On Wednesday, December 12, Seoul National University held a ceremony for the establishment of Kyujanggak International Center for Korean Studies with Jangmoo Lee, current president of SNU, and many renowned scholars in the field of Korean Studies in attendance.

The Center has been established as an annex to Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies of SNU, with Professor Eunsu Cho of the Department of Philosophy as its first Director, in order to advance research in the field of Korean Studies that is drawing international attention.
“The internationalization of Korean Studies is the core spirit of the internationalization project that SNU is currently promoting and therefore the International Center for Korean Studies should be the global ‘center’ of all Korean Studies”, declared Hokeun Song, Dean of the Office of International Affairs.

The International Center for Korean Studies annually invites foreign scholars who are on the rise with flourishing research activities in the field of Korean Studies and supports their research work. Cooperative research is currently being conducted by three guest scholars from Bochum University, Germany, SOAS, England and UC Irvine, USA in various fields including encyclopedias of the Joseon period, and epitaphs of high priests in the Goryeo era as well as the ‘joong-in’ class of the Joseon period. The vigorous interaction among international scholars in Korean Studies is anticipated to serve as a momentum for the internationalization of Korean Studies.

Following the previous year, the International Center for Korean Studies will also be hosting a summer workshop for Korean Studies this summer at Kyujanggak Institute. Prominent graduate students majoring in Korean Studies from all over the world will be taking 8 courses conducted by professors of SNU on various topics regarding Korean Studies and will hold a seminar for 2 weeks. Furthermore, on-campus investigation of research facilities will be conducted and participants will learn to work with digital materials of old documents housed by Kyujanggak Institute.

The Center will be publishing an English-language journal, ‘Seoul Journal of Korean Studies’, along with a collection of works from the field of Korean Studies in English.

Inquiries: 880-2586, icks@snu.ac.kr

12/12/2007
PR Office