Starting this year, the open competitive recruitment (open hiring) for police constables will be conducted through an integrated selection process without gender distinctions.
The Korean National Police Agency said on the 11th that it released a notice on the number of new police officer hires and the exam schedule for 2026. This year's new hires total 6,608, up 990 from 5,618 last year.
New police recruitment is divided into open hiring and experienced competitive hiring. Open hiring accounts for 6,112 and experienced competitive hiring for 496.
For constables, 3,202 will be selected in the first half of the year and 2,860 in the second half through open hiring. In particular, the process changes to a "gender-integrated selection method." Previously, police selected women at around 20% of the total, but starting this year the process will ensure that at least 15% of a specific gender is selected.
The physical fitness test method also changes. A rotational fitness assessment with the same standards for men and women will be introduced across all police recruitment categories. Both men and women must pass five courses—obstacle running, pole hurdle clearing, pushing and pulling, rescuing, and pulling the trigger—within 4 minutes 40 seconds to pass.
The first-round written exam for open constable hiring will be held on Mar. 14. After the physical aptitude test and interviews, the final successful candidates will be released on June 19. The second-round written exam will be held on Aug. 22, with the final successful candidates released on Dec. 11.
The number of hires for professionals with specialized experience will also be expanded. Among experienced competitive hires, the number of attorney (inspector) hires increased from 30 last year to 40 this year. The disaster accident category, which handles investigations of serious industrial accidents, has been upgraded from the senior constable rank to the sergeant rank, and the number of hires increased by 20 from last year to 30.
Police had previously only granted extra points to employment support beneficiaries such as children of national merit recipients, but starting this year they also created extra points (3% or 5% of a perfect score) for persons of distinguished service.
An official at the Korean National Police Agency said, "We will continue to review and prepare each stage of the recruitment process, including the rotational fitness assessment, to ensure there is no shortfall in fulfilling the police's original duty of safeguarding the public's safe daily life," and added, "We hope for strong interest and applications so that outstanding rookie police officers can be selected."