Lee Jong-yeop, President-elect of the Bar Association, and Kim Jeong-uk, President of the Seoul Bar Association, Hold Emergency Press Conference... "Withdraw the Extension of the Law School Vacancy Replacement System"

Lee Jong-yeop, President-elect of the Korean Bar Association (right), and Kim Jung-wook, President of the Seoul Bar Association, are holding an emergency press conference on the afternoon of the 8th at the Bar Association Hall in Seocho-dong, Seoul, condemning the Ministry of Education's proposal to extend the vacancy replacement system. Photo by Choi Seok-jin

[Asia Economy Reporters Seokjin Choi and Daehyun Kim] Lee Jong-yeop, president-elect of the Korean Bar Association, and Kim Jung-wook, president of the Seoul Bar Association, opposed the government's proposal to extend the law school vacancy replenishment system and called for the withdrawal of the amendment to the enforcement decree of the Law on Professional Graduate Schools of Law (Law School Act).

On the afternoon of the 8th, Lee and Kim held a "Press Conference Condemning the Extension of the Vacancy Replenishment System" at the Bar Association Hall in Seocho-dong, Seoul, and announced their position. The vacancy replenishment system allows law schools to fill vacancies caused by non-registration or withdrawal with students up to 10% of the total admission quota in the following year's entrance examination.

Lee stated, "The Ministry of Education has announced a legislative proposal to extend the validity period of the vacancy replenishment system for four years until the 2024 admission process," adding, "The Ministry of Education's move lacks justification and has not gained consensus from the legal community or the public, so it must be stopped immediately."

Kim pointed out, "The vacancy replenishment system was temporarily introduced to compensate for financial shortages during the early stages of law school introduction, and many law schools are now operating very stably," emphasizing, "There is no reason for the Ministry of Education to mechanically extend the vacancy replenishment system."

He further criticized, "The vacancy replenishment system results in an increase in the total quota of all law schools, pushing graduates into excessive competition, thereby undermining the principles of fair competition and the development of law schools."

The law school system has been producing about 1,500 lawyers annually since its introduction in 2009. Currently, lawyers who graduated from law schools reportedly account for more than 40% of the total number of lawyers.

Last year, the number of bar exam passers reached 1,786, and the number of lawyers has increased by about 10,000 over the past five years.

Meanwhile, the vacancy replenishment system was introduced to support law schools facing financial difficulties and has been operated for four years from 2010 to 2013, three years from 2014 to 2016, and four years from 2017 to 2020.

Last year, the Ministry of Education announced a legislative proposal to amend the enforcement decree to extend the validity period of the law school vacancy replenishment system under Article 6, Paragraph 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Law on Professional Graduate Schools of Law for four years until 2024. However, facing strong opposition from the legal community, the Ministry announced a revised enforcement decree amendment on the 29th of last month, reducing the extension period to two years.

Meanwhile, Lee added, "The Bar Association conducted an objective evaluation of the entire law school curriculum through the Special Committee on Law School Evaluation, launched in October last year," and said, "We will provide and disclose the results to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education."

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