ÔAs dynamic as legal change has been in South Korea, it has also been understudied, at least until the arrival of this wonderful collection of essays. The authors, who are all leading figures in the field, demonstrate convincingly that Korean experience is relevant to many of the contemporary questions in law and society studies, including how to understand the dynamics of legal change, the role of law in development, the nature of transitional justice, and law in the postcolonial state. Every law and society scholar should read this book.Õ Ð Tom Ginsburg, University of Chicago, US This book sets out a panoramic view of law and society studies in South Korea, considering the factors that have made this post-colonial war-torn country economically and politically successful. The contributors examine societal and historical conditions that are reflected in Ð or that were shaped by Ð the law, through a variety of lenses; including law and development, law and politics, colonialism and gender, past wrongdoings, public interest lawyering, and judicial reform. In dismantling the historical specificity of the way in which Korea studies are universally framed the contributions provide novel views, theories and information about South Korean law and society. Incorporating various perspectives and methodologies, and demonstrating a finely crafted application of general theory to specific issues, this compendium will prove insightful to law scholars and researchers looking to widen their perspective and broaden their knowledge on law and society in Korea. Law practitioners whose practice requires knowledge of the Korean legal system will also find plenty of information in this authoritative book.

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 domestic and international pressures, applying a socio-legal perspective to both legal practices and the legal institutions themselves, which have become a major political issue throughout the developing world. An invaluable resource for students of Asian law and Korean studies.

Ian Pirie gives a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of state and economic restructuring in South Korea since the 1997 crisis.

Comparative political theory has grown into a recognized discipline in its own right in the last two decades. Yet little has been done to explore how political theory engages with the actual social, legal, and political reality of a particular polity. East Asians are complexly conditioned by traditional Confucian norms and habits, despite significant social, economic, and political changes in their contemporary lives. This volume seeks to address this important issue by developing a specifically Confucian political and legal theory. The volume focuses on South Korea, whose traditional society was and remains the most Confucianized among pre-modern East Asian countries. It offers an interesting case for thinking about Confucian democracy and constitutionalism because its liberal-democratic institutions are compatible with and profoundly influenced by the Confucian habit of the heart. The book wrestles with the practical meaning of liberal rights under the Korean Confucian societal culture and illuminates a way in which traditional Confucianism can be transformed through legal and political processes into a new Confucianism relevant to democratic practices in contemporary Korea.

Among the societies that experienced a political transition away from authoritarianism in the 1980s, South Korea is known as a paragon of 'successful democratization.' This achievement is considered to be intimately tied to a new institution introduced with the 1987 change of regime, intended to safeguard fundamental norms and rights: the Constitutional Court of Korea. While constitutional justice is largely celebrated for having achieved both purposes, this book proposes an innovative and critical account of the court's role. Relying on an interpretive analysis of jurisprudence, it uncovers the ambivalence with which the court has intervened in the major dispute opposing the state and parts of civil society after the transition: (re)defining enmity. In response to this challenge, constitutional justice has produced both liberal and illiberal outcomes, promoting the rule of law and basic rights while reinforcing the mechanisms of exclusion bounding South Korean democracy in the name of national security.