YONHAP NEWS

Education Ministry delays announcing law school list

占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Yonhap) -- The Education Ministry said Thursday that it has postponed announcing the list of universities selected to open law schools until next week amid fierce protest by schools that were not chosen.

占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 The losers are planning a class action suit against the ministry after an internal ministry report leaked to the media on Wednesday showed that they were not among the selected 25 colleges.

占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 "The report has yet to receive final authorization from the ministry, and the authorization is being delayed," said Park Jung-jae, a ministry official handling the process.

占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 He said which universities were chosen and how many has not been conclusively decided yet. The announcement will be made on Monday next week, not Thursday as originally scheduled, he said.

占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 With South Korea set to launch a U.S.-style law school system in March next year, schools have made do-or-die efforts to be selected. Losers will likely suffer a significant plunge in their rankings as well as financial losses from investments in new buildings and professors.

占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 Twelve schools in Seoul and 13 from provincial cities have been chosen from 41 applicants, according to the report by the law school preparatory committee of the Education Ministry.

占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 Losing universities demanded a review. Im Ki-taek, dean of Cheongju University College of Law, whose law school bid failed, traveled to Seoul along with 450 professors and students to meet with Education Minister Kim Shin-il in vain. "We want to meet the education minister because it's no use talking to junior officials," he said after his request to meet the minister was rejected.

占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 The post-graduate law school system, replacing the state bar exam, seeks to meet the rising demand for lawyers and trained legal experts from various backgrounds ahead of the opening of Korea's legal market.

占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 The overall entry of the first year students is set for 2,000. The existing bar exam, which provides for about 1,000 new legal professionals every year, will be gradually phased out until 2013.

占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 The 25 Korean law schools will emulate the U.S. system that requires three years of full-time study after the completion of an undergraduate degree in any major. Law school graduates have to pass the bar exam before practicing. They will be able to take the bar exam in 2012.

占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙占쌉ㅿ옙占실ㅿ옙 [email protected]
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