이기수 원장은 이탈리아의 University of Ferrara에서 6월 15일-16일 양일간 개최된 Inaugural Conference of the 2022-2025 PRIN Project on ‘Digital Vulnerability in European Private Law’에서 개회식 축사를 하였다.
‘Digital Vulnerability in European Private Law’ (DiVE) 프로젝트는 2022년 6월부터 2025년 5월까지 이탈리아의 대학 및 연구부(Ministry of University and Research) 재정 지원으로 기획되었다. 이 프로젝트를 위해 총 세 차례의 국제 학회가 개최될 예정으로, 이번 콜로키움이 첫 번째 Conference이다. 이후 2024년 4월 제2차 Conference가 로마(Rome)에서, 2025년 4월 제3차 Conference가 트리에스테(Trieste)에서 열릴 예정이다. 2025년 연말에는 보고서로 작성될 예정이다.
이기수 원장은 6월 15일 오전 9시에 시작된 개회식에서 축사를 하였다. 이어진 세미나 제2세션 “Private Law facing Digital Vulnerability: The Global Challenges”에서 이병준 교수(고려대 법전원)는 “Protection of Vulnerables in Online Marketplaces”, 정신동 교수(강릉원주대)는 “Digital Vulnerability and Online Dark Patterns”라는 주제로 발표를 하였다.
이기수 원장의 축사 내용은 다음과 같다.
Digital Vulnerability in European Private Law
- Welcome Address -
Hon. Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Ki-Su Lee
(President of The Korean Society of Law)
Hon. Rector Laura Ramaciotti, hon. Prof. Alberto De Franceschi, ladies and gentlemen!
It is a great pleasure for me to give a welcome address at the Inaugural Conference of the project ‘Digital Vulnerability in European Private Law’ (DiVE). First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Italian Ministry of University & Research for funding the project, and to the Scientific Committee and the Advisory Board for organizing the conference. I am also grateful to the University of Ferrara for hosting this wonderful event. Korea University where I served as the 17th President is well known for its beautiful campus. In fact, this is my second visit to the University of Ferrara, and I believe we have at least one thing in common.
In our current and pervasively digitalized world, we believe it is increasingly important to analyze how digital technology affects existing forms of vulnerability or creates new ones, and to understand how the law can prevent or address unequal experiences with technology. As we are gathered here today with the world’s leading academics, scholars, and legal practitioners, it will be a great opportunity to share our insights, thoughts, knowledge, and experiences. It will then lead us to achieve our goal of the conference: to explore the very limits of the notion of digital vulnerability.
As we all know, the DiVE project organizes three international conferences. We are here today at the University of Ferrara for the first conference. And the upcoming conferences will take place in Rome in March 2024 and in Trieste in March 2025. Proverbs say that the beginning is half of every work. In this context, developing meaningful outcomes from this conference will be the halfway to the success of the DiVE project.
As the President of the Korean Society of Law, I would like to briefly introduce the KSL. Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945 and became independent in 1945 after World War II. The Republic of Korea was formally established on August 15, 1948 after the transfer of power from the United States Army Military Government which had ruled South Korea since the end of Japanese colonial rule in 1945.
We went through the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 under the founding president Syngman Lee. The Korean Society of Law was established in July 1956. The American Bar Association (ABA) supported the establishment of the KSL with the aim of promoting legal culture in Korea and improving the judicial administration. Today, the KSL plays an important role in the judicial system of Korea with its 35,000 members consisting of judges, prosecutors, lawyers, law professors, etc. The KSL will celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2026 and plans to host the World Jurist Congress in Seoul in 2027. The theme of the conference will be “Survival Strategies of Each Legal Area for the Development of Legal Technology.” I hope that the DiVE report which will be published in 2025, and the two years of changes will be discussed at the World Jurist Congress in 2027 to improve the legal culture of the world.
Finally, I would like to thank the chairs and speakers of each session for their hard work. And I wish you all good health and happiness.
Thank you!