Democratic Party's Pledge to Introduce Open University and Night Law School... "Tuition Reduced to One-Fifth"

Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending and presiding over the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 11th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The Democratic Party announced on the 11th a pledge to introduce the Korea National Open University (KNOU) and evening law schools. This is explained as a measure to restore the ladder of social mobility and support office workers and socially disadvantaged groups.

The principle is to maintain the current admission standards, academic, and establishment criteria set by the three-year daytime law school program. To secure quality faculty, a small-scale budget support will be provided to KNOU.

In the case of KNOU, the academic management system will be maintained the same as regular online classes, but a certain number of in-person attendance classes will be required. Practical training will be conducted by designating regional national universities, courts, prosecutors' offices, law firms, and public institutions as cooperating organizations.

The admission quota will be set at no more than 100 students each for KNOU and the evening law school, totaling no more than 200 students. The Democratic Party stated, "The current law school quota and the socially appropriate number of lawyers will be reasonably considered in the decision."

Separate quotas for bar exam passers are not allowed, and the pass rate will be decided through social discussions, maintaining about 75% of the total law school quota. Tuition fees average around 10 million KRW, but for KNOU, they will be set at one-fourth to one-fifth of that amount.

The Democratic Party said, "Since the abolition of the judicial examination in 2018, law schools have been solely responsible for training legal professionals, but the tuition and incidental costs are high, and the selection process is inevitably favorable to those in their 20s and 30s. Therefore, there is a need to introduce evening and online law schools to complement the shortcomings of law schools, consider socially disadvantaged groups, and cultivate legal professionals with diverse experiences."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.