Korean Studies Interview

1. Please introduce yourself to the readers of the KSPS Newsletter.

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  Hello! I was born in Daejeon, and after graduating high school I moved to Seoul to study business administration. During my undergrad, I joined a club where I learned Esperanto, which made me realize that artificial language can be an excellent alternative to English for communicating among people with different native languages. This sparked my interest in languages. While dabbling in the Korean language and literature department, I read classic texts such as Worin seokbo (a Buddhist sutra annotation from the 15th century), Im Kkeok-jeong (a novel by Hong Myeong-hui), and Uri malbon (a grammar book by Choe Hyeon-bae), which inspired me to pursue linguistics at graduate school. During my doctoral program, I specialized in the interpretation of materials produced prior to the creation of the Hunmin jeongeum which utilized hanja to express the Korean language, focusing on the nature of the language, script, and orthography at the time the materials were produced.

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2. Was there a particular impetus that sparked your interest in Korean Studies research? What was the driving force that allowed you to continue your research activities?

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  During my senior year of my undergraduate studies, I decided to pursue a “career in which I can dedicate my life’s work to the research of the Korean language.” This was because there was nothing I enjoyed more than looking at documents containing the old appearance of the Korean language. If I was to choose the greatest driving force that allowed me to continue this research until today, it would be the “charm of old text materials.” These days, most important research materials can be viewed through a computer screen. But when I feel exhausted or lonely, quietly looking at and communing with photoprint materials puts my mind at ease. When looking at Goryeo-period woodblock-printed Buddhist sutras that use the gugyeol system, in which the literary Sinitic text is annotated with various points and lines to convey the Korean language, I feel as if I am newly discovering a method of interpretation that has not yet been revealed. In such a moment, I’m filled with such bliss that it reminds me of the words of Confucius: “If I hear the Way one morning and die that night, I die content.”

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3. You are currently carrying out the KSPS Fostering a New Wave of K-Academics Program. What was your reason for applying and could you share more about your center?

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  The Korean Linguistics and Literature Department at Korea University, where I am employed, has a long and proud history of research and education on the Korean language, literature, and culture. The International Research Center for Korean Language and Culture (ICKLC), which is affiliated with our department, was established in 2006 and has taken great interest in sharing and exchanging Korean Studies research outcomes with researchers across the globe. In 2021, we saw the announcement for the Fostering a New Wave of K-Academics Program and ended up applying. At the time of our application, we established a separate Outreach Center for Korean Language and Culture Studies dedicated to the project. However, as of January 2025, the project is now being carried out through the Outreach Center for Korean Linguistic, Literary, and Cultural Studies (OCKS), which is a part of the ICKLC.

  The OCKS is located in the Korean Studies Building, which is the cradle of Korean Studies research at Korea University. Our Korea University team comprises 10 co-researcher professors, 6 full-time researchers, 9 research assistants, and 1 administrator, as well as 33 reviewers and 20 translators from both within and outside the university. Our team is also in close cooperation with 28 overseas advisors from 25 universities in 16 countries.

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4. The Fostering a New Wave of K-Academics Program began in 2021 and is now in its fourth year. What has been the OCKS’s greatest accomplishment and what characteristics distinguish your center from other research teams?

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  Like the other research centers carrying out this project, the OCKS produces 10 Korean Studies online courses and guidebooks each year, which are offered via the K-MOOC website. We are also producing various publications, including an English-language sourcebook (An Anthology of Korean Classical Prose, published in January 2025), a Korean-language research book (Hangugeo gyoyuk mit gyojae yeongu donghyang gwa baljeon banghyang [Research Trends and Development Directions for Korean Language Education and Textbooks], scheduled for publication in 2025), and an English-language research book (Heroes and the People: The Interplay and Restoration of Tradition in Modern Korea During the Late 20th Century, scheduled for publication in 2027). Furthermore, we have held a variety of programs including international conferences, academic forums for rising scholars, localized special lectures and presentations, student internships, a global summer school, and a K-academic study group, in addition to publishing the Journal of Korean Culture (KCI accredited).

  The unique characteristic of the OCKS program can be seen in our inbound student internship program and our outbound on-site localized lecture programs. First, the student internship program allows foreign students majoring in Korean Studies to work for a certain period and received a certificate of completion. One of the interns’ key duties is participating in the production of the online lectures produced by OCKS through monitoring activities. This has been well received by internship graduates as they can learn the working process of the OCKS in addition to studying information about their major. Opportunities are provided both to students visiting Korea during their school vacations as well as students residing in Korea as exchange students. Notably, the National Chengchi University in Taiwan sends students each year as part of an MOU signed between the university and the OCKS.

  Second, the localized lectures held overseas aim to meet the demand of overseas universities. The lecturers of the OCKS online courses visit the overseas universities and provide a specialized lecture for the local students. In 2024, the program was held in four countries, namely Taiwan, Bulgaria, China, and the U.S. This program, too, was well received. The program aids greatly in ascertaining the needs of overseas learners for Korean Studies content and providing real exchange and Korean Studies outreach with overseas universities in person. However, the lecturers’ schedules and the budget remain key issues for carrying out the program efficiently.

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5. Is there a particular episode that stands out from conducting the courses? If possible, please share an example of a difficulty you had to overcome or an unexpected outcome you experienced.

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  I’ve monitored the OCKS’s online lectures from the students’ perspective, and I learned a lot by accessing diverse topics and interesting content related to the latest Korean language and culture research results. I’m confident that these materials will be of great use overseas as well. There are even actual cases of the lectures produced by OCKS being translated into the local language and utilized overseas by the OCKS overseas advisors or experts we’ve met at international conferences.

  For instance, at São Paulo University in Brazil, where one of our overseas advisors is based, they are currently in the process of producing their own subtitles in Portuguese for two OCKS lectures, namely “The History and Cultural Space of Seoul” and “East Asian Cultural Prototypes and Content.” The lectures are planned to be used as part of the university’s course curriculum once the translations are completed. We provide subtitles in Korean, English, and Chinese with our online lectures, but we never expected that there would be instances in which institutions in regions using other languages would produce their own subtitles in the local language.

  In addition, four of our lectures are being used at the K. D. Ushynsky South Ukranian National University in Ukraine, which is in the midst of a war. The lectures provided on K-MOOC are being used once a week to replace a traditional lecture. It feels deeply rewarding that the online lectures we produced are providing even the smallest help to a venue of Korean Studies education that is facing a unexpectedly difficult circumstance.

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6. What improvements or additional support do you think is needed for the Fostering a New Wave of K-Academics Program to sustainably contribute to the spread and advancement of Korean Studies in the future?

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  We now need to promote our online lectures to Korean Studies research and education venues overseas. However, this requires significant time, effort, and funds. However, since we’ve put all of our strength into the production of the lectures, we’ve very little resources left to promote them. The other research centers participating in this program are likely facing the same situation, so it would be good if there was a platform or a program to efficiently promote our results together.

  One of the greatest difficulties we faced in process of producing the online lectures was the difficulty in obtaining rights to share images or videos. There were even cases in which we gave up the production of a lecture that we had planned for a long time due to copyright issues. This, too, is a problem faced by the other research centers involved in this program. Thus, a venue to share know-how or share our opinions would be helpful.

  In addition, this coming July marks the start of the fifth and final year of this project. In this fifth year, we need about six months of additional budgetary support after the end of the project for the promotion of our online lectures and for maintainence/corrections.

  Furthermore, considering that this program will play a large role in the communication and mutual advancement of both domestic and overseas Korean Studies research and education venues, I hope that this work can be continued in a follow-up project.

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​7. Is there a long-term goal or wish that you hope to achieve not only through the KSPS program but also through your other various research and educational activities?

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  For a long time, I had a narrow perspective as a researcher who had specialized in only one corner of Korean Studies. However, since participating in this project, I’ve become newly aware of the diversity of Korean Studies and the abundance of Korean Studies research and education venues across the globe. During this process, I’ve been particularly grateful to our full-time researchers, who have worked devotedly to produce the online lectures and carry out various programs. They are the true contributors to this project. If I have a goal or wish going forward, it is that I’m able to do my utmost so that the OCKS can successfully complete the remaining tasks in the time left. Then, once the project is over, I hope to return to my previous position and focus entirely on my own research.

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​8. Thank you for your detailed answers to our questions. In conclusion, please share a word with the newsletter’s readers and Korean Studies researchers both in Korea and abroad.

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  I would like to express my gratitude and solidarity to everyone across the globe involved with Korean Studies research and education. I hope that the online lectures, books, and programming that we are giving our utmost to produce at OCKS will be helpful to your research and education. Thank you.

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