By Chung Ah-young
The government's flip-flop on its decision to delay the abolishment of the state-administered bar exam until 2021 is intensifying a row between law school students and those who want the exam to be retained.
A group of university students that supports the bar exam submitted a petition to the Ministry of Justice, Monday, urging it to maintain its policy.
The move comes while the ministry is having cold feet after its decision was met with a strong backlash from supporters of the alternative to the bar exam, the law school system.
The exam advocacy group collected some 870 signatures from university students who want the government to keep the bar exam.
"Law school students are threatening the government with irrational means. The ministry should not give in to their collective intimidation," the group said in a statement.
Furthermore, they urged the Ministry of Education to stop providing support for the law schools. "The law school students, who benefit from the government's support, are now threatening people with collective action to boycott the academic schedule instead of seeking to become legal professionals," they said.
Until 2009, the bar exam was the only way to obtain a license to practice law in Korea. The Roh Moo-hyun administration decided to adopt a U.S.-style law school system in order to provide more legal professionals.
The exam was supposed to be scrapped in 2017. However, the justice ministry ditched the plan, citing the results of a public opinion poll that 85.4 percent of respondents wanted to keep it.
The exam proponents claim that the exam offers people equal opportunities to become a legal professional. They argue that the law schools, where tuition can amount to 30 million won per year, are only beneficial to those wealthy enough to afford this.
Some 6,000 students at law schools nationwide vowed to drop out to protest the government's decision.
Students at Seoul National University's law school began staging one-man rallies in front of Cheong Wa Dae, the National Assembly, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court, calling for a there to be no further delay.
The Korean Association of Law Schools, representing a group of law school professors, also threatened that professors will not participate in writing questions for the bar exam unless the government reverses its decision.
However, the Seoul Bar Association issued a statement that the professors' attempt to boycott the exam writing reflects their arrogance because they think the legal profession selecting system will not function without them.
"As educators, it is undesirable for the professors to neglect their students," it said in a statement.
The government's flip-flop on its decision to delay the abolishment of the state-administered bar exam until 2021 is intensifying a row between law school students and those who want the exam to be retained.
A group of university students that supports the bar exam submitted a petition to the Ministry of Justice, Monday, urging it to maintain its policy.
The move comes while the ministry is having cold feet after its decision was met with a strong backlash from supporters of the alternative to the bar exam, the law school system.
The exam advocacy group collected some 870 signatures from university students who want the government to keep the bar exam.
"Law school students are threatening the government with irrational means. The ministry should not give in to their collective intimidation," the group said in a statement.
Furthermore, they urged the Ministry of Education to stop providing support for the law schools. "The law school students, who benefit from the government's support, are now threatening people with collective action to boycott the academic schedule instead of seeking to become legal professionals," they said.
Until 2009, the bar exam was the only way to obtain a license to practice law in Korea. The Roh Moo-hyun administration decided to adopt a U.S.-style law school system in order to provide more legal professionals.
The exam was supposed to be scrapped in 2017. However, the justice ministry ditched the plan, citing the results of a public opinion poll that 85.4 percent of respondents wanted to keep it.
The exam proponents claim that the exam offers people equal opportunities to become a legal professional. They argue that the law schools, where tuition can amount to 30 million won per year, are only beneficial to those wealthy enough to afford this.
Some 6,000 students at law schools nationwide vowed to drop out to protest the government's decision.
Students at Seoul National University's law school began staging one-man rallies in front of Cheong Wa Dae, the National Assembly, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court, calling for a there to be no further delay.
The Korean Association of Law Schools, representing a group of law school professors, also threatened that professors will not participate in writing questions for the bar exam unless the government reverses its decision.
However, the Seoul Bar Association issued a statement that the professors' attempt to boycott the exam writing reflects their arrogance because they think the legal profession selecting system will not function without them.
"As educators, it is undesirable for the professors to neglect their students," it said in a statement.
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