“Does law school cost a lot of money? ‘Wrong incitement’… ‘Night law school’ is a dangerous and fruitless idea.”

Interview with Kim Jeong-wook, president of the Seoul Bar Association
Approximately 20% of law school students receive ‘full scholarship’
Law school admissions ‘blind’ screening
“Night law school will become ‘hope torture’”

‘Law school costs a lot of money, and the admission process is not fair.’

This is a misconception that many people have about law school. Kim Jeong-wook, president of the Seoul Bar Association, passionately said, “This is something that cannot happen,” and “This is a case where false propaganda was socially successful.”

Chairman Kim, who met at the Bar Association in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 22nd of last month, began by saying, “Because of the distorted image, people no longer see objective content and data,” and “It’s unfortunate.”

“It’s impossible to not go to law school because you don’t have money. In law school, socially disadvantaged students are exempt from tuition without exception. Living scholarships are also available.

Over the past 10 years, I’ve heard too many people say they want to go to law school but are worried because they don’t have the money. When you meet such people, I tell you to research them accurately. Then, applicants look into it again and say, ‘I was about to give up on going to law school, but this is a really good system for someone like me.’ “There are many cases where people come to me after becoming a lawyer.”

According to the ‘Law School Fact Check’ published by the Law School Association in 2021, about 20% of vulnerable students among all law school students received full scholarships every year from 2017 to 2020. During the same period, approximately 32% of all law school students received scholarships worth more than 50% of their tuition. This means that one in two law school students receives a scholarship.

Chairman Kim also said, “Even if you are not eligible for support, all law school students can receive loans at the lowest interest rate from the Korea Scholarship Foundation or financial institutions.” He added, “It is right to study with your own money, and that is how I completed my studies.” He continued, “It is important to create an environment that institutionally minimizes the economic burden so that student loans can be repaid in the future,” and emphasized, “The law school system is good in terms of economic support.”

Chairman Kim also dismissed speculation surrounding the fairness of law school admissions, saying, “Family relationships are all blinded, and making them known becomes grounds for disqualification.” The Association of Law Schools also said in February of this year, “We are introducing blind screening to prevent parents’ occupations from acting as an advantageous or disadvantageous factor,” and added, “What is important in law school admissions is not social or economic background.”

Chairman Kim points out that despite this being the reality, the widespread misperception about law schools is a remnant of false claims made years ago.

“About 10 years ago, there was a strong movement in the legal community to somehow undermine the law school system and preserve the bar exam. In the process, they misled public opinion by publishing distorted statistical data over a five-year period. The prejudices created at that time still remain. In 2016, the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee created an advisory committee to improve the legal training system, and after reviewing and discussing all the facts, the bar exam was abolished the following year. I also participated as an advisory committee member. “When I spoke based on objective data, the members of the Legislative and Judiciary Committee were surprised, saying it was their first time seeing such data.”

In the same context, Chairman Kim said, “There is no reason to create a night law school. Law school is a system that does not place a financial burden on students who do not have money. “The premise itself is wrong,” he said.

“In relation to night law school, there is talk of equality of opportunity, saying that even just one high school graduate should have an opportunity. Between 2005 and 2016, there were 6 high school graduates who passed the bar exam, but strictly speaking, they were not high school graduates. To take the bar exam, you had to complete at least 35 credits of law courses through credit bank or self-study. From 2009, when the law school was introduced, to 2016, there were 73 people who obtained a bachelor’s degree through a credit bank or similar method and entered law school. In fact, based on the number of high school graduates who graduate from the legal profession, about one person takes the bar exam every two years and about 10 people enter law school each year. “Equality of opportunity is nothing more than a false claim.”

Chairman Kim said, “The law school system is training lawyers from a much more diverse range of universities,” and added, “I think this is proof that there are many opportunities for everyone.”

In fact, according to the Law School Association, while those who passed the bar exam had 34.5 universities, the number of universities that those who passed the bar exam had graduated from was 76.7, more than doubling. The proportion of successful applicants from Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University was 53.11% in the 2008-2017 bar exam, but decreased to 48.34% in the 2012-2020 bar exam.

Chairman Kim said, “Everyone is saying that if a night law school is established, the passing rate for the bar exam will be around 1%,” and declared, “The vast majority of (night law school students) will only be tortured by hope and will not be able to pass the exam.”

“Every year, the law school selects socially underprivileged students through special screening, accounting for more than 7% of all admitted students. I understand that even the bar exam passing rate for those studying full-time is very low, around 10%. First of all, there is no imaginary number of bar exam takers who want to take the test just for experience. It is a difficult test to pass even if you study properly, but the idea of ​​passing by studying in your spare time while working is an idea that is far from reality. “If you do that, you will never pass.”

Chairman Kim raised his voice, saying, “Almost all advanced countries in the world only operate a law school system,” and “Nevertheless, in the past, they have taken advantage of the fact that each country has a different exam name to pretend that there is a bar exam system overseas.”

“Almost all legal experts agree that even in Japan, the preliminary exam is a failed system. There is a serious concern that if the legal selection system is operated in an overlapping manner, the problem of large-scale failure to pass the civil service exam may be revived. Some countries have created circuitous systems without careful consideration and are experiencing serious side effects. Whether it’s night law school or online law school, this detour is dangerous and has no real benefit. “If the National Assembly or government policy makers investigate the reality and reconsider, such talk will not come up.”

Reporter Park Jin-young [email protected]

[ⓒ 세계일보 & Segye.com, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]