A comparative study of the CISG and the North Korean contract law as to formation of a contract

• Pages: 36-50
• Date: 27 February 2020
• Published date: 27 February 2020
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JITLP-07-2019-0046
• Author: Sang Man Kim
• Subject Matter: Strategy,International business,International business law,Economics,International economics,International trade

A comparative study of the CISG

and the North Korean contract law

as to formation of a contract

Sang Man Kim

Department of International Trade, Duksung Women’s University, Seoul,

Republic of Korea

Abstract

Purpose –North Korea joined the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of

Goods (CISG) as a 90th member on March 27, 2019, which will necessitate the understanding of North

Korean laws, in particular, the contract law for sale.ThispaperaimstocomparetheCISGandtheNorth

Korean contract law as to the formation of a contract focusing on form and writing requirement, offer

and acceptance.

Design/methodology/approach –This paper analyzes the provisions of the North KoreanCivil Code

and the CISG and reviews the previousresearch studies concerning the formation of a contract.

Findings –The CISG and the North Korean CivilCode are very similar in many aspects as to the formation

of a contract. However,there are some discrepancies as to the formation of a contractto which the parties need

to pay attentionin choosingthe governing law.

Practical implications –The parties need to pay attentionto the differences concerning the formation of

a contract between the North Korean Civil Code andthe CISG in concluding a contract for sale with North

Korea.

Originality/value –This paper will be the f‌irst research work, to the bestof the author’s knowledge, on

the comparisonof the CISG and the North Korean contract law as to the formation of a contract.

Keywords North Korea, CISG, Formation of contract, International uniform law,

North Korean Civil Code, North Korean contract law

Paper type Viewpoint

1. Introduction

The United Nations (UN) Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods

(“CISG”) has been acknowledged as one of the most successful international uniform laws

(Lee, 2017). The CISG incorporatedboth procedural and substantive aspects ofinternational

sales law (Schlechtriem and Butler, 2009). Unexpectedly, North Korea joined the CISG as a

90th member state on March 27, 2019[1].The total volume of international trade in goods by

the CISG member statesexceeds 80 per cent of the volume of world trade (WTO, 2019).

The Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unif‌ication of the Korean

Peninsula of April 27, 2018 (“Panmunjom Declaration”), between South Korea and North

Korea; the United States–NorthKorea Singapore Summit of 2018 and Hanoi Summit of 2019;

and North Korea’s ratif‌ication of the CISG show wellNorth Korea’s willingness to open the

market aiming at boosting its national economy. In the event that North Korea opens its

markets wide and the UN sanction against North Korea is withdrawn, international

transactions with North Koreaare expected to increase[2]. International sale of goods among

other international transactions is expected to signif‌icantly increase. The increase of

international sale of goods with North Korea will necessitate the understanding of North

JITLP

19,1

36

Received30 July 2019

Revised27 November 2019

Accepted3 January 2020

Journalof International Trade

Lawand Policy

Vol.19 No. 1, 2020

pp. 36-50

© Emerald Publishing Limited

1477-0024

DOI 10.1108/JITLP-07-2019-0046

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/1477-0024.htm