Ulsan civil servant first in city to earn top urban planning license

A civil servant in Ulsan has become the first official in the city's history to obtain a professional urban planning engineer license, the highest national credential in the urban planning field.

Ulsan city announced Sunday that Kim Jin-young, 47, a grade-6 facilities official with the National Industrial Complex Division, passed the 138th Urban Planning Engineer examination administered by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea.

The Urban Planning Engineer license is the top national technical qualification in the field, requiring both advanced expertise and practical experience in urban planning. Only eight candidates passed the exam this year, reflecting its exceptionally high difficulty.

Drawing on years of hands-on experience, Kim began pursuing the qualification in March last year. He cleared the first written examination in February this year, followed by the second-round interview, and received final notification of his pass on May 29 — becoming the first Ulsan city official to hold the credential.

Kim joined the civil service in January 2003 and has built broad administrative experience across a range of departments, including the urban affairs division of Jung-gu, and Ulsan city's urban planning, investment exchange, and free economic zone promotion units.