Associate Professor Hongbum So Receives Songam Award

We are pleased to announce that Associate Professor Hongbum So, a faculty member of the Global Legal Innovation (GLI) Education and Research Center, Graduate School of Law, Hitotsubashi University, has been awarded the 12th Songam Young Scholar Award.

The award was conferred for his paper, “Critical Analysis of Interpretive Trends on the Scope of ‘Public Morals’ in International Economic Law: Theoretical and Practical Implications,” published in the Sungkyunkwan Law Review (Vol. 37, No. 3, 2025). The award ceremony took place at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea, on December 24, 2025.

Each year, the Songam Award Selection Committee recognizes outstanding papers published in the Sungkyunkwan Law Review, the quarterly academic journal of Sungkyunkwan University Law School.

Professor So’s paper examines recent interpretive trends regarding the scope of ‘public morals’ and evaluates their theoretical and practical implications in international economic law. By analyzing the historical context and dispute settlement cases under the WTO and the USMCA, the research explores how the concept of ‘public morals’ has been defined and interpreted in practice. Furthermore, it critically assesses the current standard of review employed by the adjudicating bodies by carefully examining various theoretical approaches to the concept.

The Selection Committee highly regarded his work, noting that the paper “thoroughly explores the current scholarly debates and the development of recent case law, thereby making a significant academic contribution to the field of international economic law.”