| / Korea Times file |
By Chyung Eun-ju
The results of South Korea's last state bar exam were announced Tuesday.
The Ministry of Justice posted the list of 55 successful candidates on its homepage.
There will be no more opportunities to enter the legal profession through the written test, known as "sasi," that has nurtured more than 20,000 lawyers, prosecutors and judges in the nation since 1963. "Sasi" is a compound word with "sabeob" (judicial) and "siheom" (exam).
This year's exam had three rounds – the first was a written multiple-choice test, the second an essay that passed 186 candidates, while 55 of them went to the third round of an interview over two days.
The final candidates were enrolled in the Judicial Research and Training Institute for two years.
The competition rate was 3.38 to one, which was lower than 2016's 4.66 to one.
According to the supplementary provisions of the National Bar Examination Act, the exam will be abolished on Dec. 31. From next year, to enter the legal profession, aspirants will have to graduate from a law school and pass a test.
During the late Roh Moo-hyun's presidency in 2007, the National Assembly passed legislation that allowed universities to establish law schools and replace sasi for a U.S.-style bar exam, which only law school graduates could apply for. The law schools began their first enrollments in 2009. There are about 25 law schools nationwide.
| / Korea Times file |
"Law schools have failed us," said Kwon Min-sik, a representative from a civic advocacy group, as he filed a petition against the abolishment of sasi on Oct. 7 -- three days before the last sasi was taken. He had previously called the abolishment "an outright violation of freedom to choose jobs and assume public posts."
Sasi created several rags-to-riches stories, as it was a symbol of fair competition. Roh was one such example -- a poor farmer's son with a high school diploma who became a prominent human rights lawyer through sasi and later South Korea's 16th President.
But Roh ironically pushed to abolish the test that was open to anyone regardless of academic, family or regional background. Knowing that those who passed sasi tended to come from elite schools and create their own cartels, he wanted to root out such academic elitism.
Despite sasi's demise, many people continued to prepare for the test because of the cost of law schools.
"Law schools' tens of millions of won in tuition fees hinder fair competition among candidates, making it virtually impossible for poor, ordinary citizens to seek legal careers," said Lee Jong-bae, 39, a representative of bar exam takers.
"Even after students graduate from law schools, the name values of their schools affect their future careers and those with powerful parents tend to get more advantages."
But Oh Soo-geun, head of the Korean Association of Law Schools, and others who support the abolishment claim that the new law allows for "quality recruitment." They argued that sasi was an outdated system and its supporters were trying to hold on to their own interests.
"Law schools allow us to foster legal minds through a comprehensive education process instead of a one-time test," Oh said.
Former Korea Bar Association President Wi Cheol Hwan admitted that "we cannot deny the hope that the sasi gave, that anyone could pursue a legal profession. We have to find a new system that will replace sasi for the underprivileged."