Following recruitment, promotion is based primarily on seniority, except for a number of direct entry recruitments at the seventh and fifth rank, through the passing of the seventh and fifth rank examinations (고등고시).
For those passing the exam and entering the service at the fifth rank, this is equivalent to 25 years of seniority working from the bottom up.
Similar exams existed for the legal profession, called the bar examination (the Korean system differed significantly from those in other jurisdictions in that passing the exam was in itself was sufficient to enter the profession and one need not have attended a law school and received a law degree) and for the Korean foreign service.
[2] The first test includes language logic, data analysis, situational judgment, Constitution, Korean history, and English.
Language logic, data analysis, and decision-making are called PSAT (Public Service Aptitude Test) and each has 40 questions.