법언어학과 한국의 현황

Abstract

This study examines forensic linguistics, addressing its conceptual foundations, historical development, research areas, methodologies, and key applications. It compares the current state and challenges of forensic linguistics in Korea with international trends. Language is a vital medium shaping thought, culture, and social norms, with linguistics extending from foundational studies to applied fields like forensic linguistics. This discipline systematically applies linguistic analysis in legal contexts, including legal text interpretation, courtroom discourse, authorship and speaker identification, and resolving disputes related to intellectual property and digital crimes. Globally, forensic linguistics has evolved from traditional stylistics to corpus-based and computational methods, and more recently AI-driven automation, broadening its practical applications across traditional and digital legal environments. However, forensic linguistics in Korea has developed slowly due to limited institutional infrastructure and a research focus mainly on discourse and regulatory language analysis. Nevertheless, the rising demands of cybercrime and synthetic media have increased the practical need for forensic linguistic expertise. This study analyzes 139 Korean publications from KCI, KISS, RISS, revealing growing interest in computational, corpus-based, and AI-integrated technologies alongside traditional legal language studies. The study highlights the urgent need for academic societies, standardized protocols, interdisciplinary education, data infrastructure, and international collaboration to advance forensic linguistics in Korea.