Nearly five out of 10 new lawyers remain unemployed, the Judicial Research and Training Institute (JRTI) said Wednesday, proving that Korea's legal service market is indeed frozen.
Being awarded a lawyer's license in Korea was once believed to be a surefire way to be rich and ascend societal ranks, but the belief has been shattered in recent years by the saturated domestic legal services market.
A total of 978 trainees will graduate from the institute late this month, it said, and 44.4 percent of them, or 351, have not been hired by any company here. The other 627 trainees are set to become judges, or prosecutors or lawyers belonging to law firms or companies, it said.
The ratio is higher than the two previous years of 44.1 percent in 2008 and 35.9 percent in 2007, according to the state organization that provides training for the bar exam.
"Major law firms here have significantly cut their recruiting volume this year amid the gloomy outlook," a JRTI spokesman said. "Previously, most of those who left the institute unemployed earned a full-time job at a law firm or a private or public company within six months of graduation. Unfortunately, it's unlikely this year."
A senior judge expected that those ranked below the top 400 in scores would find it hard to secure a high-paying job.