KF뉴스레터-Korean Studies in Britain in 2003

Korean Studies in Britain in 2003

The annual meeting of the Korea-UK, UK-Korea Forum, held this year in Seoul on 25-26 April, provides a good opportunity to provide an update on Korean Studies.

The main university centres for Korean Studies at the undergraduate level continue to be at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, the University of Sheffield, and the University of Oxford. In addition, Korean Studies are also found at the University of Durham, the University of Newcastle on Tyne, and the University of Cambridge, while individual scholars interested in Korea, and who include some aspects of Korean Studies in their programmes, can be found in many other universities and colleges. Among disciplines, apart from language studies, art history remains a popular subject. Security concerns on the Korean peninsula also attract much attention.

The Korea Foundation has provided regular support to all aspects of Korean Studies in Britain. A new development is that as the numbers of Koreans living in Britain increases, more and more second generation Koreans are now taking an interest in Korean Studies, thus bringing Britain into line with trends in the United States, Australia and other countries where there are sizeable Korean communities. This growing community, with its newspapers, festivals and other activities, also provides increasing opportunities for all engaged in Korean Studies to experience more direct exposure to things Korean.

Diverse Resources for Korean Studies
Going beyond the formal academic institutions, Korean Studies are underpinned by the collections of Korean-related material in art galleries, libraries and archives. These include the Korea Foundation Gallery at the British Museum and the Samsung Gallery of Korean Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, both of which go far beyond just staging exhibitions of artefacts from Korea. Both museums have professional staff qualified in Korean language and history.

There are significant collections of Korean art in Cambridge and Durham, and other collections can also be found in several towns. Korea is well represented in the British Library’s collection and many other British libraries and archives have important Korea-related material. Over the years, the Public Record Office－now the National Archives－has provided scholars of modern Korea with a rich source of information.

The long-established Anglo-Korean Society, which aims to promote friendship between Britain and the Republic of Korea (ROK) has helped Korean Studies by occasionally offering a venue for talks and presentations, and by offering an annual bursary to students engaged in Korean Studies. This year, the internationally renowned British think-tank, the Royal Institute for International Affairs, has established a Korea Discussion Group, which joins long-established China and Japan discussion groups.

BAKS, Increasing Members and Activities
To provide a coordinating body for those interested in Korea, a group of scholars established the British Association for Korean Studies (BAKS) in 1983. After some early problems, it is now a flourishing society, with about 50-60 members, whose aim is to promote the study and understanding of Korea in the United Kingdom. The membership now includes not only academics but also a wide range of those with an interest in Korea. It holds regular conferences, workshops and study days. The most recent study day was in December 2002 at SOAS, on aspects of North Korea. The keynote speaker was the then ROK Ambassador to London, Dr. Ra Jong-il, who gave some philosophical reflections on studying North Korea. Other speakers dealt with the opening of the British Embassy in Pyeongyang, literature and film in North Korea, and the most recent British Library/British Museum visit to Pyeongyang.

BAKS publishes a regular series of papers, based mostly on presentations made at the conferences and study days; volume 8 has just appeared, and volume 9, which will include some of the papers from the December 2002 study day, should also be published this year. The Korea Foundation, the ROK Embassy in London and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office have all provided financial support for the publication of these papers. In addition, BAKS has a website at www.dur.ac.uk/BAKS, providing a round-up of information on the association’s activities.

BAKS is represented on the UK-Korea Forum; the BAKS president has for some years been invited to be a member of the Forum. As the current president, I was a member of the British team to the Seoul meeting. BAKS has close links with the British Association for Chinese Studies and the British Association for Japanese Studies. These three organisations have a small overlap in membership, and since the mid-1990s, they have held a joint seminar once every three years. At the last one, held in April 2001 at the University of Edinburgh, Korean Studies were very well represented. In addition, most of those in Britain who are professionally interested in Korean Studies are also members of the Association for Korean Studies in Europe (AKSE), and British scholars are well represented at AKSE’s conferences.

Korean Studies in Britain may never rival those in countries such as the United States. But they are now a well-established part of the British academic scene, and are steadily growing.

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Korean Studies in Britain in 2003

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Korean Studies in Britain in 2003

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