• Journal of Ginseng Culture
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• v.5
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• pp.77-96
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• 2023

This study looks at the origin of a wild-ginseng, Korean ginseng, and traces the origin of associated wild-ginseng digging customs back to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. These historical customs helped Korea gain control over its wild ginseng resources following Japanese colonization acts, Korea's present-day forest laws, and Korean Civil Law. Prior to Japanese colonial rule in Korea (1910-1945), ginseng digging was a common custom, but Imperial Japan distorted Korea's own legal principles of the public rights of wild-ginseng digging during this colonial period. Distorted legal principles concerning digging customs continued after Korea's liberation from Japanese rule and were maintained until the enforcement of the Korean Civil Law in 1960, when legal principles of the right of common were changed to special servitude. The origin of the right of common can be found in the Sichojang of the Joseon Dynasty. The Sichojang, a place where local residents jointly collected firewood and fed livestock, was the minimum right to life and interest at the time. Since the right of common was the right to life, Imperial Japan attempted to abolish it, but it was never successful. In addition, distorted legal principles have been maintained in present-day forestry-related laws and regulations. Over 75 years since the liberation from Japanese rule in 1945, it is imperative to break away from the distorted legal principles and acknowledge that digging custom rights have changed from common customs to a special servitude under Korean Civil Law. Hence, an organization of wild-ginseng diggers is an unincorporated association, and their wild-ginseng digging customs can be constituted as a special servitude. Hence, their practices should be considered valid under customary law. Through this, it will be possible to clarify the legal nature and grounds for ginseng-related wild-ginseng digging activities, as well as the civil responsibility for the activities of wild-ginseng diggers.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.188-198
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• 2012

Church is one of organizations recognized not as corporation but as private association and therefore its identity and possession of properties must be confirmed by the general theories of the civil law in relation not to corporation but to private association. Different from corporation, the internal relations of private association is primarily regulated by the articles of association. When there is no article of association, ordinary resolution and provisions for incorporated association in the civil law are applied by inference. As for the debt of private association, all the members own it in a quasi-joint manner (article 275 and 278). For the last 50 years, the judicial precedents of the Supreme Court has permitted the partition of church for the Protestant church and ruled that the relationship of properties at the time of partition is the joint ownership by church members at the time of partition. This ruling is different from that of corporation and ordinary principles of law. However, a new judicial precedent (the Supreme Court, 2006. 4. 20, 2004다37775) prescribes that different from corporation, the partition of private association is not allowed. Thus, in order to settle the dispute of private association, the Supreme Court changes its traditional standpoint of allowing partition into denying it. This ruling seems to reflect the necessity of settling dispute above all.