Starting with the first local civil servant recruitment exam after the launch of Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Integrated City, the residency restrictions that previously separated South Jeolla Province and Gwangju will be abolished.
The civil servant hiring system will also be significantly overhauled, with applicants who attended schools in the Jeonnam-Gwangju area becoming eligible to sit the exam even if they do not currently reside there.
Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Integrated City announced the key changes to its local civil servant recruitment exam on Saturday.
Under the revised rules, exams announced after the merger took effect on July 1 will be conducted through two separate tracks — one for integrated city-wide recruitment and another for recruitment by individual city, county and district.
Under the old system, only Gwangju residents could apply for Gwangju city positions, and only South Jeolla Province residents could apply for provincial positions.
From this exam cycle onward, however, residents of both South Jeolla Province and Gwangju may apply for both the integrated city-wide track and the individual district track.
Wando, Jindo and Sinan-gun will retain their residency restrictions, limiting applicants to those from those areas.
To meet the residency requirement, applicants must have had their registered address within the integrated city before Jan. 1, 2026, and maintained it through the scheduled exam date — or have accumulated at least three years of combined residence in the Jeonnam-Gwangju area prior to Jan. 1, 2026.
As a result, applicants who previously lived alternately in South Jeolla Province and Gwangju may combine their time in both areas to meet the residency requirement.
Starting next year, eligibility criteria and the exam system will be further reformed.
A new pathway will be added to the existing residency requirement: graduates of elementary, middle or high schools, or universities in the Jeonnam-Gwangju area will be eligible to apply even if they do not meet the standard three-year residency threshold. Graduating from any one school in the area will be treated as satisfying the three-year residency requirement.
sij@heraldcorp.com
