The South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City will eliminate the separate residency requirements that previously restricted civil servant hiring to either Gwangju or South Jeolla Province, building a unified recruitment system following the administrative merger.
The special city said all local civil servant examinations newly announced after its July 1 launch will open eligibility to residents anywhere within the special city's boundaries.
Previously, only Gwangju residents could sit for exams administered by Gwangju, and only South Jeolla residents could sit for those administered by the province. Going forward, anyone living anywhere in the South Jeolla-Gwangju area will be eligible to take the special city's examinations.
The change also means civil servants hired by the special city will not be assigned solely to Gwangju or the former South Jeolla Province — they may be posted anywhere across the entire merged jurisdiction.
Where the old Gwangju and South Jeolla examination systems or eligibility standards differ, the city said it will apply whichever standard is more favorable to applicants.
The city also plans to establish a specialized recruitment framework to meet administrative demand in future industries such as semiconductors, AI and digital technology. Open-position, fixed-term and experienced civil servants will be recruited on a rolling basis as staffing needs arise.
Ongoing recruitment for Grade 8 and Grade 9 civil servants announced before the merger will proceed separately under the original hiring plans of the former Gwangju city government and South Jeolla provincial government, not under the new integrated system.
Under the former South Jeolla Province's plan, 1,546 candidates are being recruited through open competition across 26 job categories at Grades 8 and 9.
Interviews will run from Aug. 3 to Aug. 14, with final successful candidates to be announced in September.
The written examination for Grade 9 experienced-hire positions in fields such as medical technology and driving is scheduled for Aug. 29, while the written tests for Grade 7 open recruitment and Grade 9 high school graduate experienced-hire positions will be held Oct. 31.
Veterinary and specialist research positions will also be filled through experienced-hire recruitment, and fixed-term staff across 23 fields — including investment attraction, livestock disease prevention and livestock product inspection — will be recruited on a rolling basis.
Under the former Gwangju city government's plan, 599 candidates are being recruited through open competition across 25 job categories, including 53 at Grade 8 and 546 at Grade 9.
An additional 16 experienced-hire positions will be filled separately, covering Grade 7 veterinary roles, Grade 9 medical technology and driving positions, and veterinary research specialists.
Interviews and final selections for the Grade 8 and 9 open and experienced-hire positions will take place from next month through September. Nine candidates across four job categories — including Grade 7 open recruitment, Grade 9 technical high school experienced-hire positions and records research specialists — will be selected by year's end.
Selection has already been completed for eight fixed-term positions in fields such as urban planning, curatorial research and clinical veterinary medicine, along with seven security officers and six public service workers. A unified written examination to select 67 employees across 11 public institutions is also currently underway.
sij@heraldcorp.com
