Half of Korea's law school graduates fail the bar exam. Is there a solution?

Many Korean law graduates struggle with bar exam costs and pass rates, prompting calls for reform, including revisiting the previous judicial exam system.

Advertisements for the judicial examination system, which was abolished in 2017, are posted on a wall in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, on June 21, 2017. [YONHAP]

With only half law school graduates passing Korea's bar exam and the financial burden of repeated failure rising sharply, many students are turning to expensive cram schools and voicing renewed calls for reform — including a revival of the abolished national judicial exam or the introduction of an alternative path like Japan’s “preliminary exam” system.

“If I fail again in the exam next January, it’ll cost me another 25 million won [$18,170],’” said a student surnamed Jang, 28, a law school graduate who introduced himself as a “three-time bar exam retaker” earlier this month.

Though Jang had always been confident in academics, after repeatedly failing the bar exam, he enrolled in a Spartan cram school this April.

“I had never even gone to such a place even during the college entrance process,” Jang said, shaking his head. “The financial and emotional burden is growing by the day, but if you don’t get your law license, graduating from law school means nothing. There’s no room to skimp on tuition.”

Like Jang, it has now become common for law school graduates to turn to private academies after graduation. The main reason is that the bar exam's pass rate has hovered around 50 percent since 2016. Of the 3,336 applicants who sat for the 14th bar exam in January this year, 1,592 failed.

Candidates are only allowed to take the exam five times, making the competition even more intense.

“Among law school graduates and even current students, going to a bar exam prep academy is no longer optional — it’s seen as essential,” Jang said.

Test-takers head into a judicial examination center in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on June 21, 2017. The judicial examination was abolished in 2017, replaced by the U.S.-style law school system. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The problem is that many bar exam candidates are already stressed by high expenses even before entering law school, and those costs continue through graduation.

“I spent more than 10 million won on academies just to get into law school, paid 14 million won in annual tuition, and now I have to pay expensive bar prep fees too,” said another student surnamed Choi, 26, a law student nearing graduation. “It’s widely accepted that three years of law school cost more than 100 million won, so unless you're from a high-income family, it’s an overwhelming burden.”

This is why critics around the legal profession refer to the current law school system as a “modern-day privileged appointment system.”

This trend is also reflected in actual data. A total of 68.2 percent of domestic law school students last year were either from households in the top 20 percent income bracket — earning a monthly recognized income of more than 11.46 million won — or were high-income students paying full tuition without state scholarships, according to recent statistics from the Korea Student Aid Foundation.

That number has stayed within the 68 to 70 percent range for three consecutive years. In contrast, only 5.86 percent of law school first year students last year were from low-income families eligible for full tuition support — a figure that has remained in the 5 percent range for three years running.

Advertisements for the judicial examination system, which was abolished in 2017, are posted on a wall in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, on June 21, 2017. [YONHAP]

As financial burdens rise, the average student loan per law school student jumped by 30 percent, from 9.73 million won in 2017 to 12.61 million won last year.

This has sparked renewed discussion about reinstating the old judicial examination system — known as the sasi, an abbreviation of the Korean name for the exams — even among current law school students.

“Everyone’s shelling out big bucks for cram schools, without a summer break, because they believe the first summer break is when you have to solidify your foundation for grades and law firm internships,” said Lee Ji-hyun, 26, a law student taking a summer intensive course in civil law this month. “Once you fall behind, it’s almost impossible to catch up. That’s why more people are saying, ‘If this is how much money and endless competition it takes, maybe it was better to just take the sasi like in the old days.’”

Once considered one of the most prestigious and grueling exams in Korea, the judicial examination, or sasi, was the traditional path to becoming a judge, prosecutor or lawyer. Administered by the government until its abolition in 2017, the exam was known for its extreme difficulty and meritocratic promise, allowing even those from humble backgrounds to enter the legal elite. Former President Roh Moo-hyun famously passed the exam without a university education.

Justices of the Constitutional Court take their seats for the ruling on a lawsuit to determine the constitutionality of the abolition of the judicial examination system at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Dec. 28, 2017. [JOONGANG ILBO]

However, concerns about fairness, lack of practical training and social stratification led to its replacement by the U.S.-style law school system in 2009, gradually phasing out the exam.

President Lee Jae Myung further fueled the debate on June 25 when he said, “The law school system has been established for a long time, so scrapping it won’t be easy,” but added, “I think we could allow those who prove themselves capable to qualify as lawyers without going through law school.”

“I’m considered low-income and get tuition support, but I can’t even think about affording academy fees,” said another law school student surnamed Lee, 29, who is receiving scholarships. “The idea that anyone can succeed from humble beginnings feels like a thing of the past now.”

The legal community is approaching the issue cautiously.

“The fairness of the law school admission process has already been validated,” said the Korean Bar Association in a statement issued on June 27. “Rather than reopening old debates that cause institutional confusion and social conflict, we need to diagnose the structural problems in the current law school system and seek ways to improve and supplement them together.”

Noryangjin, Dongjak District, southern Seoul, known as the home of cram schools for government entrance exams, is pictured on March 26, 2019. [YONHAP]

Some within the legal field are also floating the idea of introducing Japan’s preliminary exam system as an alternative. Japan implemented such a system in 2011 to provide law school alternatives for aspiring legal professionals who cannot afford the financial or time burden.

Those who pass the preliminary exam are given five chances to take the bar exam, just like law school graduates. The system has been evaluated as having diversified the pipeline for legal professionals to a certain extent.

However, in Korea’s academic circles, many say adopting such a system would require significant coordination with the existing law school structure and thus should be approached with careful discussion.

“There are diverging interests between regional and Seoul law schools, between law schools and undergraduate law departments, and even across different fields of study, so it will not be easy to form a unified stance,” said Choi Bong-kyung, president of the Korea Law Professors Association and a professor at Seoul National University’s law school. “Future discussions on how to improve the current law school system must help strengthen the foundation of legal education and deepen the rule of law and democracy.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff. BY HWANG KUN-KANG [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]