TEXAS INTERNATIONAL LAW JOURNAL Vol. 48, Issue 3 357 In the Name of Custom, Culture, and the Constitution: Korean Customary Law in Flux MARIE SEONG-HAK KIM  SUMMARY INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 357 I. JURISPRUDENCE OF CUSTOM ............................................................................ 363 A. Concepts of Customary Law ...................................................................... 363 B. Custom and Reason .................................................................................... 366 C. Confucian Culture and Constitutional Challenges ................................... 368 II. BORDERING TRADITION AND LEGISLATION: CUSTOM-BASED STATUTES . 372 A. Ancestor Memorial Service and Ritual Property ...................................... 374 B. Constitutional Reckoning ........................................................................... 376 C. What’s in a Name? That Which We Call Reason..................................... 380 III. CUSTOM THAT CONFOUNDS: GRAVESITE SUPERFICIES ................................ 383 A. Superficies in Korean Law ......................................................................... 383 B. Customary Law of Gravesite Superficies .................................................. 385 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 389 INTRODUCTION The Korean Civil Code of 1960, the first Korean code after independence from Japanese colonial rule, recognizes customary law and reason (chori) as official sources of law. 1 Article 1 provides: “In civil matters, if there is no applicable  Professor of history at St. Cloud State University and attorney at law (Minnesota Bar). The writing of this Article was funded by a grant from the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2012-R42). 1. Minpǂp [Civil Code], Law No. 471, promulgated Feb. 22, 1958, effective Jan. 1, 1960 (S. Kor.). Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.