About 30 , 000 applicants have rushed to apply for the 9 th grade public official positions at the National Tax Office ( NTS ) via Internet from July 30 to Aug . 3 , boosting the provisional acceptance rate to 3 . 4 ~ 3 . 7 percent . The NTS is to select only 1 , 200 officials for 9 th grade positions . The “ bar exam wave ” has hit the nation hard as the general administration applicants have joined the competition . “ The number of applicants who have submitted their application on - line just two days before the due date has amounted to 30 , 035 . We are expecting the total number of applicants to exceed 33 , 000 , posting a record high since the NTS has commenced its business , ” said Won Jeong - hee , head of general affairs section at NTS , responsible for the applicant selection . The NTS has reported three main reasons for the popularity of the positions stating that a large number of applicants for the general administration have changed their minds to take the bar exam for the 9 th grade public official positions , the popularity of the bar exam among job seekers has surged and the applicants for other bar exams have decided to take the exam to get the ‘ feel ’ for it . The NTS will arrange the written - test exam halls in five regions nationwide and designate executives for the interviews . The result of the written test will be reported in October and the interviews will take place on Nov . 4 . [ Bo - yung Kim / KHS ] [ ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk . co . kr , All rights reserved ]