Science museum to hold AI-era mock civil service exam for elementary students

The National Gwacheon Science Museum will hold a national science competition for elementary school students that reworks Korea's traditional civil service examination for the age of artificial intelligence, with an online preliminary round opening Oct. 16 and the final round set for Nov. 14.

The competition, named the 2026 AI New Gwageo, is open to elementary school students nationwide and is meant to test critical thinking, questioning ability and creativity through science problems. It marks the 18th anniversary of the museum's opening.

The online preliminary round, called the chosi in a nod to the first stage of the old state examinations, runs from Oct. 16 to Oct. 29 on a mobile website. Participants will answer 20 multiple-choice and true-or-false questions on science and artificial intelligence topics, and the top 230 scorers will advance. The list of finalists will be posted on the museum's website on Nov. 12.

The final round will take place Nov. 14 in the central hall of the museum's main building. Contestants will sit at floor-level desks meant to evoke the old examination halls and solve problems drawn from the scientific principles behind the museum's permanent exhibitions.

Prizes borrow the titles of the traditional examination: one champion, or jangwon, two runners-up and three third-place finishers will be selected, each receiving a scholarship and a certificate. The champion will also be presented with a royal edict and a flowered hat in a staging of a past examination pass.

"The faster artificial intelligence develops, the more important it becomes not only to know things but to judge what is right, ask good questions and carry that into new ideas," said Lee Chung-won, director of the National Gwacheon Science Museum. "I hope the AI New Gwageo becomes a new examination ground where children can enjoy science and build the strength to think for themselves."

The event is organized around a narrative in which the gathered wisdom of the student scholars completes the second-stage intelligence of a robot named G1, with the competition closing on a declaration that the upgrade is finished.

Registration details and the full schedule will be posted later on the museum's website and official social media accounts.