Law and Society In Contemporary Korea: Conflict, Vulnerability, and Legal Change

This session aims to introduce and bring together contemporary Korean socio-legal scholarship at the 2027 ISA World Congress in Gwangju. As the Congress will be held in Korea, the session seeks to provide a meaningful occasion to connect the RCSL with Korean scholars working on law and society, and to situate Korean socio-legal studies within broader transnational conversations.

The proposed papers examine how law is produced, interpreted, and practiced in response to social change and institutional challenges in contemporary Korea. Possible topics include climate change and law, conflict and legal culture, legislative practices and legislative culture, and the legal and institutional treatment of sexually exploited adolescents in the juvenile justice system. While these themes span diverse fields, they share a common concern with the interaction between legal institutions, social problems, public values, and vulnerable or contested groups.

The session will be organized as an oral paper session, with four presentations by Korean socio-legal scholars, followed by comments and open discussion. It is designed not only to present substantive research on Korean law and society, but also to foster dialogue between Korean scholars and the wider RCSL community on socio-legal methods, legal culture, institutional change, legislative processes, and the role of law in addressing contemporary social challenges.