South Korea approves jeans for civil service interviews, bans neckties and dress shoes

South Korea’s Ministry of Personnel Management announced new attire guidelines for national civil service job interviews, encouraging candidates to wear casual clothing like jeans and sneakers while explicitly banning neckties and formal dress shoes. The updated rules, which take effect for government interviews scheduled in October 2026, aim to create a less rigid environment and ease financial pressures on job seekers.

Under the detailed directives posted to the national civil service recruitment system, the ministry explicitly requested that both male and female applicants avoid wearing traditional formal suits. Recommended alternative clothing options include jeans, cotton pants, slacks, knitwear, jackets, shirts, and sneakers. Conversely, items such as athletic wear, hiking clothes, shorts, sleeveless tops, high heels, and slippers are discouraged.

Notably, neckties and formal dress shoes are strictly prohibited. To enforce the rule, ministry officials stated that candidates arriving with neckties will be asked to remove them before entering the evaluation rooms. Candidates wearing formal dress shoes will be instructed to put slip-on shoe covers over their footwear.

The ministry explained that the ban on formal dress shoes is partially practical: the noise generated by hard-soled dress shoes clicking against hallway floors has repeatedly caused operational disruptions and distractions during examination sessions.

Although the South Korean government has informally advised candidates to drop ties and dress more simply since 2016, the vast majority of public-sector applicants continued to rely on dark formal suits and dress shoes out of fear of being evaluated unfavourably. To break this trend, the ministry accompanied its update with artificial intelligence-generated example images demonstrating acceptable casual styles. Furthermore, the relaxed dress code will also apply to the interviewers themselves to foster a more natural exchange.

The decision has drawn varied reactions across social media and job applicant forums. Supporters praised the policy for reducing the cost of purchasing single-use suits and alleviating psychological stress. Others expressed concern that eliminating the universal standard of a basic suit might induce new anxiety over choosing an appropriately casual outfit.