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Keun-Gwan Lee

Seoul National University · Social Sciences

About the Lab

Professor Keun-Gwan Lee's research focuses on the historical and normative evolution of international law in East Asia, particularly the transmission and adaptation of Western legal concepts in China, Japan, and Korea during the 19th and 20th centuries. His work explores the formation of modern legal terminology in East Asia, the impact of international law on state sovereignty and diplomatic relations, and the development of multilateral legal frameworks such as the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Sale and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. He also examines the role of international criminal law, especially the complementarity principle in the International Criminal Court, within the context of state responsibility and global legal order.

international law historyEast Asian legal historycultural property lawcomplementarity in ICClegal translation in East Asia

Research Overview

Papers
33
Total Citations
23
Papers (5y)
16
Primary Field
Social Sciences

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
16total
2013
2015
2017
2020
2024
Citations per year (5y)
19total
20132015201720202024

Selected Papers

15
1
Book Chapter|3 citations·2015
An enquiry into the palimpsestic nature of territorial sovereignty in East Asia – with particular reference to the Senkaku/Diaoyudao question*
Keun-Gwan Lee
Cambridge University Press eBooks

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Political Science and International RelationsSocial Sciences
2
Article|2 citations·2008
Trope of a Sovereign State: Treaty-Making by Korea From 1876-1899
Keun-Gwan Lee
SJR Q3The Review of Korean StudiesOA

In order to understand the history of East Asian diplomatic relations, one needs to keep in perspective the epochal significance of the nineteenth century. In the latter half of that fatal century, the Sino-centric international order that had been in existence for a couple of millennia was replaced by a novel normative discourse that had originated in Europe. In this story of world-historical significance, Korea, starting out as a vassal state of the Celestial Empire, achieved (at least a sembl

Sociology and Political ScienceSocial Sciences
3
Article|2 citations·2004
La traduction et la circulation des termes de droit international en Asie orientale, en particulier du Wanguo gongfa / Bankoku kôhô
Keun-Gwan Lee
Ebisu

Partant de la première traduction intégrale d'un manuel anglais de droit international en chinois, l'auteur analyse la formation du glossaire juridique en caractères chinois (Wanguo gongfa). Malgré ses imprécisions et ses équivoques, cette traduction a joué un rôle essentiel dans l'introduction du droit occidental en Chine, en Corée, au Japon. Dans une deuxième partie, l'auteur analyse l'impact des concepts et pratiques du droit international sur les relations entre ces trois pays de l'ancien «

Language and LinguisticsArts and Humanities
5
Article|1 citations·2017
International Law in a Transcivilizational World. By Onuma Yasuaki
Keun-Gwan Lee
British Yearbook of International Law

This is no ordinary textbook of international law. If one wants a more detailed traditional treatment of subjects such as the relationship between international and national law, sovereign immunity, the modes of territorial acquisition, supported by meticulous citations from ICJ judgments or other international arbitral awards, one should look elsewhere. However, if one wants to have a ‘subversively constructive’ intellectual journey through the well-known terrains of international law, culminat

Political Science and International RelationsSocial Sciences
7
Article|0 citations·2008
The Recent Trend in the Return of Cultural Objects to Their Countries of Origin - With Particular Reference to the Italian Practice
Keun-Gwan Lee
Seoul International Law Journal
ArcheologyArts and Humanities
8
Article|0 citations·2020
An Inquiry into the Identity and Continuity of Korea under International Law
Keun-Gwan Lee
Seoul National University Open Repository (Seoul National University)

이 글에서는 8월 15일을 건국일로 정하자는 논쟁으로 다시금 부각된 한국의 동일성 및 계속성을 국제법적 시각에서 검토한다. 먼저 일반국제법상 국가의 동일성 및 계속성이 실정성을 확보하였는지를 살펴보고, 국가의 동일성 및 계속성을 판단하는 기준 또는 지표에 대해 고찰한다. 이어 동일성 및 계속성 개념 간의 관계를 분석하고 특히 한국의 사례와 관련이 깊은 국가의 계속성 개념에 논의의 초점을 맞춘다. 이 개념은 주로 무력의 행사, 강박조약의 체결 등 불법적인 수단에 의해 국가가 합병된 경우에 사실상의 점령에도 불구하고 피합병국이 법적으로는 국가성 또는 국제법인격을 계속 보유했다는 항의적 개념으로 사용된다.\n일반국제법상의 논의를 한국의 사례에 적용할 때 다음과 같은 결론이 도출된다. 한국의 국가적 동일성 및 계속성을 긍정하는 한국정부의 공식적 입장과 한국 국제법학계의 통설적 견해와 이를 일반적으로 부정하는 국제사회의 견해 간에 상당한 간극 또는 괴리가 존재하는 것이 엄연한 사실이다. 이

Sociology and Political ScienceSocial Sciences
9
Article|0 citations·2003
동아시아지역의 문화재 보호 및 불법거래방지에 관한 법적 고찰
Keun-Gwan Lee
Aerospace EngineeringEngineering
10
Book Chapter|0 citations·2024
The Historiography of International Law in East Asia
Keun-Gwan Lee
Cambridge University Press eBooks

In this chapter, the historiography of international law in East Asia is approached and critiqued as a tale of two centrisms, i.e. Sinocentrism and Eurocentrism. The historiography of international law in the region prior to the ‘encounter’ between East Asia and Europe has been largely Sinocentric. It is suggested that the traditional East Asian order be reinterpreted through the concept of ‘asymmetrical mutuality’ under which the regional actors of differentiated subjectivity were able to recon

Political Science and International RelationsSocial Sciences
12
Article|0 citations·2017
A Preliminary Inquiry into Wolff’s Theory of International Law -With Particular Reference to the Concepts of ‘Civitas Maxima’ and Voluntary International Law
Keun-Gwan Lee
Korea International Law Review
Political Science and International RelationsSocial Sciences
13
Article|0 citations·2008
문화재의 기원국반환의 최근 동향*― 이탈리아 사례를 중심으로
Keun-Gwan Lee
Aerospace EngineeringEngineering
14
Article|0 citations·2010
The Boundary between Unified Korea and China from International Law Perspective
Keun-Gwan Lee
THE KOREAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
Sociology and Political ScienceSocial Sciences
15
Article|0 citations·2013
The Principle of Judicial Self-Restraint in Foreign Affairs - A Comparative Analysis -
Keun-Gwan Lee
Seoul International Law Journal
Strategy and ManagementBusiness, Management and Accounting

Research Areas

Aerospace EngineeringPolitical Science and International RelationsSociology and Political ScienceArcheologySpace and Planetary ScienceLanguage and Linguistics

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