service Experience in National Qualification Exams,' out of 3,534 respondents, 2,718 (76.9%) answered that 'granting benefits such as exam subject exemptions due to public service experience is unnecessary.' Based on this survey result, the Commission plans to prepare improvement measures for the system within the year.

The special recognition system for public service experience in national qualification exams exempts certain public officials in specific fields from some exam subjects or automatically grants qualifications in some national professional qualification exams, including tax accountants, customs brokers, judicial scriveners, patent attorneys, and labor attorneys. The system aims to acknowledge the expertise of public officials performing related duties; however, it has become problematic as qualification issuance has been influenced by this system in certain exams. For example, in last year's 58th tax accountant exam, the failure rate for the 'Tax Law Part 1' subject among general examinees was very high (80.1%), sparking fairness controversies regarding tax officials who were exempted from this subject.

In particular, over 90% of survey participants responded negatively to the application of special exemptions, such as exam subject waivers, to public officials who have been disciplined for various corruption or sexual misconduct offenses while in office.

Additionally, 89.3% (3,156 respondents) agreed that restrictions on conduct are necessary, such as limiting retired public officials from undertaking work related to their previous agencies and requiring them to report contact with current public officials, even after obtaining professional qualifications.

Yang Jong-sam, Director of the Policy Improvement Bureau, stated, "We will promptly prepare improvement measures for the national qualification exam system that all citizens can empathize with and that ensures fairness."

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