1. On October 25, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a notice on the planned examination for the recruitment of junior professional officers (JPOs) for the year 2017.

o Applications will be received from October 25 until November 18. Further details are available on the website of the Foreign Ministry’s International Organizations Recruitment Center (http://unrecruit.mofa.go.kr/).

2. The JPO program is a system in which the government dispatches with its own budget its nationals to the UN and other international organizations for them to work there for up to two years and become experts with international competency and experience. The JPO program has contributed significantly to increasing the number of Korean nationals working for international organizations, as can be seen from the fact that since it was introduced in 1996, more than 80 percent of former JPOs have landed jobs at international organizations.

3. This year, a total of 11 JPOs will be recruited. Following international organizations’ paper screening and interviews, or written tests, they will be dispatched to a range of international organizations located in various regions around the world in the first half of next year.

o They will be dispatched to eleven organizations, including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) (New York, the US), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR, Geneva, Switzerland), the UN Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM, New York, the US), the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO, New York, the US), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR, Peshawar, Pakistan), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Panama City, Panama), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), the International Criminal Court (ICC) (The Hague, the Netherlands), the World Health Organization (WHO) (Geneva, Switzerland), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) (Maputo, Mozambique).

4. In addition to dispatching JPOs, the Foreign Ministry is making various efforts, including dispatching volunteers under the UN Volunteers (UNV) program, operating the International Organizations Recruitment Center, and holding briefings and meetings on job opportunities at international organizations, in order to support Korean nationals seeking to join international organizations.

※ The Foreign Ministry and the Incheon Metropolitan City will co-host a “Foreign Ministry-Incheon international organizations-MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and events) career fair” at Songdo Convensia in Incheon on November 17.

5. The Foreign Ministry expects many young, competent and promising talents to apply for the JPO exam for the year 2017.

※ For any queries, contact the Foreign Ministry’s International Organizations Recruitment Center.
- E-mail: UNrecruit@mofa.go.kr / website: http://unrecruit.mofa.go.kr


* unofficial translation