Men and Women to Face Equal Standards in Firefighter Tests in Korea Starting 2027

Starting in 2027, the physical examination for firefighter recruitment will apply the same standards for both men and women.

A policy briefing on “The Improvement of Firefighter Recruitment Methods” was held at the Government Complex Sejong in Eojin-dong, Sejong City, at 11 a.m. on January 23, where this announcement was made.

Given the physically demanding nature of the job, field tests will be conducted for firefighters and the general public by gender and age this year. From the 2027 recruitment exam, the evaluation will be carried out on a gender-neutral basis.

Currently, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia all use the same fitness standards for firefighters. However, there are concerns that this may be unfair to women, as they tend to have different physical characteristics than men. Currently, firefighters are effectively competing against each other based on their gender.

Of the 1,560 firefighters recruited last year, 93% were hired through a quota system where the number of hires by gender was predetermined. The remaining 7% were recruited in a gender-neutral manner for non-fieldwork areas such as computing, communications, psychological counseling, and fire investigations.

In response, Baek Deok-gon, the Fire Service’s Planning and Coordination Officer, explained, “While there could be issues of gender bias, the fundamental intention of this policy change is to ensure the basic physical strength of firefighters for safe and efficient fieldwork.”

However, Officer Baek added, “Whether we will adopt a scoring system or an absolute evaluation pass-fail system has not yet been decided. If we adopt a scoring system, we will minimize bias in hiring men and women.”

He noted, “If the empirical data analysis results show that it becomes impossible for any female to be hired, we may need to reconsider the standards. Suppose the actual proportion of female hires dramatically decreases. In that case, we will maintain the current quota system to ensure certain positions for each gender, thus creating competition within the same gender.”

Furthermore, the Korean Fire Service will change the test items from the current six essential physical fitness items to five circulatory items reflecting the characteristics of fire duties and a long-distance shuttle run starting in 2027. The five rotating events, designed to measure the strength and endurance necessary for firefighting duties through motion analysis, include climbing and descending stairs, pulling a fire hose, carrying heavy objects, Rescuing people, and holding equipment. These items are based on situations and movements frequently encountered during fire suppression, rescue of people, and transportation of emergency patients.