Government to Expand Free Legal Services

The Ministry of Planning and Budget announced Thursday that it will expand the provision of free legal services by the Korean Legal Aid Corporation (KLAC) from next year.
According to ministry policy, employees and shop-owners whose monthly income is less than 1.3 million won, and public servants lower than clerical staff, will be provided with the free legal services, and the services can be provided before the trial begins, if the suspect has been arrested.
As a consequence, the number of criminal cases possibly supported by the free legal services will jump to 9,700 cases from the current 2,700 cases, and the number of people possibly helped by the KLAC will increase to 12.6 million from current the 7.1 million.
Regarding civil suits and family affairs cases, the ministry decided to give people opportunities to be assisted by the KLAC.
The government plans to extend the fields which the free legal services covers, to specialized sectors such as medical, legal, securities, insurance and finance.
The ministry has decided to increase the budget to support the free legal services by 27.2 percent to 36.6 billion won.
Kang Joo-an : jooan@joongang.co.kr