In the year 2000, the College of Law celebrated its 50th anniversary since its establishment in 1950. Since then, it has produced many talented people, such as a Prime Minister and a Chief Justice. Along with the enlargement of Kwang-Bok Hall, the College of Law is preparing for a new century. The bill concerning the law school system is still pending in the National Assembly. As of now, separate scenarios and specific management plans are being prepared for each possible result. Because the College of Law is directly linked with Yonsei's takeoff, we cannot afford to lose our momentum. Hong, Bok-Ki, the Dean of the College of Law and the Graduate School of Law, began with an explanation of the present state of the College of Law of our University. It shows his sense of responsibility which arises from the belief that the accreditation of the College of Law as a Law School and the direction of its management will have a huge impact on the national and global standing of our university. "If the law school system is not introduced, we have to be reborn as the country's best college of law within the existing system. In terms of indicators, the extreme evaluation of colleges of law depends on the number of examinees who successfully pass the judicial examination. We must concentrate our efforts on establishing a definite goal and producing a greater number of successful examinees. The Vision of the College of Law, Yonsei Law 5-2-10-1 Making the Yonsei Law School the 2nd Best in the Nation Within 5 Years, and the Top Law School in Asia Within 10 Years The College of Law's mission is to cultivate lawyers promoting justice and democracy and to offer legal education that befits globalization through specialization and diversification. In order to complete this mission, the College of Law is presently establishing four grand visions, and in order to realize these visions, will undergo the following phases: First of all, the College has plans for becoming the best in the nation regarding performance in the judicial examination. It anticipates having 200 students pass the examination each year within the next five years. This, in turn, will improve the value of Yonsei's brand name, and through producing the best legal practitioners constructing an infrastructure, Yonsei College of Law will be established as the best in the country. It has plans to expand mock examinations and introduce a system of paid tutors with a view toward greater success in the preliminary examination in the first exam . Then for the main , we intend to introduce a system of mock examinations, reviews, and corrections conducted by professors, as well as provide increased scholarship funding. There are also plans to improve and expand the dormitories, examination preparation classes, and study room facilities. In the year 2006, 122 of the test takers who passed the exam were from Yonsei, making up 12.1% of the total number of those who passed. This is the largest number of exam passers in the history of Yonsei University. After a rapid climb in 2004, the number of annual exam passers has steadily increased, which suggests that it has entered a state of persistent improvement. Secondly, one cannot neglect the preparation for the conversion to a law school. The core of Yonsei Law School's vision is "Yonsei Law 5-2-10-1: within 5 years, reaching the 2nd best in the nation and within 10 years, becoming Number 1 in Asia." Now that the plan for introducing the law school system has been implemented, separate scenarios and specific management plans are being prepared for each possible result. Should the Law School system be introduced, the College of Law will put into practice its plans to improve the educational environment, administration, research capacities, educational program, and financial independence. With these objectives in mind, the College of Law has examined the external and internal environment as well as its present state, and simultaneously has paid visits to law schools in the United States and Japan with a view to benchmarking the top law schools. The third phase emphasizes the development of a globalized program. Plans are in action to establish a global law center which will help the globalization of the College of Law including research and exchange programs, rising to become the hub of Asia in research and cooperation. Starting with China, young scholars from every Asian nation will be invited to learn about the Korean legal system. There are also plans to establish an "In-Bound Program" that constructs a Yonsei network within Asia and an "Out-Bound Program" which expands Yonsei’s network with the most prominent foreign law schools along with the creation of collaborative degree programs. University degree association programs are operating in collaboration with the current American sister universities, which will expand to other American or foreign institutions. This will help entice the next generation of scholars and Korean students interested in foreign bar exams. Of course, the "Advanced Law Program” has been established as a short term education program involving eminent foreign professors and law firm attorneys. Plans have been made to actively increase the brand power through such partnerships as Yonsei-Columbia, Yonsei-Yale, and Yonsei-Beijing. A variety of other programs are also to be established and expanded, along with the enlargement of the exchange cooperation with foreign law schools and law firms that have already been chosen as the main focus of this vision. Finally, we seek to strengthen the research capabilities of the College of Law by reforming the existing law research center into the Institute of Legal Studies and to inspire the research in the College of Law by establishing advanced research centers under the Institute. Moreover, the present Chinese Law Center, Center for Law and Innovation, and the Center for American Law will be reorganized into more specialized, distinctive research centers. The publication of academic journals, the hosting of academic conferences, and the establishment of a research center funding program will contribute to promote the basic capacity of this research-based institution. A Concrete and Varied Plan for Innovation Establishing a Global Law Center, Establishing a Yonsei Law Firm, and Setting Up a State-of-the-Art Mock Court "The teaching staff at the College of Law has been reinforced with currently thirty-five professors, compared to its previous faculty of size of twenty. It will even reach forty soon, making a twofold increase. In the latest recruitment, we placed the priority in inviting those with international competitiveness and experience, having worked at major law firms in the country or in international practice. This surely represents our will to completely prepare ourselves for both the law school system and/or an open-door education policy." The College of Law is actively carrying out its plan designed to facilitate globalization, such as expanding English lectures and incorporating a joint diploma system. Still, the plan includes the founding of a global law center in the Song Do campus when the Law School Bill is passed, and establishing a Yonsei law firm in the university to provide students with the opportunity for practical training. This also suggests our will to reap multiple fruits by fully linking academic law with legal practice and, moreover, offering consultation services to Yonsei members and alumni. In addition to this plan, Dean Hong, Bok-Ki offers his ideas concerning the ‘State-of-the-Art Mock Court’. "We’re mapping out a mock court that is performed in the cyberspace. Actually, the courts and the prosecution are working out a similar scheme too. A current trial would require the presence of a judge, witnesses, a defendant, and a prosecutor. Experiments are made to set up a long-distance trial setting. The college can be a laboratory for that. That’s why we’re thinking of a mock court and taking advantage of the state-of-the-art electronic system. Lots of people say that legal circles are conservative, don’t they? Well, renovation is the first task for everybody today. It’s time to seriously think about the questions like “What should be the features of a judiciary for the people?” “What should a court for the people look like?”…Now we the University, I mean the Yonsei College of Law, is willing to go ahead with such a renovation." The plan seems quite convincing, since a new center is planned to be built, making use of the space available between the College’s front and rear yards. Everything is now ready and the College is carefully managing the external situation in order to cope with the change. Community called ‘Beob Hyeon’ and its Dream for Progress ‘Beob Hyeon’ is a word that represents the Yonsei College of Law. The College of Law as a community cannot be talked about without mentioning the word Beob Hyeon: for example, the Beob Hyeon Ceremony for undergraduates, Beob Hyeon House as the College’s dorm, Beob Hyeon Hall, and so on. Beob Hyeon could be translated as “an intelligent and wise jurist,” created and named under the purposive concept of “cultivating good lawyers through legal education.” The scholarship funded each year by its alumni is also called the Beob Hyeon Scholarship, which is explanatory of what kind of junior talents those elders are expecting. The College’s alumni spirit is deep-rooted in history. This 30-year-old continuous scholarship in support of the College of Law has proudly shown the seniors’ united hope toward their successors. The enlargement of Kwang-Bok Hall is also considerably indebted to the alumni’s contribution. The Beob Hyeon House, where 76 students are currently staying, was also established under alumni funding, something that cannot be seen in other colleges. Such is this College of Law, where the seniors’ affection for the progress of its alma mater is reflected in various ways. "What’s the spirit of our college? It’s ‘the spirit of truth and freedom’. Having inherited this spirit, those graduates from our college, now working in legal circles are rational and reasonable-minded. They’re highly welcomed. To cultivate talent and supply them into the business society may be the role that our college should play. Rich resources must be supplied for such plans to be carried out." The Dean of the College of Law, Hong, Bok-Ki, is now putting forth all his energy into enhancing the College’s financial self-reliance, since both human and material resources must essentially accompany the development of the college. Two important projects have become his priority: one is to enlarge the college’s building in preparation for the upcoming law school system; the other is to turn the College of Law into the ‘Leader’ of the University. "I don’t mean that we should get ahead of other colleges. I just want our College of Law to make a model case in both quality and quantity, so that it stimulates others in a good sense. I believe that our University’s progress will be motivated by the College of Law." Dean Hong, who also emphasizes selective and concentrated investment in education, says that the administration should be managed in a way that accompanying enhancement in multiple fields be obtained through an efficient distribution of limited resources. He pledges his word to achieve, not only in the development the College of Law, but also in the overall development of the University through self-renovation and new programs. The College of Law is now preparing to take off with its strong will.