Advancing Korean Law and Society Studies: - International Perspectives on the Korean Legal Profession -

This essay commemorates the contributions of Professor Emeritus Yang Kun, founder of the Korean Law and Society Association. Professor Yang Kun originally called for the advancement of law-and-society studies in South Korea, emphasizing the need to (1) link law with other disciplines, (2) understand colonial and American influences on Korean legal development, and (3) study the role of the legal profession. This essay surveys the international scholarship that combines these elements. Part II provides a contextual survey of the beginning of Korean law-and-society studies from an international perspective. Part III presents and critiques prominent scholarship on the Korean legal profession's role in relation to state and society. Part IV addresses a particular dimension of the legal profession, analyzing the understudied phenomenon of public interest lawyering across legal organizations such as public interest lawyer groups, the bar association, private law firms, and law schools. The essay concludes with a call to advance Korean law-and-society studies on this and related areas.