431 Pass Second Round of Grade 5 Open Recruitment; Cutoff Score Rises 3.50 Points to 56.33

[Financial News] This year, 431 candidates passed the second round of the national civil service Grade 5 open competitive recruitment, an increase of 56 from last year. Meanwhile, 52 diplomatic officer candidates passed the second round, down by two. The number of successful administrative candidates in the Grade 5 recruitment rose by more than 40, while the cutoff score for general administration in nationwide recruitment also increased by 3.50 points from last year.
The Ministry of Personnel Management announced on the 10th the 483 successful candidates in the second written examination for the 2026 national civil service Grade 5 open competitive recruitment and diplomatic officer candidate selection. This was 54 more than last year’s 429.
A total of 431 candidates passed the Grade 5 recruitment, including 126 in science and technology positions and 305 in administrative positions. Last year, 375 candidates passed, including 113 in science and technology positions and 262 in administrative positions. The number of successful candidates in science and technology positions rose by 13, while the number in administrative positions increased by 43, bringing the total number of Grade 5 successful candidates up 14.9%.
The planned number of final selections this year is 341 for the Grade 5 recruitment. A total of 1,943 people took the second examination. For diplomatic officer candidates, 266 people took the second examination for 40 planned positions, and 52 passed. This was two fewer than last year’s 54.
Cutoff scores for major job categories also shifted. The cutoff score for general administration in nationwide Grade 5 administrative recruitment was 56.33, up 3.50 points from last year’s 52.83. The cutoff for finance and economics rose by 0.58 points to 61.58, while that for legal administration increased by 3.25 points to 49.50.
Among science and technology positions, the cutoff score for general civil engineering in nationwide recruitment fell by 2.66 points to 74.11 from last year’s 76.77.
The changes were larger in some job categories. Broadcasting and communications (communications technology) recorded the biggest increase, rising 19.22 points from 50.22 to 69.44. Facilities (architecture, nationwide) fell 16.55 points from 64.88 to 48.33. Computer systems development also declined 10.33 points, from 84.66 to 74.33.
The cutoff score for general diplomacy among diplomatic officer candidates was 64.85, up 0.33 points from last year’s 64.52. Women accounted for 169 of the 483 successful candidates in the second round, or 35.0%. This was down 2.1 percentage points from last year’s 37.1%. Women made up 121 of the successful administrative candidates, or 39.7%, and 20 of the science and technology candidates, or 15.9%. Among diplomatic officer candidates, 28 successful candidates were women, accounting for 53.8%.
The average age of successful candidates was 28.2 for science and technology positions and 27.9 for both administrative positions and diplomatic officer candidates. Among science and technology candidates, the share aged 30 to 34 rose by 4.3 percentage points, from 19.5% last year to 23.8% this year. Among diplomatic officer candidates, the share aged 25 to 29 fell by 10.5 percentage points, from 77.8% to 67.3%, while the share aged 30 to 34 rose from 9.3% to 15.4%.
The third-stage interviews for those who passed the second examination will be held from October 12 to 15 at the Gwacheon Branch of the National Human Resources Development Institute. The final successful candidates are scheduled to be announced on October 30.
[email protected] Lee Bo-mi Reporter