Foreign Language HS Produces Most Judges in Korea

Daewon Foreign Language High School has overtaken Kyunggi High as the mother of the most incumbent judges in the country.

According to the Supreme Court’s report submitted yesterday to Rep. Lee Chun-seok of the main opposition Democratic Party, 58 of 2,386 incumbent judges graduated from Daewon, more than Kyunggi’s 38.

The two schools had similar numbers of alumni who became judges until last year. Daewon took over the top spot this year after 15 of its graduates were appointed judges early this year.

The number of judges who graduated from other special purpose high schools has increased since the mid-1990s, so judges from those schools have become the central force in the judiciary. Graduates of such high schools account for nearly seven percent of all judges.

The number of judges who graduated from such schools increased from just one in 1999 to 38 this year.

More than 110 applicants admitted this year to the Judicial Research and Training Center, an academy for aspiring judges and prosecutors, graduated from special purpose high schools.

The number of new judges who graduated from high schools in Seoul’s richest districts of Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa jumped from 14 in 1999 to 23 last year. Those from six major cities including Busan and Daegu declined from 62 to 51 over the same period.

In university background, nearly 60 percent of incumbent judges graduated from Seoul National University, while 15.1 percent were from Korea University and 6.3 percent from Yonsei University.

ceric@donga.com