{"id":100492,"date":"2023-05-09T11:48:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T15:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=100492"},"modified":"2023-06-07T14:06:21","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T18:06:21","slug":"koh-family-in-law","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2023\/koh-family-in-law\/","title":{"rendered":"A Family in Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin record-block-editorial-leadin is-style-default-alt has-media has-media-focus-left-top has-secondary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Steven Arrigg Koh, associate professor of international law, teaching in 2023\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-636x477.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-1101x826.jpg 1101w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-909x682.jpg 909w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-1761x1321.jpg 1761w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-459x344.jpg 459w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-705x529.jpg 705w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-917x688.jpg 917w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-1411x1058.jpg 1411w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-1819x1364.jpg 1819w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-1333x1000.jpg 1333w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/steven-koh-teaching-2-1600x1200.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Photo by Conor Doherty for Boston University Photography<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Faculty<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA Family in LAW\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Seventy years after his grandfather taught at BU Law, Steven Arrigg Koh is continuing a family tradition of exploring international law.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar record-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">May 9, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/authors\/ben-seal\/\">Ben Seal<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"Video by\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/authors\/winikur-productions\/\">Winikur Productions<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>Kwang Lim Koh grew up in a small fishing village on the island of Jeju, off the southern coast of Korea. Living, working and studying under Japanese colonial rule, he developed an interest in maritime and international law, seeking to understand how it could restore balance to a world defined by strength and weakness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His search carried him half a world away to Boston, where he became the first Korean law professor in the United States at the Boston University School of Law. Two generations and 70 years later, his grandson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/steven-koh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steven Arrigg Koh<\/a> is carrying on the family legacy at the law school as an associate professor and R. Gordon Butler Scholar in International Law.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always felt very connected to him, and I think we all have because of the power of his story and the way in which the family has kept his story alive,\u201d Steven says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube alignwide wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"law-oembed-prepress-wrapper\"><div class=\"responsive-video responsive-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A Family in LAW\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b4t7EUdPWj4?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-caption\">WATCH: Professor Steven Koh reflects on his grandfather\u2019s legacy and how it feels to follow in his footsteps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That story begins with Kwang Lim\u2019s immigration in 1949 to study and later teach international law, and his fortuitous introduction\u2014made by his dissertation adviser\u2014to his wife and fellow Korean immigrant, Hesung Chun, who was then a student at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. She went on to earn a PhD in sociology and anthropology at BU, while Kwang Lim earned a PhD in political science at Rutgers University before earning both LLM and SJD degrees at Harvard Law School and, eventually, a JD at Boston College Law School.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the Kohs embarked on busy academic careers in the 1950s, Koreans were still few and far between in the United States and their culture and history weren\u2019t yet being considered in academic circles. So, they established the East Rock Institute, the country\u2019s first institution dedicated to Korean studies and Korean-American intellectual and cultural exchange. As they mentored and educated countless students, their Cambridge home became a gateway of sorts, through which seemingly every Korean immigrant in the Boston area passed on the path toward establishing roots in the region. When they moved to New Haven, Connecticut, in the 1960s, they moved the institute into what has become its permanent home.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along the way, the Kohs\u2019 six children developed a passion for teaching that carried several of them to the highest levels of academia. Steven\u2019s return to the school where his grandfather first taught the law is a homecoming that has resonated throughout the Koh family.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy father would just be jumping for joy,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/law.yale.edu\/harold-hongju-koh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Harold Hongju Koh<\/a>, Steven\u2019s uncle, who is the Sterling Professor of International Law and former dean at Yale Law School. \u201cIt would be everything he could have dreamed of.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kwang Lim died in 1989, when Steven was just 6, but Hesung Chun is \u201cstill going strong\u201d at 93, Harold says. She often reminds Steven that the conception of time is different in the West, where it is viewed as linear, than the East, where it is viewed as cyclical. In that distinction, he finds a close connection to Kwang Lim.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEach generation is another cycle of life,\u201d Steven says. \u201cI\u2019m the oldest grandson and my father is the oldest, so I have a very direct relationship to my grandfather from a Korean perspective. In a way, I\u2019m continuing on the next cycle from what my grandfather started.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kwang Lim taught and wrote about the law of the sea, with a particular focus on fisheries and the outer continental shelf. His writing was organized around the ways that international law can protect developing nations and guarantee equal treatment on the world stage. Steven\u2019s work is focused on comparative and international criminal law, with a distinct interest in the evolving area of transnational law, which brings nations together to address cross-border crime.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-photoessay record-block-editorial-photoessay alignfull wp-block-photoessay js-block-editorial-photoessay\"><div class=\"photo-row-thirds-3\">\n<div class=\"photo-3\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white photo of Kwang Lim Koh, who began teaching international law at BU Law in 1953\" class=\"wp-image-100509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-636x477.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-1101x826.jpg 1101w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-909x682.jpg 909w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-1761x1321.jpg 1761w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-459x344.jpg 459w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-705x529.jpg 705w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-917x688.jpg 917w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-1411x1058.jpg 1411w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-1819x1364.jpg 1819w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-1333x1000.jpg 1333w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958-1600x1200.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/kwang-lim-koh-at-bu-law-office-1958.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Kwang Lim Koh at his desk at BU Law in 1958. | Photo courtesy of BU Photography<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-caption\">Kwang Lim Koh at his desk at BU Law in 1958. | Photo courtesy of BU Photography<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the first day of class last fall, when Steven began teaching the same international law course Kwang Lim taught in 1953, he showed his students a photograph of himself and his brother alongside his grandparents in the 1980s.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was deeply meaningful for me to be teaching international law over half a century later at the same law school where my grandfather taught international law,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted my students to have a sense of that history from the very start.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The experience reminded Steven that international law has come a long way since the 1950s. In Kwang Lim\u2019s time, many of the pillars taken for granted today\u2014including the United Nations, international treaties and the law of the sea\u2014were still being established. By the next generation, Harold was able to contribute to the further development of international standards as a scholar and at the Department of State, where he was legal adviser and assistant secretary of human rights. By the time Steven graduated from Cornell Law School in 2008, international law had been so well established that he was able to contribute in two different positions at The Hague, first at the International Criminal Court and then at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The Kohs offer a window into the evolution of the field across three generations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cInternational law has grown so much in the years since my grandfather taught here,\u201d Steven says. \u201cIt really makes me aware of the nuance and sophistication of this system and the complex questions that arise.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the Koh family, teaching has been a multigenerational pursuit. In Korea, there is no greater professional honor than to be a teacher, Harold says. The Korean word for teacher, seonsaengnim, is a term of reverence akin to being called \u201cJedi master,\u201d he says. His parents instilled that appreciation in their children, including Steven\u2019s father, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hsph.harvard.edu\/profile\/howard-koh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Howard<\/a>, who is the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Kennedy School. Steven\u2019s mother, Claudia Arrigg, is of Lebanese heritage and shares the same values.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Steven\u2019s approach to teaching reflects the same principles his grandfather established for his family all those years ago, beginning at the same law school where Steven now works.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe see a scholarly life, but an engaged, mission-oriented, public-facing scholarly life, as very critical to who we are,\u201d Steven says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a third-generation professor of international law, his pursuit is an opportunity to shape and create a better future, his uncle says, in much the same way Kwang Lim sought to do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">\u201cLet\u2019s face it: not everything you write is going to live on,\u201d Harold says. \u201cBut if you give a student an idea and that student gives another student an idea, you can change the way people think about the world and promote a vision of the rule of law that extends from generation to generation.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-495x636.jpg\" alt=\"The Record, spring 2023 magazine cover: An orange snap model kit with gavels, jury seats, law graduates, and other items related to the practice of law sit against a blue background.\" class=\"wp-image-101193\" width=\"136\" height=\"174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-495x636.jpg 495w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-797x1024.jpg 797w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-768x987.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-1195x1536.jpg 1195w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-1593x2048.jpg 1593w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-643x826.jpg 643w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-531x682.jpg 531w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-803x1032.jpg 803w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-1028x1321.jpg 1028w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-268x344.jpg 268w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-412x529.jpg 412w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-535x688.jpg 535w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-823x1058.jpg 823w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-1061x1364.jpg 1061w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-1285x1652.jpg 1285w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-1606x2064.jpg 1606w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-778x1000.jpg 778w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/05\/RS23-cover-scaled.jpg 1991w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 136px) 100vw, 136px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>FEATURED IN<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><em>The Record<\/em>, Spring 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/news-stories\/issues\/spring-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See all stories<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two generations and 70 years after Kwang Lim Koh taught at BU Law, his grandson Steven Arrigg Koh is carrying on the family legacy at the law school as an associate professor and R. Gordon Butler Scholar in International Law.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11260,"featured_media":100514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"{\"post_id\":96827,\"hed\":\"All in the Family\",\"dek\":\"Next Article\",\"class\":\"wp-block-editorial-billboard record-block-editorial-billboard is-style-half-photo has-light-overlay has-media\",\"backgroundId\":\"96879\",\"backgroundUrl\":\"\\\/law\\\/files\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/All-in-the-Family-crosstitch-970x456.jpg\",\"backgroundType\":\"image\",\"backgroundOpacity\":\"100\"}","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Faculty","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[1256,4137],"bu-publication":[3742],"record-article-category":[3918,3764,3751,4135,3786],"record-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/100492"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100492"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/100492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101417,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/100492\/revisions\/101417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100492"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=100492"},{"taxonomy":"record-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-article-category?post=100492"},{"taxonomy":"record-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-topic?post=100492"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=100492"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=100492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}