Medical licensing exam candidate who failed by 0.1 point demands disclosure of scoring criteria... Court rules it is subject to non-disclosure

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A candidate who failed the clinical skills section of the Korean Medical Licensing Examination by a margin of 0.1 point requested disclosure of the scoring criteria, but the court held that the information remains subject to non-disclosure even after the exam has ended. The ruling is based on the view that the need to preserve the fairness and discriminatory power of the test is greater.
According to the legal community on the 19th, Administrative Division 8 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Yang Soon-joo) ruled against the plaintiff last November in a lawsuit filed by a Korean Medical Licensing Examination candidate, identified as A, seeking to overturn the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute’s refusal to disclose information.
A received 717.897 points on the clinical skills test, which is 0.103 point below the passing score of 718, and therefore failed. Under the item-based criteria, candidates must pass at least 6 out of a total of 10 stations to pass, but A passed only 5.
A then requested disclosure of information regarding the stations that were not passed, including scoring elements, scoring scale levels, scores for each level, performance characteristics, and the cutoff scores for passing and failing. The Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute refused, arguing that disclosure of such information could seriously impede the fair administration of the examination.
A brought the lawsuit, asserting that the Institute had not sufficiently presented specific grounds for non-disclosure and that, because the exam had already concluded, there was no realistic risk of interference with its operations. A also argued that, at a minimum, partial disclosure should be possible rather than a complete refusal.
The court did not accept these arguments. The bench found that the Institute had clearly articulated its reasons for non-disclosure and that the information in question falls within the categories of information exempt from disclosure under the Official Information Disclosure Act.
The court held that it was necessary to take into account the operational method and characteristics of the clinical skills component of the Korean Medical Licensing Examination, which is administered using a question bank system.
“If, under a question bank system, the content and structure of the scoring items are disclosed, there is a very high likelihood that A, as well as other candidates, will prepare for the clinical skills test solely on the basis of the disclosed scoring items,” the court stated, adding, “In that event, the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute would face considerable difficulty in fully assessing candidates’ actual abilities through the clinical skills test.”
The court also found that there are practical limits to changing the scoring items every year in order to maintain discriminatory power once the criteria have been disclosed. In such a scenario, the content of the scoring items would have to be altered annually or their structure modified, which would impose an excessive burden in terms of time and cost.
With respect to the subjectivity inherent in scoring clinical skills, the court held that a certain degree of subjectivity is unavoidable. “Given the nature of the subjects tested, the scoring items for the clinical skills exam are inevitably somewhat subjective,” the court noted, adding, “If the content and structure of the scoring items are disclosed, there is a high risk that the Institute will be drawn into constant disputes over their validity.”
The argument for partial disclosure was likewise rejected. “The scoring items for the clinical skills test are organically interconnected with the content and methods of evaluation,” the court held. “If the evaluation scales for each evaluation item are disclosed, it would still be sufficiently possible to infer the specific evaluation methods, even if the concrete evaluation content is redacted.”  
scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter