Korean Bar Association Expresses Regret Over Ministry of Justice's Decision to Set Bar Exam Passers at 1,744

"Failure to Reflect the Reality of Lawyer Oversupply"

The Korean Bar Association (KBA) expressed its regret to the Ministry of Justice over the decision to set the number of successful candidates for this year's bar exam at 1,744. The KBA had initially insisted that the number of successful candidates should be set at around 1,200.

The KBA argued, "The meeting of the Ministry of Justice's Bar Examination Management Committee on April 24 lasted for only about two and a half hours, from 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Among the 15 members of the committee, only three are lawyers."

The KBA pointed out, "The harsh reality faced by practicing lawyers, the harm to the public caused by oversupply, and the various social problems have not been fully reflected due to the structural issues in the composition of the Bar Examination Management Committee."

The KBA called on the government to: research objective statistics and indicators to determine the appropriate number of lawyers; gradually reduce and consolidate legal-related professional qualifications; promptly abolish the vacancy supplementation system; announce the specific number of successful candidates in advance when publishing the bar exam implementation plan; and rationally reform the composition of the Bar Examination Management Committee.