“Gender Equality or Traditional Culture: Legal Cases Afterwards the Abolishment of the Household Head System in Korea”

Dans le cadre du cycle de conférences Current Research on East Asia, l’UFR LCAO d’Université Paris Cité accueillera Jong-Chol AN, Associate Professor d’études coréennes à l’Université Ca’ Foscari de Venise, pour une conférence intitulée : “Gender Equality or Traditional Culture: Legal Cases Afterwards the Abolishment of the Household Head System in Korea”.

Cette conférence, animée par Florence Galmiche, a lieu le jeudi 4 avril de 17h00 à 18h30, en salle Léon Vandermeersch de l’UFR LCAO (481 C), bâtiment des Grands Moulins (5 rue Thomas Mann, 75013 Paris).Suivre la conférence sur ZoomID de réunion : 850 9616 6643 Code secret : 591397

 

Gender Equality or Traditional Culture: Legal Cases Afterwards the Abolishment of the Household Head System in Korea

Lecturer: Jong-Chol AN (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)

It is widely known that Korean society is tense between gender equality and the “Confucian” tradition of patrilineal heritage. After a long tug-of-war-among Korean social forces, the hojuje or Household Head system notorious for discrimination against women was abolished. This presentation concerns the Korean Court’s decisions on women and chongjung or lineage clans. Around the time of the landmark hojuje case, the Korean Supreme Court (KSC) decided that a woman was entitled to enjoy chongjung membership. However, these cases in the 2000s left a fundamental question of the “Confucian tradition” or customary law in Korea unanswered.

Thus, this presentation deals with a case on a woman household head’s remaining property in which the property came to belong to her remaining family, not to a married daughter. The decision was about the role of customary law even before enacting the Civil Code (1958). Thus, this case triggered an unanswered question about the character and jurisdiction of customary law related to gender and tradition in Korean society. KCC’s majority opinion seems to adopt an eclectic position that customary law cannot stand against a civil code and that a regular court can decide whether customs exist and become null. Thus, KCC adopted a passive role in customary law, although custom also plays a role in law. This lecture will also introduce several other relevant cases, showing the contour of Constitutional jurisprudence and the position of customary law in Korea.

Jong-Chol An is an Associate Professor in the Department of Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venezia. He is a historian specializing in Korean foreign relations and law and society. He is working on a manuscript related to the origins of the Korean judiciary. His publications include : “Historical Development of Judicial Independence in South Korea: Focus on Colonial and Post-Colonial Period,” in Sojin Lim and Niki J.P. Alsford eds., Routledge Handbook of Contemporary South Korea (Routledge, 2021), p. 26-41; “Making Mission Compatible with Democracy: James Earnest Fisher and His Activities as a Missionary and a US Government Official in Korea, 1945-1948,” Korea Journal 60/4 (Winter 2020), p. 115-142.

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