application to the refugee status determination procedure except in cases where the applicant is clearly not a refugee, and guarantee proper treatment for those who have filed a suit against the decision on non-referral. The Ministry of Justice replied that a careful examination is needed on the amendment of the law and enhancement of treatment. 77. However, it is desirable for the government to improve the system so that refugee applicants at the port of entry and departure receive refugee status screening unless the application clearly lacks formal requirements. 13-2. Securing Expertise and Transparency of Refugee Recognition Procedure 78. According to the status of refugee application by offices of the Ministry of Justice in 2016, the Seoul Immigration Office has received 82.5% (6,224 out of 75,420) of the applications, accounting for the biggest portion. The Seoul Office has 22 people in charge, so more than 280 refugee applicants per one public officer. The period of the first round of the refugee status determination procedure is limited to six months under the relevant law, which may be extended once. In 2016, the average period of the first round was five months, much shorter than in the past. 79. The issue of interpretation in the process of refugee status determination has been continuously raised. In recent years, the court canceled the decision on non-recognition of refugee as it turned out that certain interpreter and immigration officer had prepared false interview reports. 11 80. An objection against the decision on non-referral can be filed and deliberated at the second round of procedure, and the deliberation is conducted by the Refugee Committee under Article 25 of the Refugee Act. However, the Refugee Committee is composed of 15 members and the deliberation is conducted based on only papers without hearing procedures, and the 11 Seoul Administrative Court 2017GUDAN4294 on 12 October 2017 and Seoul High Court 2016NU47245 on 27 June 2018. According to the above-mentioned court ruling all the interview report conducted by certain public officer and interpreter include the following false comments: “I have applied for refugee to stay legally in Korea for a long time and make money.”, “(All of the reason for refugee application in the application letter are false?) Yes, they are all false. I have written down false reasons to apply for refugee status.” The above-mentioned court ruling on 2017NU47245 pointed out that while it is very rare for the refugee applicants to make a statement not consistent with the reason for refugee application, and such inconsistency is found especially in interview reports where Korean-Arabic interpreter B has participated, implying that there is significant problem with regards to the content of ways of interpretation of interpreter B 18