So Where Is Korea in This Changing Tide?
"It is not entirely impossible for AI to be involved in judicial judgments." On May 3, 2025, at a press conference ahead of Japan's Constitution Day, Supreme Court Chief Justice Imamaki Yukihiko made remarks shaking judicial stereotypes — suggesting AI could partially participate in judicial judgments, indicating technology is knocking on the door of law. This was the first time Japan's highest judicial official publicly mentioned AI's role, suggesting a paradigm shift in judicial systems.
Chief Justice Imamaki also expressed caution: security, reliability, copyright, and other challenges must be resolved; careful approach needed for full implementation. Yet he agreed AI could be fully utilized in administrative work areas like document classification, case law analysis, and record summarization. His remarks align with Japan's judicial digital reform — Japan plans full implementation of the revised Code of Civil Procedure by May 2026, with all civil litigation procedures to be conducted online (filing to judgment delivery), with litigation records electronically stored as default. "As this digital foundation is established, the possibility of AI naturally building upon it is approaching reality."
Challenges when AI enters the courtroom: If a judge accepts AI-proposed conclusions and an incorrect judgment results, who bears responsibility? Could training data reflecting social structural imbalances produce biased judgments? How can emotion and context — "humanness" — that law handles be supplemented? Chief Justice Imamaki emphasized: "The attitude of listening to parties' arguments must remain unchanged, and judges' understanding of social backgrounds and comprehensive judgment ability will become more important." Korea's status: Supreme Court Administrative Office launched "Judicial AI Committee" in April 2025 to formally review AI introduction in trial systems; "AI Utilization Guidelines in Judiciary" first publicly released in March 2025; "AI Basic Law" passed National Assembly in December 2024; no official statement yet saying "AI can participate in judicial judgments" unlike Japan. "AI can enter the courtroom, but whether it can stand in law's place cannot yet be answered — but preparation for opening that door has already begun."
