London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

The Constitution of South Korea: A Contextual Analysis

The current South Korean Constitution of 1987 is the culmination of decades-long efforts by the South Korean people to achieve democratic self-government. It is the fruition of untold sacrifices made by dedicated citizens who tirelessly fought to rein in the power of the government under some form of constitutional rule. In that sense, it should … [Read More]

Rights Claiming in South Korea

From the publisher’s website: Although rights-based claims are diversifying and opportunities and resources for claims-making have improved, obtaining rights protections and catalysing social change in South Korea remain challenging processes. This volume examines how different groups in South Korea have defined and articulated grievances and mobilized to remedy them. It explores developments in the institutional … [Read More]

Divorce in South Korea: Doing Gender and the Dynamics of Relationship Breakdown

From the publisher’s website: It may sound logical that individualistic attitudes boost divorce. This book argues otherwise. Conservative norms of specialized gender roles serve as the root cause of marital dissolution. Those expectations that prescribe what men should do and what women should do help break down marital relationships. Data from South Korea suggest that … [Read More]

Rules of the House: Family Law and Domestic Disputes in Colonial Korea

From the publisher’s website: A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program for monographs. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. Rules of the House offers a dynamic revisionist account of the Japanese colonial rule of Korea (1910–1945) by examining the roles of women in the civil courts. Challenging … [Read More]

The Emotions of Justice: Gender, Status, and Legal Performance in Choson Korea

The Choson state (1392–1910) is typically portrayed as a rigid society because of its hereditary status system, slavery, and Confucian gender norms. However, The Emotions of Justice reveals a surprisingly complex picture of a judicial system that operated in a contradictory fashion by discriminating against subjects while simultaneously minimizing such discrimination. Jisoo Kim contends that … [Read More]

Economic Consequences of Divorce in Korea

From the publisher’s website: Korean divorce law still adheres to fault-based divorce. According to a majority of the Supreme Court, the main reason for not admitting a no-fault policy is that the preconditions for systems for financially protecting the spouse and children after divorce have not yet been satisfied in Korea. However, there is not … [Read More]

Making We the People: Democratic Constitutional Founding in Postwar Japan and South Korea

From the publisher’s website: What does it mean to say that it is ‘We the People’ who ‘ordain and establish’ a constitution? Who are those sovereign people, and how can they do so? Interweaving history and theory, constitutional scholar Chaihark Hahm and political theorist Sung Ho Kim attempt to answer these perennial questions by revisiting … [Read More]

The Spirit of Korean Law: Korean Legal History in Context

From the publisher’s website: This is the first book on Korean legal history in English written by a group of leading scholars from around the world. The chapters set forth the developments of Korean law from the Chosŏn to colonial and modern periods through the examination of codified laws, legal theories and practices, and jurisprudence. … [Read More]

Wrongful Deaths: Selected Inquest Records from Nineteenth-Century Korea

From the publisher’s website: This collection presents and analyzes inquest records that tell the stories of ordinary Korean people under the Choson court (1392-1910). Extending the study of this period, usually limited to elites, into the realm of everyday life, each inquest record includes a detailed postmortem examination and features testimony from everyone directly or … [Read More]

Introduction to Korean Law

From the publisher’s website: As a result of globalization, the barriers between countries are coming down. There is more interaction between countries than ever and mutual understanding and communication have become essential considerations. In such an atmosphere, the Korea Legislation Research Institute has published this book to spread awareness of outstanding Korean law and of … [Read More]

Law and Custom in Korea: Comparative Legal History

From the publisher’s website: This book sets forth the evolution of Korea’s law and legal system from the Chosǒn dynasty through the colonial and postcolonial modern periods. This is the first book in English that comprehensively studies Korean legal history in comparison with European legal history, with particular emphasis on customary law. Korea’s passage to … [Read More]

Legal Reform in Korea

From the publisher’s website: Law in Korea has historically been viewed as merely a tool of authoritarian rule, but since the transition to democracy in 1987 it has served a more important and visible role as a force for social change. With contributions from leading US and Korean scholars, Legal Reform in Korea explores this response to … [Read More]

Human Rights in Korea: Historical and Policy Perspectives

From the publisher’s website: These chapters by eight Korea specialists present a new approach to human rights issues in Korea. Instead of using an external and purely contemporary standard, the authors work from within Korean history, treating the successive phases of Korea’s modern century to examine the uneasy fate of human rights and some of … [Read More]