The "party's own statement" was also an impressive system. In the actual trial it was explained that the system of the party's own statement lets the plaintiff and defendant, the parties to the suit, convey their views directly to the presiding judge and explain the issues, which has the advantages of raising the parties' own satisfaction through their participation in the trial and helping the judge grasp the issues of the case more smoothly.

The Busan District Court, which I visited in person today, gave me a fresh stimulus. The glass exterior and the court and prosecution emblems set firmly on it seemed to inspire a sense of public duty and justice just by looking at them. Inside the building, seeing quite a few people hurrying here and there carrying thick document envelopes and reading documents intently, I felt that this was where things really happen. Visiting the court in person and seeing what the actual trial process is like, and being able to compare it with what I learned in class, was really enjoyable.

Since going to court to watch a trial was unfamiliar to me, I inevitably went through trial and error, large and small, from choosing a court to finding the courtroom. The court I chose was the Busan District Court, and I observed a trial of the 9th Civil Division held in the courtroom. The trial took less time than I expected. I was very surprised that hearing a single case took so little time. Of course, since each case has several hearing dates, a single trial does not end in one day, but it was clear that one division handles a surprisingly large number of cases. Yet if one tried to resolve complex legal disputes raised by numerous cases in a single day, establishing justice through law would rather become impossible. So I also thought that, even if each session is short, holding the trial over several hearing dates would be more appropriate for setting justice right. I also thought that, to secure several hearing dates for each of the many cases with a limited number of judges, a single division would inevitably have to handle several trials at once.

When one trial ended, the next case began right away as a waiting lawyer stated his case number, and this scene also felt novel to me and gave the overall impression that the trial process was concise. In addition, each time a trial ended, the division set the next hearing date, and I could feel anew how hard the division and both sides' lawyers would work until that date, for the establishment of law and for winning the case, respectively.

To summarize civil procedure, civil procedure is broadly conducted in two stages of hearing. In the first stage, before the date for pleadings, as the parties exchange preparatory briefs, the court exercises its right to request clarification, and evidence is examined upon applications for evidence, the main contested issues are summarized; at the same time, once the expected outcome of the judgment, such as each party's likelihood of winning or losing and the extent to which the claim may be granted, takes shape, the court offers an appropriate proposal based on this and recommends it to both parties.

This means the focus of pleadings has shifted from the date for pleadings to the pleading procedure.

For reference, the original text in places abbreviates the preparatory proceedings for pleadings as "pleading procedure," so in your assignment correct it to the preparatory proceedings under Article 279 and following of the Civil Procedure Act. Pointing out such differences between the textbook and the actual courtroom is also a strength of a court-visit report. In addition, the threshold for the amount in controversy for civil cases handled by a single judge was raised to KRW 500 million or less from March 1, 2022, so it is good to correct the old amount in the original text to the current standard. Anyone can observe a trial in an open courtroom, but photographing and recording are not allowed without the presiding judge's permission. Check the case numbers of individual judgments cited in the original text in the courts' comprehensive legal information service before citing them.