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네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

White Paper on Korean Studies

The White Paper on Korean Studies, a comprehensive report on the current status of Korean Studies programs abroad, has recently been published by the Foundation. As the project coordinator of this endeavor, the completed 1626-page volume is to me a source of considerable satisfaction. In retrospect, I must confess that I was at a loss about what to do when I first started the project. I was not sure what it would look like when finally completed. The overall plan for its publication was finalized in October 2005. Based on this plan, we initiated survey projects to determine the status of Korean Studies programs worldwide, by region. After a year-long effort of compiling, editing, and formatting the survey results, the White Paper on Korean Studies was published on January 10.

This report is meaningful in several regards. The only other similar effort is the Status and Development Direction of Korean Studies Abroad, which was published by the Korea Research Foundation in 1990. There are also a few reports, covering the status of Korean Studies programs in certain regions, which have been published by various scholars and academic organizations in Korea. However, none of these existing materials can match the Foundation‘s White Paper on Korean Studies, in terms of its comprehensive scope and detailed information on Korean Studies_including listings of Korean Studies courses at major universities, Korean Studies centers, and regional associations of Korean Studies_in addition to articles on the status of Korean Studies programs in specific countries and regions written by Korean Studies scholars. It can thus be regarded as the first-ever comprehensive report on the status of Korean Studies abroad.

Though just recently published, this report by the Foundation could also be said to be somewhat belated. Fifteen years have passed since the Foundation launched its operations in 1991. During this time, there has been recognition within the Foundation about the need for such a report. As a staff member of the Found-
ation who has worked primarily on Korean Studies support programs, I believe that the Foundation deserves the recognition it has gained for the noteworthy growth of Korean Studies worldwide, as evidenced by the wealth of information included within the White Paper on Korean Studies.

In 2005, Korea's general public unexpectedly expressed widespread support and encouragement for the Foundation in response to local media coverage of the serious difficulties experienced by the Korean Studies program at the University of Oxford. Due to this case, the Korean public and media became aware of the huge disparity, in terms of financial assistance, between Korean Studies and Japanese or Chinese studies at universities abroad, as well as the need for a significant boost in government-private sector joint support for the promotion of Korean Studies. Moreover, many were surprised about the large number of overseas universities that maintained active Korean Studies programs. Amidst this flurry of attention drawn to the Foundation's efforts to support Korean Studies abroad, the availability of a reference resource like the White Paper on Korean Studies would have been invaluable at the time.



▲ Press conference announcing the publication of the White Paper


The book features 32 articles on the status of Korean Studies, including its background and ives, in 29 countries, which are grouped into four regions: the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It also includes in-depth information on 632 institutions of higher learning in 55 countries, including Korean Studies and language courses, and faculty staff. Particularly impressive is the fact that Korean Studies now has a presence at some 730 universities in about 60 countries around the world, as compared to its humble beginnings in 1897 when the first Korean-language course was offered at St. Petersburg State University in Russia. In the early 1990s, when the Korea Foundation was established and started to extend support to Korean Studies abroad, there were only about 150 universities in 30 countries with Korean Studies programs. Currently, the survey effort for the White Paper on Korean Studies has been limited to 632 universities in 55 countries, due to time constraints.

Above all, it is expected that the White Paper on Korean Studies will contribute greatly to facilitating academic exchange and communication among the Korean Studies academic circles at home and abroad. With extensive listings of Korean Studies courses, faculty members, and contact information, this book should prove to be a valuable resource for academic institutions and international exchange organizations, as well as individual scholars, students, and related specialists.

In particular, the Foundation is most grateful to the many participants of this noteworthy undertaking, without whose assistance this publication would not have been possible. Above all, this includes the Korean Studies scholars abroad, who generously contributed their time and effort to this endeavor, as well as everyone involved in the tedious task of editing and proofreading the voluminous information, including the staff of Design Camp. Also, the Foundation owes a great debt of gratitude to the publisher, Eulyoo Munhwasa, which agreed to the publication in recognition of the book's public-minded purpose. Being the first project of this kind by the Foundation, the White Paper on Korean Studies is far from perfect. As such, I look forward to the combined efforts to update and supplement it, so as to provide an even more useful and convenient source of information on Korean Studies.



Chung, Hanuk 
huchung@kf.or.kr 
Deputy Director Korean Studies Department 

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