South Korea’s Justice Ministry has finalized 1,714 successful candidates for the 15th bar exam and issued recommendations to overhaul how lawyers are selected and trained, including adopting absolute grading for elective subjects.
The ministry said April 24 it set the pass list after deliberations by the bar exam management committee on April 23 and after reflecting opinions from the Supreme Court, the Korean Bar Association and the council representing law schools. Those who scored at least 889.11 points passed, for a total of 1,714.
The number of passers was down 30 from a year earlier, when 1,744 passed. Of 3,364 test-takers, the pass rate was 50.95%. Measured against the law school admissions quota of 2,000, the pass rate was 85.70%.
The first-time pass rate was 70.04%. Among examinees who used all five attempts allowed over five years, the cumulative pass rate was 88.43%. The ministry said detailed grading results and statistics will be posted on its website next month.
The ministry said it also provided accommodations for 26 examinees with disabilities, including five with severe disabilities such as total blindness. Support included extended testing time, computers with voice assistance and dedicated proctors.
The bar exam management committee also adopted broader reform recommendations as the law school system marks its 15th year, citing ongoing debate over the supply and demand of legal services and concerns about normalizing law school operations.
The ministry said it will improve the selection and training system by considering changes in economic growth, population decline, shifts in legal demand and environmental changes such as artificial intelligence.
On elective subjects, it recommended moving toward absolute grading, provided that a credit-completion system and achievement-based evaluation indicators are put in place, to address weaker links between education and testing and heavy concentration in certain subjects.
The ministry said the recommendations aim to normalize law school education and build a training system that can respond to a changing legal environment.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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