Republic of South Korea
Legal Education
Structure of legal education Legal education in the Republic of South Korea is
undergoing a fundamental transition.
Under the old system, which will run parallel to the new
system until 2013, there are three stages to the process of
admission to the Korean Bar. First, typically, would-be
lawyers attain an LL.B. (that is, undergraduate) degree.i
About 13,000 students per year receive LL.B. degrees.
Second, they study for two to three years at a school that
prepares them to take the Korean Bar Examination.ii
Because the LL.B. is not required to practice law in South
Korea, some would-be lawyers enroll in bar preparation
classes without completing the degree, and indeed without
holding an undergraduate degree at all.iii Those who pass
the bar examination (which has a pass rate of less than 5%)
must study for an additional two years at Korea’s Judicial
Research and Training Institute and pass a final exam
before they are admitted to practice.iv
The new system of legal education is based on a
postgraduate law school model. Starting in 2009, twentyfive Korean universities were given permission to establish
law schools by the Ministry of Education.v
Students attend
these schools for three years, and receive J.D. degrees upon
successful completion.vi They then take the Lawyer
Admission Test (which is distinct from the Korean Bar
Examination); once they pass this exam, they are eligible to
practice law in Korea.vii The first Lawyer Admission Test
will be administered in 2012.