Test scores play an integral role in life of a South Korean. For some men, this appears to apply even to their mandatary military service.

Since the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army, or KATUSA, is widely perceived as an opportunity to practice the language and enjoy enhanced welfare as a soldier, interest in enlisting as a KATUSA soldier is high. Potential applicants have been turning to cram schools to get the required English scores.

Some of these institutes are run by ex-KATUSA soldiers who know a thing or two about spending time in the U.S. barracks, in a bid to appeal to their potential clients. There are even some exclusive classes designed just for KATUSA aspirants.

Active KATUSA soldiers are picked by a public lottery in November each year. The applicants are asked to hand in their English test scores meeting the minimum requirement earlier in August.

Korean men who are eligible to enlist have to earn scores of 780 or above at the Test of English for International Communication, or the equivalent scores in four other written English tests and three oral proficiency tests, to qualify for the lottery session.

Yang Jun-kyu, a KATUSA reserve soldier, said he chose to attend one of the cram schools in his pursuit of joining the unit.

“I was able to earn the score I wanted by the deadline (for the KATUSA application),” said the 26-year-old Yang, who entered the force in January 2010.

When he was chosen, Yang once again turned to a private course, to prepare himself for communication in English.

“I was still worried after I was accepted,” he said. “I was not fully confident with my English skills then.”

The minimum English requirement was introduced in the 1980s as part of the military authorities’ struggle to find those suitable for the job.

According to the Military Manpower Administration, KATUSA soldiers were randomly selected from the ROK Army’s basic training camp until 1987. It was in 1987 that an entry examination was introduced, and applicants were tested on English, Korean, ethics and Korean history. Half of the quota was still filled by selection from the ROK Army.

TOEIC was first adopted in 1996 as means to measure English proficiency of KATUSA soldiers. In the beginning, those with the highest scores were accepted. Two years later, the Korean Army employed the lottery system among all applicants with a TOEIC score of above 600 to unify the conscription system.

The minimum TOEIC score was 600 or 700 for 10 years until 2008, when the minimum was raised to 780.

Lim Hee-joe, a self-help book author and private TOEIC instructor, sees himself as a mentor for aspiring KATUSA soldiers. He went through the then-26-month service as a KATUSA military policeman starting in 1998.

The popularity Lim gained with his special classes for aspiring KATUSA soldiers has allowed him to operate a blog to share experiences as a KATUSA military policeman covering some 20 U.S. military posts. In 2013 he published “All About KATUSA,” a self-help book that delves into the KATUSA routine.

With the applicants being allowed to submit their oral proficiency test scores instead of the written ones, it has motivated some cram schools to provide intensive classes for speaking.

For instance, a two-week cram course by one of the institutes promises to help applicants earn above Level Intermediate II in the Oral Proficiency Interview by Computer.

The oral test result was included as a required document as part of the Korean Army’s move to address the lingering problem that a high written test score does not necessarily correspond with a good command of spoken English.

By Son Ji-hyoung (json@heraldcorp.com)