The South Korean Blue House has confirmed that it is considering a plan to select an additional 50 to 150 legal professionals each year through a revival of certain components of the judicial examination, independent of the existing law school system. This review comes in response to criticisms that law schools (referred to as ‘theirs alone’ due to high tuition costs and perceived elitism) do not adequately represent the average citizen. The plan is expected to be finalized soon and reported to President Lee Jae-myung.

An official from the Blue House indicated that the proposal aims to address fairness in legal professional selection as the costs associated with law schools have deterred many potential candidates. Additionally, measures to minimize disruption during this transition are being considered, including a one-year training period for those selected via the revived exam before they sit for the bar exam alongside law school graduates.

The bar exam was abolished in 2017 to reduce resource waste from years of competitive study and to shift legal education from a test-focused approach to an education-centric one. The recent revival discussions reflect ongoing debates about fairness in law professional selection. Although President Lee previously proposed a partial revival of the bar exam during his 2022 presidential campaign, internal surveys indicate that over 70% of participants support the revival, reigniting this contentious issue in Korean society.