New scholarship program will support Korea University students seeking to earn an LL.M. Degree at UC Irvine Law
IRVINE, Calif. (Jan. 12, 2024) — The University of California, Irvine School of Law (UCI Law) and Korea University School of Law (KU Law) will enhance the already strong relationship between the two schools with several new collaborative initiatives. Plans were reached after Korea University School of Law’s Dean Hwang Lee visited UCI Law for several days. During the visit, Dean Lee met with UCI Law Dean Austen Parrish as well as with Professor Sung Eun (Summer) Kim (Director of UCI Law’s Korea Law Center), Vice Dean Christopher Whytock, Associate Dean Swethaa Ballakrishnen, and Assistant Dean Khary Hornsby, among others. Dean Lee also met with other UCI Law faculty, staff, and students; Korea University alumni living in Southern California; and leaders in the Orange County legal community.
A New LL.M. Scholarship Supporting Korea University Alumni
With a shared vision to strengthen ties and expand opportunities for faculty and students between the two law schools, Dean Lee’s visit served to renew the schools’ ambitious plans for global engagement. In conjunction with the visit, UCI Law announced a new annual, minimum $20,000 tuition scholarship program for at least five alumni of Korea University who: (1) are admitted into one of UCI Law’s LL.M programs; and (2) are recommended by the Dean of Korea University School of Law. UCI Law will fund this prestigious scholarship program for the first three years, with plans to create an endowed fund to make the scholarship permanent.
“It has always been a privilege to host Korea University School of Law graduates to our global LL.M. and tax LL.M. programs,” said Khary Hornsby, Assistant Dean and Chief Global and Executive Programs Officer. “Graduates from Korea University School of Law are among some of Korea’s top lawyers. We are excited that this new scholarship program will help continue to attract the most promising lawyers in Korea to spend time in Southern California to earn an advanced degree.”
Helen Na (Rodnunsky & Associates)
Former Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang & Joanne Kang
Eugene Choi (United Exchange Corporation)
Dean Hwang Lee (Korea University Law)
Dean Austen Parrish (UCI Law)
Prof. Summer Kim (UCI Law)
Young Ham (QCells)
Ambitious Plans and Global Initiatives
Professor Kim, Dean Lee, and Dean Parrish settled on several other initiatives and projects to be hosted through the Korea Law Center. First, the two schools will continue to reciprocally host faculty and alumni as visiting professors and visiting scholars. Currently, eight Korea University alumni and one KU Law faculty are visiting UCI Law as visiting scholars, and six Korea University alumni are enrolled in UCI Law’s LL.M programs. Second, also discussed during the visit, are exciting plans for new faculty research initiatives between faculty of Korea University School of Law and UCI Law that will build on the existing Shuttle Symposium hosted by both schools. These collaborations will expand the two schools’ commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship and cross-country research collaboration. Third, the launch of a new externship program will provide opportunities for UCI Law students to spend their first-year summer in South Korea and for KU students to spend their winter in Southern California. The vision for this deep collaboration was spurred by the efforts of Professor Summer Kim, who has served as director of UCI’s Korea Law Center since 2016, as well as Dean Lee’s own time spent in Southern California as a visiting scholar in 2010.
Professor Kim emphasized the importance of the two schools’ strong and historic relationship. “Korea University was the first delegation that I had the pleasure of hosting at UCI Law as the Faculty Director of the Korea Law Center,” said Professor Summer Kim. “Dean Lee was the Associate Dean of International Relations at the time, and Dean Lee and Korea University School of Law have been the most important and generous supporters of our Center over the years. The exciting initiatives which we announce today are the fruits of a nearly decade-long partnership and friendship.”
Strengthening Longstanding Ties
Dean Hwang Lee concurred. “It is amazing how the 2016 visit to UCI started everything. When we went back home that year, we immediately began creating the American Law Center at Korea University to meet the high level of expectation for cooperation and exchange between the two schools. With American Law Center’s 7 year-long stewardship under the leadership of US-trained Prof. Kyung Sin Park, the former head of the Center, KU Law has had a vigorous relationship of cooperation and exchange that we had with no other school. Now UCI Law is one of our most important partners in the world, in many respects including legal education, academic research, and international cooperation. The new initiatives from 2024 will take us even further, benefitting students and other law community stakeholders.”
UCI Law’s reputation as an innovative and exceptional law school with tremendous support and opportunities for Korean lawyers and scholars, connects well with the growing Korean American and Korean populations in Irvine and Orange County. The quiet and safe suburbia found near UCI Law, along with exceptional public schools, and the flourishing Korean food scene, make Orange County a perfect place for Korean families. Orange County is home to the second largest Korean population in the United States, many of South Korea’s most well-known corporations and businesses have offices in the area, and recently, the 2023 Korean World Business Convention was held in Orange County.
The ties between UCI Law and South Korea are extensive. UCI Law is one of only three law schools in the United States with a Korea Law Center. Each year, over 20 visiting scholars from Korea spend time at UCI Law. The school’s efforts are supported by the Orange County Korean American Bar Association, whose current president, Mimi Ahn ’14, is a graduate of UCI Law. The Law School has recently partnered with the Korean Prosecutors Association (KPA) and is planning to co-host KPA’s annual conference at UCI Law next June. Last year, UCI Law sent a delegation to Seoul, who spent a week meeting with alumni, firms, university partners, and others, while strengthening the school’s longstanding ties.
“It was wonderful to spend time with Dean Hwang Lee, who has a tremendous vision and understanding of global legal education and the importance of global law schools that provide unique opportunities for our faculty and our students to learn from one another and to collaborate,” said Dean Austen Parrish. “We are proud to continue our strong partnership with Korea’s oldest law school, one of the preeminent world’s law schools, and an institution where its faculty and graduates have had such an impact on the legal profession in South Korea. Our expanded partnership is just another example of the incredible work being done by the Korea Law Center under Professor Kim’s leadership, and I am looking forward to welcoming more of Korea University’s faculty and students, who wish to spend time here in Orange County.”
About Korea University School of Law
Korea University School of Law, located in Seoul, is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious law schools in South Korea, as it has produced many of the nation’s most influential lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and politicians. As South Korea’s oldest law school found in 1905, KU Law has been committed to pursue the founding philosophy of advancing public interests. KU Law aims to produce lawyers with international competence in response to the global economy. Korea University offers various international exchange programs established with 1,000 institutions in over 100 countries spanning six continents–North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America. In addition, KU Law School itself has established separate ties with 30 institutions in over 15 countries. Faculty-student exchange, international joint symposium, joint research, and Korean law training for international students are among the many diverse and exciting programs that are being offered. KU Law actively supports students’ practicum and training through affiliation with various overseas law firms and international law clinics.
About the American Law Center of Korea University Law School
The American Law Center of Korea University School of Law, the only one of its kind in the country, has facilitated the aforesaid collaborations and discussions between the two schools for the past 7 years. The American Law Center has held various seminars and conferences (chronicled here www.amlaw.center) on important issues regarding US-Korea trade and political/cultural relations such as artificial intelligence, treasury sanctions, digital health, etc.
American Law Center has held close relationships with the American Bar Association’s International Law Section, American Chamber of Commerce of Seoul and the U.S. Embassy to South Korea, and Foreign Law Consultant Association (of Korea). American Law Center has negotiated cooperation and exchange agreements on behalf of KU Law with major law schools in the US including UCI Law. American Law Center has conducted joint conferences and facilitated lecture exchanges with those schools.
About the Korea Law Center at the University of California, Irvine School of Law
The Korea Law Center is one of only three Korea Law Centers in the United States. The mission of the Korea Law Center is to study and promote solutions to issues arising at the intersection of U.S. and Korean Law. The Korea Law Center was established in 2009 to serve as a platform for exchange, collaboration, and the sharing of knowledge between students, legal scholars, judges, lawyers, and policymakers from South Korea and the United States. The Korea Law Center hosts 20-30 visiting scholars from South Korea each semester, one to two visiting faculty from Korea each year, and several Research Fellows, who are members of the UCI Law J.D. and LL.M. class with research and career interests related to South Korea. The Korea Law Center has long-standing relationships with the Supreme Court of Korea, the Constitutional Court of Korea, and the top law schools in South Korea as well as strong community connections with the Orange County Korean American Bar Association and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles. The Center engages in significant programming throughout the year, including a bi-annual Visiting Scholar Roundtable, Distinguished Public Lecture and Speaker Series, Conferences, a Public Interest Law Forum, Career Panels, and a summer curricular program.
About the University of California, Irvine’s Strong Ties to Korea
Nearly five percent of UCI’s international students come from Korea and UCI Law has welcomed nearly 200 Korean visiting scholars each year for the past five years. The UCI Foundation has three Korean American trustees including Carol and Eugene Choi, United Exchange Corporation, and Yang-Uk Kim, The Kim Yang Group. UCI Law’s Board of Visitors has several Korean American members, including Johanna Kim, Keryman LLC, and John Lim, LimNexus. UCI has more than 10,000 alumni of Korean ethnicity or citizenship. In 2015, the UCI Alumni Association launched a Seoul chapter, which has more than 250 members. The Korean American chapter in Orange County/Los Angeles has nearly 200 members. Between 2017 and 2022, UCI faculty engaged in international research collaborations with nearly 300 Korean institutions and contributed to the publication of more than 20,000 research papers. UCI has more agreements with Korean universities than with any other single country. Additionally, UCI has academic centers focused on Korea, including the Center for Critical Korean Studies, funded by the Academy of Korean Studies and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in South Korea and the Korea Law Center at UCI Law. The University offers curricular programs in Korean Studies, Korean Language Program and Korean Literature and Culture.