Korea National Diplomatic Academy

Diplomatic Competency Assessment

With the growing demand for enhanced professionalism and organizational competitiveness in the 21st century, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs revised the Foreign Service Act in 2005, and has been implementing the Diplomatic Competency Assessment since 2006.
The Diplomatic Competency Assessment is designed to determine which qualities are essential for a Foreign Service Officer(FSO) and to identify the potential of an applicant. All applicants are assessed on the competencies required for each level by multiple assessors through various methods such as role-play, presentation, and policy report. The assessment evaluates applicants for merit-based selection and promotion purposes, in order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in human resource management.

Assessment Schedule
- The Diplomatic Competency Assessment for Senior FSO is carried out twice a year (usually in May and October) to evaluate Senior FSO applicants. The date of competency assessment is decided after taking account of a number of factors, including the applicant’s work schedule, whether the applicant is serving at an overseas diplomatic mission and the applicant’s experience of working with the assessors.
Assessing Key Competencies and Skills for Senior FSOs
- An in-depth assessment of three core diplomatic competencies (network-building skills, diplomatic negotiation, and crisis management) is conducted. The applicants’ managerial competencies (strategic thinking, abilities to deal with changing circumstances, and conflict resolution ＆ mediation) are also assessed.
Assessment Methods
- The assessment program includes a simulation exercise. The simulation exercise depicts various possible scenarios that senior FSOs could face at overseas missions to test the applicants’ readiness. Also, other assessment methods include role-play, presentation, and policy report.

Assessment Schedule
- The Diplomatic Competency Assessment for Counselor-level FSO is carried out twice a year (usually in April and September) to evaluate Counselor-level FSO applicants. The date of competency assessment is decided after taking account of a number of factors, including the applicant’s work schedule, whether the applicant is serving at an overseas diplomatic mission and the applicant’s experience of working with the assessors.
Assessing Key Competencies and Skills for Counselor-level FSOs
- An in-depth assessment of three core diplomatic competencies (network-building skills, diplomatic negotiation, and crisis management) is conducted. The applicants’ managerial competencies (performance-orientation and internal conflict management) are also assessed.
Assessment Methods
- The assessment program includes a simulation exercise. The simulation exercise depicts various possible scenarios that Counselor-level FSOs could face at overseas missions to test the applicants’ readiness. Also, other assessment methods include role-play, presentation and in-basket simulations.

In addition, several Diplomatic Competency Assessments are conducted on occasion not only for applicants for open civil service posts, interchanges between Ministry staff, but also for ones for entry-level posts.