The Korea Industrial Human Resources Corporation announced that all candidates will retake the General Mechanical Engineer practical exam to prevent any compromise of fairness following a question leak.
According to the corporation, it was confirmed that the questions for the '2026 Second General Mechanical Engineer Practical Exam' were disclosed a day prior, on July 25, at the exam venue.
The corporation identified that due to negligence by staff and examiners at one testing site, the exam papers were opened and used before the exam, and the information was subsequently shared on online communities for candidates.
As a result, the corporation decided that the leak could severely impact the fairness of the exam and equity among candidates, leading to the decision that all 57 candidates who took the exam on July 26 would be required to retake it.
The retake will take place from July 31 to August 5. Candidates can choose their preferred date and location within the corporation's affiliated institutions during this period.
Details regarding the schedule, locations, and application methods for the retake will be announced through the national qualification exam portal 'Q-Net' and will also be communicated directly to the candidates. Additionally, the corporation plans to provide a compensation payment to the candidates affected by the incident, in accordance with internal guidelines.
In response to the incident, the corporation has initiated a special internal audit to determine the exact cause of the leak and plans to impose strict penalties on the staff and examiners responsible. Furthermore, to prevent similar incidents in the future, the corporation intends to comprehensively improve its overall work processes, including the management procedures for exam questions.
A corporation official stated, "We sincerely apologize for the decline in trust in national qualification exams and for the concern caused to the affected candidates and stakeholders. We will do our utmost to implement related measures swiftly to restore public confidence in national qualification exams."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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