Multicultural Crisis Management: South Korea's Judicial Interpreting System and Its Missing Blocks

Abstract

South Korea's judicial interpreting system was introduced in 2005 as a supportive institution for protecting human rights of foreigners under criminal charges. The system was developed by the country's judicature without legislative engagement and has continuously been improved as such. Although certain academic fields have attempted to add legally binding forces to the system, little attention has been paid to the sociological and historical contexts of the system. For the purpose of legislating the system, the elements that hinder the legislating process need to be identified. In this study, the sociological and historical concepts of a “nation”, “nationhood”, and “citizenship” are reviewed to understand South Korea's Nationality Act to briefly discuss its post-modern inclination toward homogeneous nationalism. Based on the theoretical examination, the country's judicial interpreting system that lacks legally binding forces and field-focused practical data are suggested as the two missing blocks of complementing the system. As an initiative step, this paper concludes with the analysis of how the system is applied and practiced on different occasions and what elements are left to be improved.