Why Korea’s youngest bar exam passer left top law firm for graduate school in translation

Park Ji-won, who made headlines in 2012 after passing Korea’s bar exam at the age of 20, has shared that she left her eight-year legal career to pursue graduate studies in translation and interpretation.

Seoul National University’s student-run YouTube channel Studio Sha (@snu_studiosha) released an interview Tuesday titled “Why the youngest bar passer at 20 left Kim & Chang,” featuring Park’s story.

Park, then a sophomore majoring in business at Seoul National University, became the youngest-ever person to pass Korea’s 54th bar exam. She later joined the country’s largest law firm, Kim & Chang, where she began her career as a lawyer.

But in 2023, she left the firm and started a new academic journey in translation and interpretation — a decision that surprised many.

When asked why she decided to leave the law firm, Park said, “The core question was whether this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

She added, “If becoming a lawyer had been a goal I pursued entirely on my own, maybe that motivation would have carried me through the hard times. But in reality, I only started studying for the bar exam because my parents encouraged me. I just kept going with the flow until I ended up here.”

Chose translation to avoid future regret

Park recalled that during her legal work, she was struck by the professionalism of an interpreter she collaborated with.

“They looked so cool,” she said. “I’ve always loved languages since I was young, and seeing the interpreter made me think, ‘If I’d chosen that path, I might’ve really enjoyed it and done well.’”

She also talked about the intense preparation it took to get into graduate school. In 2022, after giving birth to her second child and ahead of returning to work, she found out there was a prep academy for interpretation graduate school located near her home — one of only four in Seoul.

“It felt like fate,” she said. The exam date happened to fall before her return to work, and she decided to go for it.

“Right after coming home from the postnatal care center, I started studying by watching three online lectures a day,” she said. “I had this burning desire — maybe this is what I truly want. I studied like I did back when I was preparing for the bar, and I was accepted.”

Leaving a top law firm wasn’t easy. “Even after I passed the entrance exam, I wondered if it made sense to walk away from such a good job,” she said. “I took a one-year leave from graduate school to think things through. But in the end, I knew I would regret it if I didn’t give translation a shot. And now, I have no regrets.”

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.