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Gender Discrimination in Recruitment of Police Officers [2003] KRNHRC 48 (1 October 2003)

A complaint was filed with the Commission in October 2003 to the effect that imposing
different age limits for application for the police open recruitment test was in violation of
the right to equality on grounds of gender. The age limit was 30 years or younger for male
applicants and 27 years or younger for female applicants.

Paragraph 1, Article 39 of the Police Officers Appointment Regulations stipulates the
application age limits on the open recruitment test for police officers differently based on
gender, from 21 to 30 years old for men and from 18 to 27 years old for women.
The National Police Agency explained, "Men in general go to the army after graduation
from high school, so most men can only apply for the open competition recruitment test for
police officers at the age of 21 or older. Thus, the age limit from 21 to 30 years olds was
set". On the other hand, the Agency stated that it is reviewing measures to raise the age
limit on application to be same for both men and women because the percentage of
four-year college graduates among successful applicants older than 25 years is increasing
regardless of gender, and in consideration of the view that fewer opportunities are given to
women than men as the result of the rule.

The Commission concluded that there were neither legal grounds nor good reasons for
the National Police Agency to
(1) limit qualification of male applicants to `those who finished military service
(including those exempted from military service or those to be transferred)' and
(2) to set the application age limit considering the period of military
service, despite the fact that related laws including the Police Officer Act and Police
Officers Appointment Regulations do not stipulate that the completion of military service be
included in the requirements for application for the police open competition recruitment test.
The Commission also concluded in consideration of the facts that
(1) a man cannot apply until he reaches the age of 21 whether he finished military service or not,
(2) opportunities for women to apply end at the age of 27, three years earlier than men, and
(3) the number of four-year college graduate applicants is increasing that the imposition of different age
limits on the ground of gender constitutes discrimination and violates the right to equality.
After examination of the case, the Commission presented a recommendation to the
Commissioner-general of the National Police Agency calling for revision to the Police
Officers Appointment Regulations such that age discrimination based on sex in application
qualifications be removed.