YONHAP NEWS

Education Ministry to unveil law school list

   SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- The Education Ministry was expected Monday to unveil the list of universities selected to open law schools next year, as those reportedly not chosen threatened to file a class action suit to put the new system on hold.

   South Korea's plan to launch the U.S.-style law school system faced a make-or-break moment as controversy mounted on accreditation of schools, a matter of survival for colleges with law programs.
The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae has stepped in and pressured the ministry to reconsider, saying its initial list of 25 schools lacks regional balance.

   Whether the ministry and the presidential office reached a compromise over the weekend was not yet known, but no major changes are likely, a senior ministry official said. If the ministry decides to add new schools, the selection and announcement process will be further delayed and the law schools may even have difficulty opening in March next year as scheduled, the official said.

   "We will try to find the common point of compromise, assuring that the tentative law school list is maintained, and announce the final list on Monday afternoon," the official said on Sunday.

   Non-selected schools fear that their law programs will suffer a significant plunge in their rankings, even forcing some to close. Schools have spent heavily to boost their qualifications by constructing new buildings and recruiting well-known professors, so schools that are not selected face financial losses.

   Twelve schools in Seoul and 13 from provincial cities have been chosen from 41 applicants. An annual quota of 2000 students was set for the first classes at the new schools.

   The post-graduate system, replacing the state bar exam, seeks to meet the rising demand for lawyers and produce legal experts from various backgrounds. South Korea's legal market is expected to open in the coming years when the country's free trade agreement with the United States, signed last year, is ratified by the legislatures of both sides.

   The controversy on accreditation arose from the matter of how many new lawyers should enter the legal market each year. Schools have called for an annual quota of at least 3,000 students, while lawyers' organizations have sought to reduce the number due to concern over an excessive number of legal practitioners and rising competition.

   The current national bar exam, to be phased out by 2013, produces about 1,000 legal professionals each year. The ministry set the number of initial students at 2,000, and the quota for each school at less than 150.

   Even selected schools say such a restrictive quota will diminish their financial strength and educational qualities.

   A group of 60 law professors from across the country called on the ministry to hand over the selection authority to the incoming government of Lee Myung-bak, who takes power from President Roh Moo-hyun on Feb. 25.

   "All the controversy stems from the excessive state control of the student quota," said the joint statement released Sunday. "The current government has just caused confusion with no principles and it should stop the process and hand it over to the next government."
Some professors of Seoul's Dongguk University, one of the well-known universities that lost its bid, shaved their heads in protest. School officials continued their demonstrations in front of the ministry in downtown Seoul.

   hkim@yna.co.kr
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