The book contains important decisions made by the Supreme Court. It's translated into English and distributed to publicize our judiciary and judicial culture abroad.

The Supreme Court Library of Korea published volume one of the English edition in January 2005 and volume two in March 2007, and distributed about 900 copies to our overseas diplomatic missions and foreign embassies in Korea.

The English edition of "Supreme Court Decisions" is becoming popular overseas, so much so that it has become essential for judges traveling abroad for business or study to take the publication with them. Foreign judges who receive the book as gifts are "very grateful," say court officials.

When Supreme Court officials visited the Spanish Supreme Court and Constitutional Court last year and presented the book as gifts, the Spanish side reportedly proposed a regular exchange of judicial materials between the two countries.

The Busan District Court plans to present 10 copies of the English edition to the People's Court in Shanghai during an international judicial exchange event slated to be held later this month.

In addition, the Supreme Court Library of Korea posts English translations of Supreme Court decisions on its website as well as the website of the Supreme Court in real time.

Whenever a posting is delayed because of translation needs, telephone inquiries flood the library asking when the latest decision will be posted. "Our country has shifted from an importer of decisions to an exporter of decisions," said a library official.

Until a few years ago, our decisions often attached Japanese or German legal precedents as footnotes, but such instances are now rare. Our judiciary's decisions on major cases like the trials of former presidents in detention and trials involving the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis draw attention from foreign courts.

"Interest in Korean law is rising in the international community due to the globalization of the judicial market and our conclusion of the free trade agreement with the U.S., among other factors," said the library official.

"The project of translating Supreme Court decisions into English will provide momentum for our country to cease being a one-sided importer of foreign laws and to globalize Korean law by exporting our decisions," the official said.

(englishnews@chosun.com )