Korea arboretum agency wins award for AI-assisted hiring

The Korea National Arboretum and Garden Management Service, an agency under the Korea Forest Service, announced Wednesday that it received the Ministry of Personnel Management commissioner's prize at the 21st Human Resources Innovation Best Practices Competition for its efforts to build a fair and trusted hiring culture.

The competition, organized by the Ministry of Personnel Management, is designed to identify and promote outstanding examples of human resources innovation across central government ministries, metropolitan and provincial education offices, and public institutions — particularly in AI- and data-driven administration and work-life balance — amid a rapidly changing administrative environment.

The agency participated under the theme "Leading a fair and empathetic hiring culture through AI across the entire recruitment process." During the document screening stage, it used AI to check compliance with blind hiring requirements and flag application errors. In the written examination stage, it reviewed question difficulty levels and verified answers to assess the appropriateness of each item. For interviews, it conducted AI-assisted pre-interviews and provided the results to panel members as reference material.

Particularly noteworthy was the agency's decision to share AI pre-interview results as feedback with unsuccessful candidates. The practice drew praise not only for improving the efficiency of the hiring process but also for giving applicants meaningful reference material on their performance.

"We will use this award as an opportunity to continue improving our hiring system through new technologies such as AI, and to establish a hiring culture grounded in fairness and reliability," said Shim Sang-taek, president of the Korea National Arboretum and Garden Management Service.