3-Line Summary > - The Public Procurement Manager qualification is not a requirement for bidding. You don’t need to wait to obtain the qualification; you can start preparing your bid now. > - The order of bid preparation is ① Check KONEPS (Nara Marketplace) registration information → ② Direct Production Confirmation → ③ Certificate management and expiration dates. > - Direct Production Confirmation has a 2-year validity period, and you must reapply within 30 days before expiration to maintain continuous validity.
Table of Contents 1. Public Procurement Manager: First Written Exam, Separate from Bid Qualification 2. Why a Metal Storage Cabinet Factory Sought Public Sales Channels 3. KONEPS (Nara Marketplace) Registration Information Had Stopped 3 Years Ago 4. I Didn’t Know Direct Production Confirmation Had Expired 5. Matching 4 Major Insurance Records and Withholding Tax Returns 6. Women’s Enterprise Confirmation Was Not Applied for This Time 7. The Day of the Site Survey and the Subsequent Results 8. Changes in the Procurement Market After the First Exam 9. Procurement Bid Preparation Checklist 10. Administrative Agent (Administrative Scrivener) Office Services
1. Public Procurement Manager: First Written Exam, Separate from Bid Qualification
I am an administrative agent (administrative scrivener) working in Songdo, Incheon. I’m introducing an experience I had last month while working on procurement matters.
The first written exam for the Public Procurement Manager a newly established national technical qualification last year, will be held on October 3rd this year. As applications opened for registration in mid-September, the procurement inquiries coming to our office have changed slightly. Previously, there were many questions about “How do I register with KONEPS (Nara Marketplace)?” but now these questions are mixed in.
"Do we now need someone with this certificate before we can bid?"
The answer is no. The Public Procurement Manager qualification certifies the capabilities of procurement personnel at a national level. To participate in bidding, a company must have KONEPS (Nara Marketplace) bid participation qualification registration and, depending on the item, meet requirements such as Direct Production Confirmation. There is currently no regulation requiring certificate holders. Whether ordering agencies will utilize this qualification in the future needs to be monitored through announcements, and individual verification is necessary for each case.
However, this misunderstanding is causing some companies to postpone preparations for months. That’s what happened with a company I consulted with last month.
2. Why a Metal Storage Cabinet Factory Sought Public Sales Channels
It was a small manufacturing company in an industrial complex in Incheon, making steel storage cabinets and shelving for libraries. They have twelve employees. The founder, the father, stepped down due to health problems, and his 30-something daughter became the representative three years ago.
The situation was this: a private furniture distribution company that accounted for more than half of their sales significantly reduced orders this year. Factory rent and the salaries of twelve employees remain the same. The representative was looking at supplying to public institutions as a new sales channel. They also wanted to attend the Public Procurement Consultation Fair held by the Incheon Chamber of Commerce and Industry in mid-October.
The problem was the preparation plan. The office employee decided to take the Public Procurement Manager exam, and the representative decided to start bidding "after final passing, which is in December." They thought they could attend the consultation fair next year.
The day I received the phone inquiry, I asked for just two things. That they confirm whether KONEPS (Nara Marketplace) login was working, and that they send photos of all procurement-related documents in the factory. Two days later, the representative and the employee came together for the scheduled appointment. Because I had received the photos in advance, the consultation started with checking what needed to be done.
3. KONEPS (Nara Marketplace) Registration Information Had Stopped 3 Years Ago
The first obstacle was the login. This company had registered with KONEPS (Nara Marketplace) when the father was the representative. With the launch of the next-generation KONEPS (Nara Marketplace) in January 2025, login shifted from corporate certificates to individual user accounts. This is the most common issue for companies that only had corporate certificates. The employee tried a few times and dismissed it as a "site error."
After resolving the login issue and opening the registration information, two more issues arose.
- The representative’s information was still the father’s name. Three years have passed since the representative changed, but the change application had not been submitted.
- The registration field was only ‘Supply Goods’. It appears they chose this when they initially registered, keeping a few distribution transactions in mind.
The second issue was more important. The requirements for supply goods and manufactured goods are different. If you supply products you make yourself under a supply goods registration, the problem may not end with a rejection. For products reserved for competition among SMEs, it becomes an issue at the stage where direct production is verified after the contract award.
Therefore, I determined the order. We would first apply for the change of representative and the addition of the manufactured goods field, and while those documents were being processed, we would prepare Direct Production Confirmation. The two procedures did not need to wait for each other.
4. I Didn’t Know the Direct Production Confirmation Had Expired
The representative said, "We have one my father obtained." Looking at the certificate in the photos she sent, I saw that the validity period had ended 5 months ago.
Direct Production Confirmation is valid for 2 years. If you reapply within 30 days before the expiration date, the validity period continues for another 2 years from the day after the expiration date. If you miss those 30 days, there’s a gap, and you can’t respond to notices that come out during that gap. This company didn’t bid during the gap period, so there was no harm. However, it had to be applied for anew, not renewed.
The first thing I saw in the new application was the factory requirements. If the total floor area is over 500 square meters, a factory registration certificate is required; if it’s under 500 square meters, the building register must show the use as 'factory' or 'manufacturing facility'. This company’s leased factory was about 420 square meters. When I checked the building register, it showed the purpose as a manufacturing facility. The requirement was met.
Small businesses using leased factories often fail at this point. The room next door in the same building is often used as warehouse space. I checked whether the production space listed on the application matched the use shown on the building register, room by room.
5. Matching the Four Major Social Insurance Records and Withholding Tax Returns
The Direct Production Confirmation documents don’t end with just filling out the list. The documents are checked against each other.
- Business Registration Certificate: Whether the business type for the applied items is included.
- Four Major Social Insurance Business Site Subscriber List: How many production workers are working in the factory.
- Recent 3-Month Withholding Tax Payment Status Report: Whether those workers are actually receiving salaries.
This company was flagged on the third point. The list showed seven production workers, but the number of employees on the recent 3-month withholding tax return fluctuated between five and six. Two people were hired two months ago, and one person’s start date was at the end of the month, so their first salary was paid the following month.
There were no errors. However, the examiner could suspect whether the employees listed on paper were actually working just by looking at the numbers. So, I compiled the employment contracts, start dates, and salary transfer records of those two employees into one document as supporting evidence. Explaining things proactively before they are asked can reduce the number of requests for supplementation.
The administrative staffer did their part at this point. They had just read about the Direct Production Confirmation system while studying for the exam. They quickly pulled the start date and payment date from the payroll ledger. What they learned for the exam was put to use right away in preparing the documents.
6. I Didn’t Apply for Women-Owned Business Confirmation This Time
The representative asked me a question first. "I heard that if the representative is a woman, you can enter into a contract through negotiation as a women-owned business."
She had heard that the limit for private (negotiated) contracts with businesses such as women-owned businesses and small businesses has been raised to 100 million won. While the amount criteria and applicable targets need to be confirmed for each contract, it is true that a confirmation certificate can be a way to enter into a contract without a public notice.
However, Women-Owned Business Confirmation doesn’t just look at the title of representative director. It looks at whether a woman actually owns and manages the company based on her equity and representative status. This company’s father held most of the shares. If they applied now, there was a high probability of rejection.
I judged that it was better to wait until the requirements were met before applying than to have a rejection record. Changing the equity structure was a matter for the family to decide. I just organized the requirements. The representative said, "I’ll talk to my father about this first," and folded the documents.
Women-Owned Business Confirmation is valid for 3 years and there is no separate renewal procedure. You must apply anew one month before expiration. Even if you receive it later, you need to keep track of that date separately.
7. The Day of the On-Site Investigation and Subsequent Results
When you apply for direct production confirmation, the investigator will visit the factory to check the equipment, personnel, and production processes. The schedule for the on-site investigation was set ten days after the application.
Before the investigation, I confirmed two things at the factory. I checked whether the cutting, bending, welding, and painting processes for the applied items were carried out within the factory itself, and if any processes were outsourced, what those were. Because they had previously outsourced some of the painting work, I compiled a record of transactions for the past year to define the scope. I told them to answer truthfully if they were asked, without hiding anything.
On the day of the investigation, a small incident occurred. The investigator noticed the Public Procurement Manager exam book spread out on the office desk and said, "I was planning to take the exam this time, but I missed the registration." The employee looked embarrassed and covered the study materials, and after that, the investigation proceeded in a much more relaxed atmosphere.
The results are as follows:
- KONEPS (Nara Marketplace): The change of representative and the addition of the manufactured goods category were approved.
- Direct Production Confirmation: The certificate was issued within three weeks of the application. There were no requests for supplementary information.
- Public Procurement Consultation Fair: We completed the participation application and, after a preliminary demand survey, two consultations were scheduled.
If the representative had waited until December, the consultation fair and the year-end bidding season would have passed. The office employee takes the written exam three days after this article is posted.
8. Changes in the Procurement Market After the First Exam
The Public Procurement Manager exam is held only once this year, with the written exam on October 3rd, the practical exam on November 14th, and the final passing announcement on December 18th. Please refer to the announcement from the implementing agency for the detailed schedule.
What deserves attention first is the background of this new qualification. The government creating a qualification for procurement specialists means that this work has become that complex. The following changes will occur:
- Procurement methods will become more diverse. According to the government’s public procurement reform plan, pilot operations of autonomous procurement for some items are currently underway in Gyeonggi Province and Jeonbuk State. The plan is to expand autonomous procurement by local governments and public institutions starting in 2027. Incheon is not a pilot region. However, since the announcement conditions vary by agency, you will need to read each announcement individually.
- Confirmation certificates will become a prerequisite for bidding. Registration for participation in bidding, direct production confirmation (2 years), confirmation of women-owned business (3 years), and confirmation of small and medium-sized enterprise (on a yearly basis) all have different expiration dates. If even one expires, you will be unable to submit a bid that day.
- The role of procurement specialists will become more important. Specialists with the qualification have strengths in announcement interpretation and document management. However, there is no reason to postpone preparations for this year until you wait for the results of the exam.
9. Public Procurement Preparation Checklist
If you are preparing for public sales channels, please check the following:
1. Whether login to the KONEPS (Nara Marketplace) is done through representative or designated person authentication. 2. Whether the registered representative information and registered field (supply goods/manufactured goods) match the current company. 3. What the expiration date is for the direct production confirmation certificate, and whether you have noted the 30-day reapplication window in your calendar. 4. Whether, if the factory is less than 500 square meters, the building register use is factory or manufacturing facility. 5. Whether the number of employees on the four major social insurance records and the number of employees reported in the most recent three months’ withholding tax returns match, and whether you have supporting documents if there is a discrepancy.
10. Administrative Agent (Administrative Scrivener) Office Services
The Hwang Yun-sang Administrative Agent (Administrative Scrivener) Office provides services for the preparation and submission of the following documents in the procurement and public bidding fields:
- Application documents for registration and change of participation eligibility in the KONEPS (Nara Marketplace)
- Preparation of documents for direct production confirmation and pre-checks before the on-site investigation
- Application documents for confirmation of small and medium-sized enterprises and women-owned businesses
- Integrated management and renewal application for registration and confirmation certificate validity periods
- Submission of opinions regarding notification of restrictions on participation in bidding, and preparation of administrative appeal petitions.
This is a story constructed to aid understanding.
