Kim, Hyung-Kon

Dr. Hyung-Kon Kim is Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics in the Theology Department at Hanil University and Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Jeonju, Korea. He received his Ph.D. in Constitutional Jurisprudence at Kyungnam University in Masan, Korea and his Th.D. in Social Ethics at Boston University School of Theology.

The Idea of Human Dignity in Korea

2007 0-7734-5324-5
This study explores the idea of human dignity in the Human Dignity Clause stipulated in the Constitution of South Korea, maintaining that to indigenize the imported idea of human dignity in Korean society, the idea must not only be translated into terms resonant with Korean culture but must also be implemented in the institutions of Korean society. This study will contribute toward an exploration of a more integrative understanding of the notion of human dignity as the basis for human rights, both in the Western conception, derived from Cicero’s formula, “dignitas hominis”, which was expanded in the Christian idea of the dignity of “God-like person-in-community”, as compared with similar kinds of discourse in Korean intellectual history, namely the idea of the supreme and relational worth of a “Heaven-like (han?l kat’?n) person-in-Han-community”. This work will contribute to an interdisciplinary understanding of the question of human dignity and should appeal to scholars in law, sociology, philosophy, ethics, theology, and comparative religious studies.