korean-law-mcp MCP — Use Cases, Install & Live Demo

Why use it

Key features

15 tools covering statutes, case law, ordinances, treaties
Chain tools for common research patterns (full_research, dispute_prep, procedure_detail)
Case law across 17 judicial domains including Constitutional Court and Fair Trade Commission
Multi-format annexes (HWP, PDF, XLSX, DOCX)
discover_tools / execute_tool meta tools for dynamic access to 41 underlying APIs

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

korean-law.replay ▶ ready

0/0

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "korean-law": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "korean-law-mcp"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "korean-law": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "korean-law-mcp"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "korean-law": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "korean-law-mcp"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "korean-law": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "korean-law-mcp"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "korean-law",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "korean-law-mcp"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "korean-law": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": [
          "-y",
          "korean-law-mcp"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add korean-law -- npx -y korean-law-mcp

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use korean-law-mcp

How to research a Korean statute and its case law in one session

👤 Korean legal researchers, compliance officers ⏱ ~30 min intermediate

When to use: You need the statute text, recent amendments, and relevant court interpretations.

Prerequisites

Node 18+ — nvm install 20
Install: npx korean-law-mcp setup — Adds config to your MCP client

Flow

Run chain research

chain_full_research on 개인정보 보호법 — statute, amendments in last 3 years, related decisions.✓ Copied

→ Structured report
Drill into a clause

get_law_text for article 17 of that act.✓ Copied

→ Full clause text
Find dispute precedents

search_decisions on article 17 disputes at the Constitutional Court level.✓ Copied

→ Decision list

Outcome: A research memo that a junior associate could follow up on.

Pitfalls

Translations can mislead — this tool returns Korean originals — For bilingual output, pair with a translation MCP; don't trust unofficial translations in court filings

Combine with: google-workspace

How to prepare for a dispute with chain_dispute_prep

👤 Korean litigation teams ⏱ ~25 min advanced

When to use: You're drafting a brief and need precedent quickly.

Flow

Frame the issue

chain_dispute_prep for a contract dispute over unfair clauses under 약관의 규제에 관한 법률.✓ Copied

→ Statute + relevant precedents + annexes
Get key decision texts

get_decision_text on the top 3 decisions returned.✓ Copied

→ Full opinions

Outcome: A precedent-backed starting draft.

Pitfalls

Don't cite machine-translated text in filings — Use original Korean in filings; English is for internal discussion

How to track amendments to a law over time

👤 Compliance officers, policy analysts ⏱ ~15 min intermediate

When to use: You need to know what changed and when.

Flow

Run chain_amendment_track

chain_amendment_track on 자본시장법 in the last 5 years.✓ Copied

→ Diff-oriented amendment log

Outcome: A timeline of changes with articles affected.

Combinations

Pair with other MCPs for X10 leverage

korean-law + google-workspace

Produce research memos directly into Google Docs

Run chain_full_research on 공정거래법 and write the result as a new Google Doc 'Antitrust Research 2026-04'.✓ Copied

korean-law + notion

Maintain a compliance knowledge base

Every Monday, run chain_amendment_track on our watchlist laws and create a Notion page with changes.✓ Copied

Tools

What this MCP exposes

Tool	Inputs	When to call	Cost
chain_full_research	topic: str	Broad first pass	multiple API calls
chain_law_system	domain: str	Understand a legal area	multiple calls
chain_action_basis	action: str	Find basis for an administrative action	multiple calls
chain_dispute_prep	issue: str	Draft prep	multiple calls
chain_amendment_track	law_name, since?: str	Change tracking	multiple calls
search_law	query	Find a specific act	1 API call
get_law_text	law_id, article?	Retrieve clauses	1 API call
get_annexes	law_id	Attachments + schedules	1 API call
search_decisions	query, court?	Case law search	1 API call
get_decision_text	decision_id	Read a ruling	1 API call
discover_tools	query?	Find an API not covered by chain tools	free
execute_tool	tool_name, args	Call any underlying API	1 API call

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: 법제처 public API has generous limits but no published SLA — be considerate
Tokens per call: Statute texts: 2k-20k tokens; keep article-scoped queries
Monetary: Free — public API
Tip: Use chain tools instead of manually stitching many execute_tool calls — faster + fewer tokens.

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Minimum scopes: None — public API

Credential storage: No API key required

Data egress: 법제처 Open API endpoints

Never grant: Nothing — read-only public data

This is a research assistant, not legal advice — all outputs need attorney review.

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

Empty results for a common law

Try the official Korean name rather than English. search_law supports fuzzy Korean matching.

chain_* tool times out

Narrow the scope (single law or single year). Chain tools make many underlying calls.

Annexes return .hwp files that don't open

.hwp is Hangul Word Processor — install Hancom HWP viewer or convert via Hancom Docs.

Alternatives

korean-law-mcp vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
법제처 site directly	You only need occasional lookup	No AI orchestration

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

🔍 Browse all 400+ MCP servers and Skills