85,000 SKoreans to compete for 'iron ricebowl' jobs

Tens of thousands of South Koreans will descend on the capital Seoul this weekend to apply for "iron ricebowl" jobs with the city government, officials said Thursday.

Special package tours and an extra train service have been laid on to cater for the rush of people sitting an annual qualifying exam on Sunday.

Civil service jobs still guarantee life-long (iron ricebowl) employment while layoffs are getting more common in private firms.

The city government said 85,000 people, including some 40,000 from the provinces, would be competing for 1,133 positions.

"The biggest merit that the civil service job has is undoubtedly job security," a Seoul city spokesman told reporters, also citing the "not that bad" pay and other fringe benefits.

The Seoul city government draws more job seekers than others because unlike other local authorities, it allows applicants from outside the city.

National rail operator KORAIL said it would lay on an extra train this Sunday from the southern city of Busan and tickets for it have already been sold out.

Tickets on regular high-speed train services to Seoul on Sunday morning were sold out weeks ago.

The city government holds exams for separate types of job on different days to ease congestion. The second exam on August 17 will attract some 43,000 applicants.

韩国首都首尔市的有关官员于本周四称，数万人将于本周末“进都”赶考，争夺被喻为“铁饭碗”的政府公务员职位。

首尔市一年一度的政府公务员资格考试将于本周日举行，目前韩国铁路部门已做好相关准备，将推出套票和加开临时列车迎接“赶考大军”。

与眼下私营企业频频开人的状况相比，政府公务员职位则是稳定而有保障，成为众人眼中的“铁饭碗”。

据市政府介绍，今年将有85000人争夺首尔市的共1133个公务员职位，其中包括4万外省考生。

首尔市政府的一位发言人在接受记者采访时说：“众所周知，政府公务员的最大好处就是稳定。”另外，他说，不错的薪酬和其它福利待遇也是其吸引人的地方。

首尔市政府公务员的报考盛况之所以超过其它省份，是因为首尔市允许外地人报考，而不像其它地方政府仅限于当地人。

韩国铁路运营部门KORAIL公司称，他们将于本周日加开一辆从南部城市釜山开往首尔的临时列车，目前这趟列车的车票已售完。

此外，所有于本周日早晨抵达首尔的高速列车车票也已于数周前售完。

为避免考生过于集中，首尔市政府按照不同的职位类别设置了不同的考试日期。今年的第二场考试将于下月17日举行，参考人数预计将达到约43000人。