On December 13th, KICJ, Korean Society of Mediation Studies, Ministry of Justice, and the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board convened the 7th Asia-Pacific Mediation Conference in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

The event commenced with Prof. Yong-Sup Kim, Honorary President of the Korean Society of Mediation Studies, delivering the keynote speech on the "legal and policy issues in mediation reform." Session 1 on the topic of 'current status and challenges in implementing the Singapore Convention on Mediation' was moderated by Jeong-hyun Park from the International Legal Affairs Division of the Ministry of Justice. Prof. Hyun-Suk Oh (Keimyung University) spoke on the "checkpoints?? for the ratification of the Singpore Convention," followed by Prof. Junhyok Jang (Sungkyunkwan University) speaking on the "implications of and responses to the Singapore Convention in Korea." Next, Jasmine Chin-Sabado, Director of the Policy Advisory Division of the Singapore Ministry of Law, delivered a talk titled "Ratification of the Singapore Convention: Examples from Singapore." Dr. Hyejeong Do from the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board and Célia Guignet, attorney at Peter & Kim, participated in the discussions.

Session 2 on the topic of ‘ethics and capability building of mediators,' moderated by Vice President Deok-Nam Hwang of the Korean Society of Mediation Studies, began with KICJ Senior Research Fellow Dr. Misuk Park speaking on the "plans for the professionalization of criminal mediators." Prof. Roland B. Wilson (George Mason University Korea) spoke on the "Ethics and Capabilities of a Mediator: Establishing the Concept and Standard in Korea and the Asia-Pacific." The final talk was delivered by Kyung-mok Chae, Deputy Director of the Manufacturing Subcontract Division at the Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency, on the "aspects of subcontract disputes and the cultivation of professional investigators." Prof. Jewoo Lee (Kangnam University) and Eugenia Stavropoulou, attorney at Kim & Chang, led the discussions.

Session 3 on 'improving the mediation system for better efficiency' was moderated by Prof. Byung Ho Bae (Sungkyunkwan University). Judge Seongsu Kwon from the Seoul Central District Court delivered the first presentation "improving civil mediation - focusing on Seoul Center Mediation Center." Yunjeong Kim, attorney at Hwaan Law, spoke on "improving family mediation - focusing on the practice of early intervention mediation." The final talk was given by Timothy Dickens, attorney at DR & AJU LLC, on "the meaning of psychology in mediation: focusing on human factors." KICJ Research Fellow Dr. Sok-young Chang and Sameer Thakur, attorney at Peter & Kim, participated in the discussions.