Marie Seong-Hak Kim (J.D. 1994; Ph.D. 1991) is Professor of History at St. Cloud State University. She is the author of Law and Custom in Korea: Comparative Legal History (2012) and Michel de L’Hôpital: The Vision of a Reformist Chancellor during the French Religious Wars (1997).

• Preface List of Contributors Introduction: Searching for the Spirit of Korean Law Marie Seong-Hak KimPart 1 Legal Codes and Institutions of the Chosŏn DynastyThe Chosŏn Law Codes in an East Asian Perspective Jérôme Bourgon and Pierre-Emmanuel RouxCirculation of Law and Jurisprudence in Korea and China: Homicide and the Notion of Requital for Life Frédéric ConstantConfucian Ideology and Legal Developments in Chosŏn Korea: A Methodological Essay Anders KarlssonPart 2 Law and the Legal System under Colonial RuleThe Rise of Korean Constitutional Thought (1875–1945): An East Asian Perspective Noriko KokubunCan There Be Good Colonial Law? Korean Law and Jurisprudence under Japanese Rule Revisited Marie Seong-Hak KimLegality or Legitimacy: Revisiting Debates on the Korea-Japan Annexation Treaties Samuel GuexPart 3 Law, Court, and Legal Reform in Modern KoreaThe Making of the Constitution and the Civil Code in Postliberation Korea Joon-Young MoonThe Role of the Constitutional Court of Korea in the Transition from Authoritarian to Democratic RuleJustine GuichardKorea and the Reform of the Northeast Asian Legal Complex Tom GinsburgIndex

The book impressively reflects academic values by examining extensive volumes of literature in Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Western languages. It covers such themes as the impacts of Confucianism as rule, as well as colonial laws and customs codified in civil/penal codes and/or legal theories, practices, and jurisprudence. (...) The book’s contribution is interpretive, allowing us to understand law in Asia as part of global processes. It provides an important lens that helps make sense of distinct developments in particular times and places. Law, in Asia and elsewhere, is part of the contested construction of state power. Yukyong CHOE Asian Law and Society 4,2 (2017).