HRD Korea plagued by test management loopholes

Jul 29, 2026, 10:22 am

All candidates will have to retake a national technical qualification exam administered by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea (HRD Korea) after the test questions were leaked in advance. As test management blunders persist even after an incident in 2023 where 609 answer sheets were shredded prior to grading, critics point out that HRD Korea needs to re-examine its entire internal control system for national qualification exams beyond relying on individual employees' caution or training.

According to HRD Korea on July 28, the test questions for the practical engineering test for General Machinery Engineer conducted on July 26 were opened prematurely at one testing site on July 25, a day before the exam. An employee and an exam committee member accidentally used the questions meant for the following day, and the test content was subsequently shared across online test-prep communities.

Determining that the fairness of the exam and equity among test-takers had been compromised, HRD Korea decided to hold a retake for all 57 candidates. The retake will take place between July 31 and August 5, with compensation provided to those affected.

HRD Korea plans to investigate the cause of the incident through an internal special audit and take disciplinary measures against the responsible employee and exam committee member. It also decided to improve security management procedures, including the opening and handling of test questions.

However, criticism is mounting that similar issues continue to recur despite HRD Korea introducing measures to prevent recurrence after every major incident.

In last year's practical exams for Confectionery, Bakery, and Culinary Craftsman certifications, information on exam ingredients was leaked externally in advance, while reference materials that failed to reflect revised laws were used in the Certified Industrial Safety Consultant interview exam. In the Certified Public Labor Attorney exam, five absent candidates were mistakenly processed as passing due to a system error before their results were belatedly canceled.

The most severe incident was the national technical qualification exam answer sheet shredding incident in 2023. At the time, answer sheets belonging to 609 candidates across 61 categories, including Construction Machinery Engineer, were shredded along with exam papers scheduled for disposal instead of being transferred to the grading center.

An audit by the Ministry of Employment and Labor revealed that even before the answer sheet shredding incident, at least seven test management mishaps—such as omissions in delivering answer sheets—had occurred, yet HRD Korea failed to establish fundamental improvements. Although HRD Korea has since pursued the computerization of exam management, practical exams still heavily rely on manual labor for substantial parts of the process, including opening test papers, transporting answer sheets and works, and grading.

An official from HRD Korea stated, "For written exams, computerization is complete, resulting in zero operational errors over the past three years; however, practical exams still involve many steps requiring direct human verification, leaving a risk of accidents," adding, "We plan to phase in the computerization of answer sheet and work management as well as test paper opening and grading procedures to complete it by the end of 2027."

Kim Nam-hyung

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