Korean bar Association Calls for ⁢Reduction in New Lawyer Admissions

GWATCHEON, South Korea – The Korean ⁢Bar Association ‍(KBA) convened a rally on Tuesday in front of the Gwacheon Government ⁤Complex, ⁣home to the Ministry of Justice, advocating ‍for a reduction in the number of new lawyers admitted annually to 1,200.

Kim Jung-wook, president of the KBA, emphasized the need for an appropriate intake of new lawyers to maintain‍ the integrity of the national judicial system. “I strongly urge that the lawyer, ⁢the axis of the national judicial ⁣system, will be able to supply a new lawyer in an appropriate scale so that the lawyer,” Kim ⁣said during the rally.

Law School Expansion and Market Saturation

The KBA reports that ⁤approximately 1,700 ⁤new lawyers,⁣ graduates of the lawyer examination, have‍ entered the legal profession each⁤ year for the past five years.Since the introduction of law ‍schools in 2009, the⁤ total number of lawyers in South Korea has surged from 10,000 to over 30,000 ⁢last year.

Concerns over Competition and Ethics

Kim argued that ‍South Korea’s lawyer-to-population ratio is disproportionately high compared to countries with similar legal systems, such as Japan.⁢ He stated the ratio is ⁢approximately twice as high, ‍and the number of adjacent ‍qualifications (lawyers, tax⁣ accountants, patent ‍attorneys, etc.) is about ‍six times higher.

According to Kim, the increasingly competitive ‍legal market has led to⁣ commercialization, resulting in a ⁣rise in civil complaints and disciplinary cases against lawyers.

Call for Re-evaluation ⁢of Admissions ⁣Process

“The annual lawyer’s discharge water is about 1200, no⁢ matter how high,” Kim stated, suggesting that the current deliberation‍ process for lawyer admissions requires ⁣reorganization.

Approximately 300 individuals participated in the rally, ⁢including KBA President ⁣Kim Jung-wook‍ and Cho Soon-yeol, President of the ⁤Seoul District Lawyers Association.