On August 30, 2018, the Berkeley Korea Law Center, the Korean Legislation Research Institute (KLRI), and the Berkeley California Constitution Center proudly co-hosted a conference on “Comparing Constituitonal Change in the United State and Korea.” The conference aimed to build off the discussions and ideas developed at the 2018 Korean Legal Research Institute Conference on the Korean Constitutional Amendment held in Korea earlier in February, 2018.
The conference kicked off with a keynote speech by the President of the KLRI, Ik-Hyeon Rhee, who set the tone for a day of collaboration and discussion.
Next, the first session focused on the role that individual states play in amending their state Constitutions and the US Constitution. Moderating the first session was Professor Kye-Joung Lee from Seoul National University, and on the panel were Professor Neal Devins of William & Mary, Professor Robert Williams from Rutgers University, Professor Jack Citrin from UC Berkeley, and David A. Carrillo, the executive director of the California Constitutional Center at Berkeley Law.
Following a lunch speech from Dean Chemerinsky, the afternoon session focused on comparing and contrasting the Constitutional amendment process in Korea and the United States. Moderating the second session was Gina Choi, a J.S.D student from Berkeley Law, and on the panel were Professor Tom Lee of Fordham Law, Professor Amnon Reichman of Haifa Law, KLRI Research Fellow Yukyong Choe, and Professor Kuk-Woon Lee from Handong Global University.
Finally, the conference concluded with remarks from Professor Jibong Lim of Sogang University who shared his experiences as a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Constitutional Revision.
