The South Korean Bar Association is calling to cut the figure of incoming attorneys to 1,500 or fewer starting next year.
The Ministry of Justice just announced the passers of the South Korean Bar Exam. A total of 3,364 people took the test this year, the most ever, but 1,714 passed, 30 fewer than last year’s 1,744. This is the first time the number of passers has been reduced by at least double digits, while the number of applicants has increased.
The Association stated, “Thanks to the association’s continued calls for cuts, the number of passers, which had been fixed in the high 1,700s since 2020, has begun to shift downward,” but added, “It is regrettable that the adjustment level falls far short of the realistic proposal the association presented to reflect the severe saturation of the legal market.”
The Association maintains that the number of passers should be reduced to 1,500 or fewer. Because the legal market is already saturated, median income for lawyers is 30 million won a year, below the average wage income of 45 million won for regular employees, with some lawyers handling fewer than one case per month on average.
The main reason is that the current number of lawyers in South Korea exceeds the “appropriate” level by more than 5,000. The Association also cited the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) as a reason to reduce the number of new lawyers.
The Association also raised issues with how the number of passers is determined; Its statement read “this year again, the number was set not before the exam but at the management committee meeting on the very day of the announcement of passers, in about two hours and 30 minutes,” calling it “an opaque ‘backroom decision’ practice that is hard to accept.” It added, “Of the 15 committee members, five are law professors, while only three are lawyers who can reflect voices from the field.”
You can read more about this issue here.
Results from the last bar exam here in the United States have now been released in most jurisdictions. If you were unsuccessful, we at Marino Legal will give you a completely FREE score evaluation from our bar exam experts to show you what went wrong and exactly what you need to do to pass on the next try.
The Marino Family is dedicated to helping retaker students pass and urge you to contact us right away, as the sooner we speak to you, the sooner we can help you set up a game plan for success on the upcoming exam. Just submit your score report to us here or email us at info@marinolegal.com