AI Transforms South Korean Courts, Creating Efficiency and New Challenges

Artificial intelligence is rapidly entering South Korean courtrooms, transforming legal practices but also introducing new challenges. Lawyers are leveraging AI to draft documents at an unprecedented speed and volume, while judges find themselves sifting through lengthy, AI-generated submissions, often with the AI's conversational closing remarks still attached.

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I have tried it, and it's like being in another world.

This surge in AI-generated legal texts creates an "unequal playing field," according to Choi Kyung-jin, a law professor at Gachon University. Lawyers can exponentially increase the volume of their submissions, while judges, lacking similar AI tools for analysis, are burdened with processing this "junk data." One judge described the situation as having to "read and chew" vast amounts of information to incorporate it into rulings. This disparity can exacerbate trial delays.

Despite these challenges, judges are not standing still. Many are independently exploring AI tools for personal use. Hong Soon-gun, an Incheon District Court judge, has been using various AI models for years, finding significant utility in summarizing documents, organizing evidence, and particularly in complex calculations like interest and late fees, which can now be completed in minutes instead of days. AI is seen as a "capable assistant" for these routine but time-consuming tasks, freeing up judges for higher-level legal reasoning and judgment.

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The quality and quantity of the initial drafts have significantly improved. I wondered if the younger generation had become so brilliant, but it was AI.

However, the core of judicial work, analyzing sensitive case records containing personal details like health and family history, remains off-limits for external AI tools due to strict privacy regulations. This limitation leaves AI as an "incomplete helper" for judges. A more pressing issue is the proliferation of AI-generated "hallucinations" or fabricated content, including fake case precedents, manipulated transcripts, and forged evidence. These require months of verification, overwhelming the system. Globally, thousands of such cases have been documented, with the U.S. leading and South Korea reporting a smaller but growing number.

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The inequality of weapons is intensifying trial delays.

The judiciary is responding on multiple fronts: "defense" through measures like holding parties accountable for submitting fake precedents and launching a public service to verify case numbers; "verification" by developing an AI system to automatically check the authenticity of cited cases and laws; and "utilization" by planning an in-house AI system by 2030 to handle sensitive data securely. However, significant hurdles remain, including budget constraints for developing effective systems and ensuring robust security to prevent data leaks. Ultimately, while AI can alter court procedures, the fundamental responsibility for justice, human judgment, and ensuring fairness rests with judges.

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Judges still have to read and chew through that vast 'junk data' to incorporate it into their rulings.