• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.91-120
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• 2020

The Scope of Application of North Korea's Foreign Economic Arbitration Act and Foreign Investment Act This article examines whether the Foreign Economic Arbitration Act and the Foreign Investment Act of North Korea apply to South Korean parties or companies. This article analyzes laws and agreements related to economic cooperation between South Korea and North Korea. Furthermore, this article compares and evaluates laws related to foreign investment and enacted in North Korea. Now, North Korea's door is closed due to economic sanctions against it, but it will be opened soon. Thus, this article prepares for the future opening of North Korea's markets. Is there a rule of laws in North Korea or just a ruler? Are there laws in North Korea? North Korea has enacted a number of legislation to attract foreign investors, referring to those Chinese laws. For example, North Korea enacted the Foreigner Investment Act, the Foreigner Company Act, the Foreign Investment Bank Act, the Foreign Economic Arbitration Act, the Foreign Economic Contract Act, the International Trade Act, and the Free Economy and Trade Zone Act, among others. Article 2 (2) of the Foreign Investment Law of North Korea states, "Foreign investors are corporations and individuals from other countries investing in our country." It is interpreted that South Korea is not included in the "other countries" of this definition. According to many mutual agreements signed by South Korea and North Korea, the relationship between the two Koreas is a special relation inside the Korean ethnic group. An arbitration between a South Korean party and a North Korean party has the characteristics of both domestic arbitrations and international arbitrations. If the South Korea and North Korea Commercial Arbitration Commission or the Kaesong Industrial Complex Arbitration Commission is not established, the possibility of arbitration by the Chosun International Trade Arbitration Commission, established under North Korea's Foreign Economic Arbitration Act, should be examined. There have been no cases where the Foreign Economic Arbitration Act is applied to disputes between parties of South Korea and North Korea. It might be possible to apply the Foreign Economic Arbitration Act by recognizing the "foreign factor" of a dispute between the South Korean party and North Korean party. It is necessary to raise legislative clarifications by revising the North Korea's Foreign Economic Arbitration Act as to whether Korean parties or companies are included in the scope of this Act's application. Even if it is interpreted that South Korean parties or companies are not included in the scope of North Korea's Foreign Economic Arbitration Act, disputes between South Korean companies and North Korean companies can be resolved by foreign arbitration institutes such as CIETAC in China, HKIAC in Hong Kong, or SIAC in Singapore. Such arbitration awards could be enforced in North Korea pursuant to Article 64 of North Korea's Foreign Economic Arbitration Act. This is because the arbitration awards of foreign arbitration institutes are included in the scope of North Korea's Foreign Economic Arbitration Act. The matter is how to enforce the North Korean laws when a North Korean party or North Korean government does not abide by the laws or their contracts. It is essential for North Korea to join the New York Convention (Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards) and the ICSID Convention (Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States).

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.24_2
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• pp.85-115
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• 2015

The Reordering of the Universe(天地公事) pursuing the Latter world(後天)'s ideal world while denying the Former world(先天) is composed of enormous rituals. The Dosu(度數) is formed through these rituals and the world is transformed according to the Dosu. The people who follow the Sangje(上帝), the subject of this universe reordering and also participate in the Reordering of the Universe are called as the followers. The follower group can be said as a ritual group in the aspect that they participate in the ritual for the Reordering of the Universe. They not only observed the rituals but also actively participated in them, so took certain roles in forming the Dosu. That is, they performed certain, given roles in developing the rituals, or actively proposed their ideas under the Sangje's leadership, and participated in the process realizing the Dosu. Therefore it can be said that they were a group initiatively participating in the process overcoming the Former world's Sangguk(相克) world, and making the latter world's ideal world. It seemed that the followers at that time might have gone through a certain entrance ritual process in order to join in such a follower group. The 『Jeon-Gyeong』 recorded the entrance rituals of a man called as Cha Gyeong Seok among tremendous followers relatively in detail. According to the 『Jeon-Gyeong』, he first had to get a unique test in the entrance process, and the test was proceeded in several stages: the wisdom test reflecting the Sangje's unusual intelligence, the patience test to endure physical, psychological pains for the great ethic, and the test to evaluate the testee's ability to give up past oneself and to follow the Sangje with a new body & mind. In the process separating himself from the past his appearance, Gyeong-Seok, the candidate to enter, faced a liminal situation, and then performed the incorporation rite. In this process, the purification rite going him out of the past relationship of benefits & grudges was performed, and he was given the regulations to comply as a member of the follower group. Through such serial processes, his entrance in the follower group was allowed. What requested to the candidate in this entrance process was the severance from one's past. For that, the candidate was needed to go out of his past life habits, to free from the relationship of benefits and grudges, and to sever him from his past faults. Such severance was the precondition for him to go out of the Former world's negative reality and to break from the Sanggeuk habits. Another thing requesting to the candidate as well as the severance from his past was to establish a new ideal. The new ideal should be matched with the ideal of the Reordering of the Universe whose main ideology was the Haewon-Sangsaeng(解冤相生). Such ideal can be said as the driving force to proceed toward the new ideal world of Latter World. And the candidate was requested to purify his mind and to participate in the Universe Fair Judgement (天地公庭). That can be said as an important condition for the new member directly to participate in the ritual of the Reordering of the Universe dramatically transforming the world. Finally, the candidate was given the regulations for his ascetic practice(修道) as well as his participation in the Reordering, and was requested to comply them. After becoming a member of this follower group, one had to practice his asceticism through the compliance with such regulations and the training of mantras(呪文) in order to accomplish the goal called as Dotong(道通). By fulfilling these requirements, the newly entered member could have the qualification to perform a certain role in the ritual of the Reordering of the Universe, and could accomplish his religious ideal.