Legal Website

Written by Liz

Studying Korean and want to have a resource to take you to the next level? Want to start a business in Korea but want to know more about regulations first? Just generally curious about Korean laws? Have to translate some legal documents and need some references? (Not sure if there’s anyone besides me to whom the last applies to, but hey, who knows?) Then I’d like to introduce you to the Korea Legislation Research Institute’s website! The goal of the website is to “promote global understanding of Korean legislation and global standing of the Republic of Korea by expanding foreign investment, trade and exchange, and to improve the convenience of foreign residents domiciled in Korea.”

 

Thank you, KLRI, for trying to improve my convenience.

On the website, you can search for laws by their name, or you can explore by Ministry, legal field, or subject. 

 

They also have a handy-dandy cheat sheet for how the law-making process works… not quite as catchy as, “I’m a Just a Bill,” but useful for all the nerds out there who want to know how the Korean government makes laws.

Say you’ve been hired by a Korean company (congratulations!) and you are curious about what sort of national health insurance they have there. Obviously, you can look up blogs and ask in Facebook groups, but when it comes to more legal things, it’s nice to have an authoritative resource, isn’t it?

 

This is the general response I get when I look for Korean legal things online.

So you go to the website and search “insurance.” You find the National Health Insurance Act, and you check it out. But you’ve been studying Korean for a while (that’s why you were able to get a job, of course), and now you’re curious about what some of these terms would be in Korean. If you search via the Korean website, you can compare them side-by-side within the browser. However, if you are using the English website, you must click on one of the download options in the right upper corner, and then select “English + Korean” in the upper right of the pop-up. Then your download will have both languages for each Article, like the picture below.

Ah, legalese…. How I do loathe thee.

It’s important to note that the website does have a disclaimer stating that the translations do not have legal authority and are only for reference. As usual, if there are discrepancies between the Korean and English versions, the Korean will win out. 

However, I think it’s a useful tool for people who want to learn more about Korean laws, and I think it is fantastic that Korea has worked to create this resource to help both expats in Korea and people who might be interested in cooperating with Korea in the future. And if you’re someone who has hit a plateau in your Korean language learning, this site is great for challenging yourself!

Thanks for reading, and have a great day~