[Related Article / The Korean Economic Daily] How a Rule Meant to Protect Heirs Became a Shield for Wrongdoers [Law & Business – Seo & Lee]

At Korean funerals, the deceased is often dressed in a hemp burial shroud. Seeking to honor the departed, families pay a premium for high-quality domestic hemp, a practice that has even led to cases in which funeral service providers falsely marketed imported shrouds as Korean-made and sold them at inflated prices.

Historically, however, hemp garments were not intended for the deceased. They were mourning clothes worn by surviving children as a sign of grief and filial duty, while the deceased was buried in their finest garments, often made of silk. That tradition changed in 1934, when the Japanese colonial administration’s Funeral Rites Guidelines replaced silk with hemp and cotton for burial clothing. Over time, what had once been a garment for mourners came to be viewed as a longstanding funeral tradition for the deceased.

The right to claim recovery of inheritance traces its origins to custom ...