From credentialing to workforce development: A comparative review of certification and human resource development for South Korea’s drug prevention and rehabilitation workforce

South Korea introduced a regulator-issued certification scheme for drug prevention education instructors and social rehabilitation counsellors in September 2024. This structured comparative policy review examines the scheme as a human resource management instrument, comparing it with arrangements in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan, and with the International Certified Addiction Professional (ICAP) framework, across twelve workforce-lifecycle dimensions. It also synthesises empirical evidence linking credentialing, training, supervision and incentives to workforce and service outcomes. By 2026, Korea had established a legal basis, a cumulative curriculum, practical examinations, demand-based regional allocation and five-year certification validity. However, the scheme remains entry-focused. Supervised practice is limited, while structured post-certification coaching, implementation-fidelity monitoring and a career ladder were not documented in the reviewed sources. Detailed renewal requirements and conduct rules were not publicly available. For the 2024 intake, 5.7% of instructor and 1.2% of counsellor enrollees had completed certification at the reporting point, not final pass rates. Conversion of previously appointed instructors supplied 352 of 429 certified instructors (summed across two reporting dates). No mutual-recognition mechanism was identified between parallel prevention-education streams funded by the same regulator. International evidence, drawn largely from treatment settings, links certification to lower occupational turnover intentions, while evidence connecting credentials to client outcomes remains inconclusive. Continued coaching and supervision support skill maintenance. Proposed priorities include transparent operating rules, structured renewal, post-certification coaching, recognition of prior learning, tiered credentials, cross-stream coordination and routine workforce monitoring. These priorities outline a transition from entry-focused certification towards lifecycle-based workforce development.