Old Wine in New Wineskins? A Trial of Restorative Justice in a Korean Criminal Court

The concept of restorative justice emerged from efforts to find an alternative to the traditional punitive, retributive reaction to crime. The belief that face-to-face meetings are able to address the diverse needs of all involved parties has eventuated in the proposal of an informal process to discuss the aftermath of crime. One local district court in Korea was very keen to test this process and conducted a project to examine the applicability of restorative justice in Korean criminal trials. Investigating the processes and outcomes of this project, this study identifies challenges in officially adopting such a programme in Korea. In particular, this study raises questions regarding what form of justice Korean citizens truly desire.