Friday, October 24, 2008

Blind man passes Bar, will become Korea's first blind lawyer

From The Korea Times, and Choi Young thanks a blind inventor in Korea, Kim Jeong-ho, who developed a screen reader that helped him study.

A visually impaired man has passed the second round of state-run bar exam for the first time since it was instituted in 1947.

The Ministry of Justice announced Oct. 21, that Choi Young, 27, made the list of successful candidates on the test. Choi who graduated from Seoul National University passed the first round of the exam last year. If Choi passes the final interview sessions, scheduled Oct. 18-21, he will be the first-ever blind lawyer in Korea.

The ministry will disclose the final result on Oct. 28. Choi lost his sight when he was a high school senior.

Additionally, the bar exam saw a record high number of women among successful applicants in the second round are 384.

The ratio of the women has continued to increase to some 38 percent of the total 1,005 from 37 percent in 2006, 32 percent in 2005 and 24 percent in 2004.

Among the successful candidates, more than 80 percent majored in law.