About 10,000 police officers will be deployed for security and safety activities related to this week's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), the National Police Agency (NPA) said Monday.

On Thursday, about 509,800 high school seniors and graduates are set to take this year's CSAT, seen as one of the nation's most important annual academic events.

The NPA said 10,506 officers will be mobilized to safeguard the delivery of exam papers and answer sheets from Monday to Thursday and guard the testing sites and the answer sheet processing center until Dec. 9.

CSAT exam papers and answer sheets will be delivered to 1,396 testing sites in 86 testing districts across the country from their printing center in the central administrative city of Sejong, while marked answer sheets will be sent to their processing center in the central province of North Chungcheong.

During the transport of exam papers and answer sheets, one patrol car with two police officers will be operated for each route, the NPA said.

In addition, a team of two police officers will patrol the storage facilities of exam papers and answer sheets once every two hours, while regional education offices will be responsible for their overall security, including access control.

Two police officers will be placed at the entrance of each testing site, and patrol cars will stand by until the end of the test.

Every year on the day of the exam, police forces are also dispatched in the early morning to escort students to their designated testing sites by motorcycle or patrol car during the rush hour.

The CSAT is the culmination of years of hard work for many students, and the government not only increases public transport to help students get to their test centers on time but also bans overhead flights during the English listening section. (Yonhap)