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November 25, 2009
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| The annual state bar exam for judges, prosecutors and lawyers this year saw the largest number of candidates, 22, fail the interview, the final stage of a three-step screening process, the Justice Ministry said yesterday. In the annual test, now in its 51st year, 1,109 passed the second stage but only 997 got through the final hurdle. The ministry adopted what it calls “in-depth” interviews in the bar exam in 2006. That year, seven candidates failed the bar exam even though they passed the second stage. In the past two years, 21 examinees have failed the in-depth interview, which was devised to gauge candidates’ knowledge of law and their presentation skills. Although candidates were required to take interviews since 1996, only one failed the interview until 2006. “The outcome [for this year] came after we followed the advice of the national bar exam management committee to strictly assess the capacity and qualifications of lawyers-to-be by making the interview more substantial,” a ministry spokesman said. Under the Korean legal system, candidates who pass the annual bar exams qualify for the two-year training course at the Judicial Research and Training Institute where they choose to become lawyers, prosecutors or judges. This year, as in previous years, alumni of Seoul National University made up the largest portion passing the bar exam, at 264, followed by Korea University at 169 and Yonsei University at 117. Sungkyunkwan University and Hanyang University trailed with 69 each. Men accounted for 64.4 percent of the successful takers, or 642, and the number for women shrank by 27 from last year. The oldest successful candidate was a 48-year-old man who graduated from Seoul National University, while the youngest is a 22-year-old senior at Ewha Womans University. By Seo Ji-eun [spring@joongang.co.kr] JoongAng daily Hot issue
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