Korean Studies, University of Edinburgh

Many congratulations Brother Anthony, Prof. An Sonjae!

🌟 Congratulations to Brother Anthony An Sonjae! 🌟

We are thrilled to celebrate Brother Anthony of Taizé (An Sonjae) for being awarded the prestigious 2024 Manhae Literary Prize! At 82, Brother Anthony has been a pioneering force in bringing Korean literature to the world, translating over 60 poetry collections and numerous novels into English. 📚✨

Born in the UK and educated at Oxford, Brother Anthony joined the Taizé Community in 1969 and moved to Korea in 1980. As a professor at Sogang University, he began translating Korean literature, making the works of poets like Ko Un, Kim Kwang-kyu, and novelists like Yi Mun-yol accessible to English-speaking audiences. His dedication has earned him titles such as Sogang University Emeritus Professor and Honorary President of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch.

Brother Anthony humbly dedicates this award to the original poets and authors, feeling that his contributions are small compared to their creative genius. His work continues to inspire and connect cultures through the beauty of literature.

Join us in honoring Brother Anthony for his incredible contributions to literature and cultural exchange! 🌍❤️

Image © The Choson Ilbo

It was great to host colleagues for a workshop on Alltagsgeschichte 일상사 in Korean Studies last week!

Calling for papers for AKSE 2025!

The University of Edinburgh will host the 32nd biennial Association for Korean Studies in Europe (AKSE) Conference as an in-person event from 19 to 22 June 2025 in Edinburgh, UK. The conference is co-organized by the University of Edinburgh with the AKSE Council. Founded in 1977, AKSE is the main scholarly society for Korean Studies in Europe. Its objectives are to stimulate and coordinate academic Korean Studies in all countries of Europe, and to contribute to the spread of knowledge of Korea among a wider public.

The biennial AKSE conferences provide an opportunity for European scholars of Korean Studies to gather and exchange research. The conferences host the AKSE membership meeting, making this the most important event of the association. AKSE conferences are also a way for European scholars to communicate with the global academic community, and we warmly welcome non‐members and scholars from outside Europe.
Please see below for details on individual paper and panel proposal submissions. For more information about the conference, and to register to submit an abstract, please also see the conference website: https://coms.app/akse2025/welcome.html

Key dates

1 July 2024 – 15 September 2024: Submission of abstracts
1 January 2025: Notification of accepted proposals
1 January 2025 – 1 May 2025: Registration
1 January 2025 – 30 May 2025: Online paper submission

Submission guidelines

General information
- Abstract submission will entail preliminary registration (not binding). Formal registration for all participants and attendees will be open January-May 2025.
- Subjects in all areas of Korean Studies are welcome. During the abstract submission, submitters will have to choose a field for their presentation.
- All abstracts should be written in English, but the official languages of the conference are: English, French, German and Korean. You must specify the presentation language if it is different from English.
- Both individual abstracts and panel proposals can be submitted, although panel proposals will be treated preferentially.
- We strongly encourage panel diversity (institutional, national, disciplinary, gender, and career-stage), and this will be an important criterion in the final selection process.
- Each session will last for 100 minutes and typically consist of four paper presentations. To allow plenty of time for discussion, presenters should not exceed 15 minutes (60 minutes for presentations, 40 minutes for discussion).

Instructions for panel proposals
- Panel proposals should include: a concise title (e.g. “Korean Diaspora in US”); up to three keywords; details of up to five panelists (up to four presenters and an optional non-presenting chair); and a panel abstract of up to 300 words.
- Additionally, each presenter should prepare an abstract of up to 300 words
- Normally panels do not include discussants. The panel chair may act as discussant if invited to do so.

Instructions for individual papers
- Individual presenters should submit an abstract of up to 300 words, as well as a paper title and up to three keywords.

Additional information on the website

Further information about the conference—including information about registration fees and graduate student travel subsidies—is available on the conference website: https://coms.app/akse2025/welcome.html

Wish you a wonderful summer with many good panel ideas for the AKSE conference in 2025!

Please share widely!

Holly Stephens and the Korean Studies Team at the University of Edinburgh
[email protected]

32nd AKSE Conference

You are warmly invited to the following Distinguished Lecture Series:

Activism and Post-activism: Korean Documentary Cinema, 1981-2022

Jihoon Kim
(Chung-ang University)

Tuesday 18th June
1430 – 1630
G.03, 50 George Square

Abstract: This talk presents an overview of my Activism and Post-activism: Korean Documentary Cinema: 1981-2022 (Oxford University Press, 2024), the first-ever English-language monograph on the South Korean nonfiction film and video practices in the nongovernmental and noncorporate sectors from their foundational period (early 1980s) to the present. Making the tripartite connections between the socio-political history of South Korea (from the 1980s mass anti-dictatorship movement to twenty-first-century labor issues, Truth and Reconciliation, feminism, LGBT rights, environmental justice, and key events such as the Sewol Ferry disaster and the Candlelight Protests), documentary's aesthetics and politics, and the shifting institutional and technological evolution of documentary production and distribution, I argue that what is unique and particular about this forty-year history of South Korean documentary cinema is the intensive and compressed coevolution of activism (which includes social change documentaries aimed to engage social movements in the forms of alternative nonfiction media practice) and post-activism (a set of twenty-first-century documentaries whose formal and aesthetic experimentations gesture toward overcoming and renewing the activist tradition).

Asia Today at the YPS symposium

[인터뷰] 피터 매티슨 에든버러대 총장 “여소야대 정국서 지도층 공감대 형성해야” “세계 어느 곳이든 평화롭기만 하다면 훨씬 행복하겠지만 현실에는 늘 갈등이 있기 마련이다. 같은 신념을 가진 국가들이 공유된 가치를 기반으로 동맹하고, 그 가치를 세계 다른 지역으로 확산하는 노력을 해야 한다.”피터 ....

Asia today news last week at the YPS symposium

[인터뷰] “여소야대 정국서 정책 혁신…각당 지도층간 공감대부터” “세계 어느 곳이든 평화롭기만 하다면 훨씬 행복하겠지만 현실에는 늘 갈등이 있기 마련이다. 같은 신념을 가진 국가들이 공유된 가치를 기반으로 동맹하고, 그 가치를 세계 다른 지역으로 확산하는 노력을 해야 한다.”피터 ....

The 10th University of Edinburgh Yun Posun Memorial Symposium will be held in Seoul on 16 May 2024 at the Yun Posun Residence.
Please see the program below:

At the end of April we welcomed Myungji Yang from the University of Hawai'i who presented on 'Reactionary Politics in South Korea: Historical Legacies, Right-Wing Intellectuals, and Political Mobilization.'

Thank you to all those who attended!

At the end of March we welcomed Dr Jong-Chol An as part of the Asian Studies Seminar Series who gave a talk on 'Who Should Inherit the Right of Ancestor Worship in South Korea? Property for Ancestor and Gender Issues.'

Thank you to all those who attended!

Excited to announce that the 32nd AKSE conference is coming to Edinburgh in June 19-22, 2025!
Call for papers will open this summer – check back for the full announcement then, as well as more details about AKSE on our website:

The Association for Korean Studies in Europe Its objectives are to stimulate and co-ordinate academic Korean studies in all countries of Europe, and to contribute to the spread of knowledge of Korea among a wider public. Founded in 1977, AKSE holds regular scholarly conferences and publishes an annual Newsletter.

🎓 𝐺𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑢𝑟 4-𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑃ℎ𝐷 𝑖𝑛 𝐸𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑠! 🎓

The PhD in Economics at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice is a 4-year fully funded doctoral programme, entirely taught in English, offering world-class training in economics, econometrics and finance to highly selected students seeking an international career in academia or economic and financial institutions. For further details, visit www.unive.it/phdeconomics

The next call for applications will close on 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 at 1:00pm (CEST).

𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟵𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗮𝘁 𝟱.𝟬𝟬𝗽𝗺 (𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗧) and get to know our world-class Program, Faculty, Placement and More.

Sign up now on bit.ly/phdeconomics2024-form to register and receive access to the online event.

Dr Youngmi Kim’s comments quoted in Times Higher education magazine on ‘How row over medical school places thwarted Korean president’
By Helen Packer
On April 16, 2024

See below the quot:

Although only one of many factors contributing to the governing party’s electoral defeat by its liberal opposition, the Democratic Party, the recent strikes and Mr Yoon’s reaction to them have added to his unpopularity, according to academics. While the “vast majority” of people “tend to support the government’s policy”, they “are not happy about the government’s deadlock with doctors and failures in communication with the public”, said Youngmi Kim, senior lecturer in the department of Asian studies at the University of Edinburgh (https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world- university-rankings/university-edinburgh).

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/how-row-over-medical-school-places-thwarted-korean-president?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=asia-weekly&spMailingID=28827010&spUserID=MTAxNzcwODg4NjkxOAS2&spJobID=2451141327&spReportId=MjQ1MTE0MTMyNwS2

How row over medical school places thwarted Korean president Analysts suggest Yoon Suk-yeol’s handling of admissions dispute contributed to his unpopularity ahead of his party’s electoral defeat

You are warmly invited to the following Distinguished Lecture Series:

Reactionary Politics in South Korea: Historical Legacies, Right-Wing Intellectuals, and Political Mobilization

Myungji Yang
(University of Hawai'i)

Monday 22nd April
1500 – 1700
Project Room 1.06, 50 George Square

Abstract: This talk tackles how the right-wing has shaped the post-authoritarian South Korean politics over the last four decades. I will examine why, despite the arrival of electoral democracy in 1987, rapidly changing geopolitical conditions, and popular demands for socioeconomic reforms, the South Korean Right continues to deploy outdated anti-communist rhetoric and authoritarian legacies as their ideological arsenal, and why many ordinary citizens support a right-wing movement that strongly resists prodemocratic changes. Drawing from rich qualitative data collected through ethnographic observation, in-depth interviews, and archival sources, I demonstrate that right-wing forces have maintained their hegemonic position by capitalizing on Cold War contestation and constantly engineering fear and hate toward North Korea and South Korea’s left-leaning forces. Examining how interactions between right-wing intellectuals, political institutions, and historical legacies of war and authoritarianism have constructed conservative identity and narratives, my talk will broaden the understanding of the dynamics and mobilization processes of the Right.

Soongsil International Summer School 2024

4-Week Program & 3-Week Program (1 Course, 3 Credits)
- Korean Language (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)
- Learning Korean through Media
- Discover Korea: Politics, Economy and Culture

Application period deadlines:
Session 1 - 31st May
Session 2 - 14th June

Please find more details below.

JOB ADVERT: Teaching Assistant in Korean Language at the University of Edinburgh

We are looking for a Language Assistant in Korean to deliver our Korean language offering at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Informal inquiries should be directed to: [email protected]

Please find more details and how to apply at the link below:

Teaching Assistant in Korean We are looking for a Language Assistant in Korean to deliver our Korean language offering at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. The successful candidate will teach within the framework of the school’s courses delivering Korean language teaching to undergraduate and postgraduate students, s...

You are warmly invited to the following Asian Studies Seminar:

Who Should Inherit the Right of Ancestor Worship in South Korea? Property for Ancestor and Gender Issues
Jong-Chol An
(Ca' Foscari University of Venice)

Wednesday 27th March 1600 – 1800
Project Room 1.06, 50 George Square

Abstract: In the early 2000’s, the Korean Constitutional Court (KCC) abolished the notoriously discriminatory Household head system, or hojuje, and deemed that women were entitled to membership in the chongjung or lineage clan. However, these rulings left a fundamental question unanswered: who can inherit the right to bring ancestor worship? This talk deals with multiple court cases following the hojuje’s abolishment that relate to ancestor worship, gender, and inheritance. These cases show the contour of Korean jurisprudence and the position of customary law in Korea. Also, this talk raises the question about “Confucian” principle in Korean law.

Last Wednesday we welcomed Seok-Kyeong Hong from Seoul National University who gave a talk on 'Korean Dramas After Netflix: Changes in Production, Distribution and Reception.'

Thank you to all those who attended!

5th SHEFFIELD KOREAN VIDEO CONTEST
The Korean Studies programme at the University of Sheffield is hosting a Video Contest to promote awareness of Korean culture in the UK.

Theme: My Korean Adventure
Deadline: 15 April 2024

Video subject
The video can be either in Korean or anything to do with Korea. There are no restrictions as to genre: e.g. documentary, drama, music video.

Recommended length
3-5 minutes, Korean or English.
(If it’s in Korean, English subtitles are needed.)

Eligibility
Any individuals or groups are welcome to enter.

Submissions
All submissions must be sent to [email protected].

Selection criteria
Originality, relevance and artistry

Questions
[email protected]

Award ceremony
Wed. 1 May 2024, 4-5 pm, venue TBC

You are warmly invited to the following Distinguished Lecture Series:

Korean Dramas After Netflix: Changes in Production, Distribution and Reception
Seok-Kyeong Hong
(Seoul National University)

Wednesday 13th March
1600 – 1800
G.02, 50 George Square

Abstract: Korean TV dramas have led the Hallyu (Korean Wave) phenomenon in East Asia since the late 1990s, providing abundant examples to analyze the meaning of the Korean Wave as a transnational cultural phenomenon. After Netflix's entry into Korea in 2016, numerous Netflix original K-dramas such as , , and have achieved global success. However, these are very different from existing Korean dramas in terms of genre, narrative, and aesthetics. This lecture analyses the changes in the production, distribution, and reception of Korean dramas since Netflix's installation and addresses the issues and perspectives raised by Netflix.

Bio: Seok-Kyeong HONG is a Professor of Communication and the Director of the Center for Hallyu Studies at Seoul National University. Hong’s research interests include digital cultural forms and practices, visual culture and visual methods, Korean popular culture, and the Korean Wave in its regional and global dynamics. Her major works are Hallyu in Globalization and Digital Era (2013) and BTS on the Road (2020; Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesian translation in 2022, English translation in 2023; French Translation in 2024). She edited All about Drama (2017) and Transnational Convergence of East Asian Pop Culture (2021) and one of three editors of the special edition on Netflix and the Korean Wave (International Journal of Communication, 2023). She currently writing a book on the Korean Drama and exploring the theoretical and reflexive contribution of Hallyu Studies on the transnational cultural flow and global cultural production.

This can be a great opportunity for MA students, PhD students or Postdocs! Find more information here: http://apply.kf.or.kr

Early last month we welcomed Adam Cathcart for the first Distinguished Lecture of 2024 presenting on 'Hunger on China's Korean Periphery: Yanbian in the Great Leap Forward 1958-1962'. Thank you to those who attended!

You are warmly invited to the following Asian Studies Seminar:

Water, Ice, and "Bandits": Yalu River Border Security Through the Seasons, 1910-1945
Joseph Seeley
(University of Virginia)

Wednesday 6th March
1600 – 1800
Project Room 1.06, 50 George Square

Abstract: From 1910 to 1945 the Yalu River was part of the longest formal, nonmaritime border of the Japanese Empire—a pivotal site for shoring control over Japanese-occupied Korea and for projecting imperial power further into Manchuria. This presentation examines how the politics and violence of the border were critically shaped by the river's annual cycles of wintertime freezing, springtime thawing, and summertime monsoonal flooding. More than just a static backdrop to human politics, the seasonally changing Yalu River played an active role in border making and unmaking.

The event is free, and registration is not required.
We look forward to seeing some of you there.

Dr Youngmi Kim’s contribution to BBC world service radio on South Korea’s declining birth rate.
Min 15:36

World Business Report - South Korea: Birth rate falls to new record low - BBC Sounds Economic incentives fail to boost population in the nation with the lowest fertility rate

You are warmly invited to the following Distinguished Lecture Series held by Scottish Centre for Korean Studies:

Urban Renewal in Pyongyang: Making Fieldwork in a Closed Context
Manon Prud'homme
(EHESS, Paris)

Tuesday 5th March
1700 – 1900
Lecture Theatre B, 40 George Square

Abstract: Manon Prud’homme will discuss the consequences of the “Arduous March” and the reconfigurations afterwards that affected the structure of Pyongyang itself by analyzing new urban projects, especially those constructed after Kim Jong Un’s rise to power in 2011. After North Korea went through its biggest economic crisis since the Korean War in the 1990s, referred to by its government as the “Arduous March”, the public distribution system collapsed and North Koreans were forced to adopt alternate strategies to survive. Black markets appeared and multiplied nationwide. In this context, marketization and monetization began in North Korea. Pyongyang had no choice but to adapt its political strategy in order to respond to its population’s changed conceptions and demands of living standards. As a result, since the mid-2010s, Pyongyang’s cityscape has been completely reconfigured, similar to other post-socialist cities, with the construction of a series of residential districts in the historical downtown areas. Manon Prud’homme will rely on an analysis of recent urban development in Pyongyang since the 2010s in order to understand the economic and social changes in North Korean society. Based on both her research conducted in Pyongyang in 2016 and 2019, and on a variety of methodological tools, the lecture will also review the research methods in a “closed context”.

Bio: Manon Prud’homme is a PhD candidate at the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris under the supervision of Valérie Gelézeau. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Asian Studies in 2020 and her research focused on the development of leisure parks and the evolution of leisure practices in Pyongyang. Her PhD research focuses on urban renewal and the construction of new residential districts and social change in Pyongyang since the “Arduous March” in the 1990s. Manon Prud’homme stayed twice for a month in Pyongyang, in 2016 and 2019, as a coordinator of a group of French students and as a student at the Kim Il Sung University.

The event is free, and registration is not required.
We look forward to seeing some of you there.