Korea -Southeast Asia relations and Promotion of Korean Studies

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Name in Latin Alphabet: SHIN GI-HYEON
Nationality: KOREA
Affiliation: Professor. University of NewSouthwales

It is indeed my great pleasure to participate in the Presidents’ Forum at the 2015 AKS International Conference, in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Korea’s Independence.

Korea was first introduced to western countries as a Land of the Morning Calm, which originated from the translation of ‘Chosun’, the name of the last monarchy in Korea. The Land of the Morning Calm was a fitting name for Korea, as it symbolised the peaceful and tranquil characters of its people; the serenity of the Korean landscape; and also emphasized the future oriented vision of the country.

However this was followed by a rather sad period, as the portrayal of Korea in foreign media was not exciting at all. The country became a colony of Japan, was divided by foreign forces after independence, and soon after almost the entire country was destroyed by the Korean War.

In spite of this, during the 1970s and 80s, Korea gained a rather different name in the international world, thanks to its remarkable economic take-off. Along with its Asian neighbours, Korea was called a little ‘dragon’, or sometimes ‘tiger’ in East Asia. Although Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world as late as in the early 1960s, in just 20 years, Korea emerged as one of the new rising stars in the global economy. The Korean success was called “the Miracle of Han River”, named after the Miracle of the Rhine in Germany. In the 1990s, Korea joined OCED, a rich countries’ club and currently stands as one of the ten largest economies in the world.

When I arrived in Australian in 1979, the average Australian didn’t know where Korea was. Now, there is no need to explain its location, thanks to the Seoul Olympics, the 2002 World Cup, Samsung Galaxy, Hyundai Sonata and Daejanggeum and Gangnam Style.

We are celebrating the 70ths Anniversary of Korea’s Independence. And there is much to remember and celebrate. Then, what are the implications for the Korea – Southeast Asia relations and Korean Studies in Southeast Asia?

For the past 55 years since the early 1960s, Korea has been running extremely fast to catch up with forerunners in the international community, from being one of the poorest countries to the 10th largest economy in the world. Success has been one of the great norm and goal of the entire Korean Society.

However, we should remember that our marathon was a unique phenomenon in Asia, and that we have been running together with our partner countries in Asia. Although the economic growth rate has been relatively faster in Korea compared to our partner countries, the trend has already been reversed and our partners in Southeast Asia will achieve much faster growth in the current decade and in the future.

Southeast Asian neighbours are indeed the ideal partners of Korea. Due to geographical proximity, cooperation between Korea and Southeast Asia is much easier than countries in any other region. The Korean Wave boosted cultural interactions in an unprecedented way. As all countries in Southeast Asia are latecomers in industrialisation as Korea has been, and there is much to share on the development experiences and lessons from past successes and failures. Already, Korea and Southeast Asian countries have become extremely important economic partners in trade and investment. A more important dimension of cooperation can be identified as middle power partners in this multilateral world.


Korean Studies in Southeast Asia

If Korea and Southeast Asia are ideal partners, what implications are there for Korean Studies in Southeast Asia? As representatives of member universities of Korean Studies Association of Southeast Asia (KoSASA) what should we plan to achieve collectively?

To answer this question, let us look back the history of our collaboration. The Korea Research Institute was established at the University of New South Wales in 2000. The first five years of collaboration were developed to the establishment of the community. In 2005, KoSASA was established to formalise the network. Since then, many pilot research projects were conducted under the umbrella of KoSASA, promoting Korean Studies research and education in the region. The leading national universities in 8 countries in Southeast Asia became the institutional members of KoSASA and the presidents and rectors of these universities have formed the KoSASA Advisory Board.


Glocalisation of Korean Studies based on Equal Partnership

Since the inception of KoSASA, the collaboration has been based on three principles. The first principle is ‘Glocalisation of Korean Studies’, in which glocalisation refers to achieving globalisation and localisation simultaneously. The late Professor Nguyen Van Tai, former Vie Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanity, Hochiminh City commented that for healthy development of overseas Korean studies in the long run, the ownership of Overseas Korean studies should be held by local scholars in each country. Therefore, instead of relying entirely on the resources and intellectual inputs from Korea, each university should aim to secure internal momentum for the growth of Korean Studies.

Simultaneously, the content of Korean Studies will need to be localised as well. For example, teaching pedagogy of Korean language education should vary depending on the local culture and educational environment. The learners’ dictionary may need to reflect the local culture and language. Additionally, the research agendas will need to incorporate the priority areas of the local countries. The research findings and educational experiences in overseas countries will in turn contribute to global Korean Studies, and influence Korean studies research in Korea. Therefore, every scholar and every university here joins this conference as an equal partner. Indeed “Equal Partnership” has been the basis of cooperation within KoSASA from its inception to this day.


'Korean Studies contributing to a regional study

However, mutual learning and sharing can only take place only when we endeavour to understand each other. For this purpose, scholars in KoSASA have strived to promote comparative study between Korea and Southeast Asia. The outcomes of comparative study will be particularly useful when used as teaching materials in Korean Studies. The dimension of cooperation can be extended then also. Learning should be a conjoint process, as we encourage scholars in Southeast Asia to learn about Korea, scholars in Korea should learn about Southeast Asia.

It is my earnest hope that Korean scholars who study foreign countries can contribute to the research cooperation in overseas Korean studies and promote mutual learning between Korea and overseas countries. Scholars in Southeast Asian Studies in Korea may join comparative research between Korea and Southeast Asia in many fields, such as language, humanities and social sciences. In this way, Korean Studies in Southeast Asia can promote Southeast Asian Studies in Korea. Recently, the Korean government has been seeking to share the Korean model of development with our neighbours. However, true sharing and effective application can only take place when researchers understand the experiences, environments, opportunities and challenges, both in Korea and in our partner countries.


Inter-disciplinary research and education

My next question is then “How can we promote Korean Studies”. Overseas Korean Studies has achieved significant growth over the past 25 years with effective support from key institutions in Korea, such as the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS). After a quarter of a century, what is the direction of development of Korean Studies in the future?

In order for Korean Studies to be regarded as a successful independent academic program within a university or in a country, a balanced approach that considers ‘teaching’, ‘research’ and ‘external engagement’ needs to be promoted. The main aims of growth of Korean studies programs at teaching intensive universities would be an increase in the number of students enrolled in Korean Studies programs and the range of subjects offered. Successful academic units at research intensive universities would engender research activities that accompany teaching activities. Also, as demonstrated by many leading universities in the West, an additional criterion of “external engagement” in academic programs would improve outcomes and make proactive contributions to the society.

How can this balanced development approach to Korean Studies be achieved? In order for Korean Studies to be recognised as a distinct and separate academic discipline around the world, a balanced development of the three aspects of university education described above is required. In particular, both teaching programs and the research activities of Korean Studies scholars will need to be extended beyond language education to broader disciplines of Korean Studies.

Most universities around the world began educational programs in Korean Studies as part of their Asian Studies programs, within the faculty (or college) of humanities. To this day, the majority of such Korean Studies programs still focus primarily on Korean language education, with only a relatively small proportion of programs expanding to embrace disciplines in humanities and social sciences.

As researchers of Korea are widely spread across different faculties (including humanities, social sciences and business schools), inter-disciplinary collaboration is urgently required to promote research activities. For scholars based in a university with no Korean Studies teaching program, inter-disciplinary, inter-university and international collaborations become even more difficult. In this context, Korean Studies research centres and academic associations can assist in linking scholars from different disciplines and universities, forging connections within the international community. Therefore, tailored programs for universities and regions at different stages of Korean Studies development may best promote future Korean Studies in the world.

AKS has been playing a very important role in promoting Korean Studies in Southeast Asia. Many universities in Southeast Asia have hosted scholars from Korea under the visiting scholar programs of the Center for International Affairs (CIA). CIA of AKS has been supporting KoSASA conferences since its establishment. Korean Studies Promotion Service of AKS supported the establishment of the Korean Studies network through its core university program from 2006 till 2010. KSPS has also supported research projects in Southeast Asia. Recently, KSPS has been supporting the establishment of Korea Research Centers at University of Malaya, University of the Philippines, Royal University of Phnom Penh and Yangon University of Economics. Thanks to the wholehearted supports from AKS, solid foundations for development of Korean Studies have been set, and a major take-off to a next stage of development is expected now. I would like to use this opportunity to express sincere gratitude to AKS for providing financial support, and being a valuable and significant research partner in Korea, and also extensively training many future leaders through the AKS Graduate School.


Trust and Respect

Finally, we must continue our cooperation based on trust and mutual respect. As we have gathered here as an international research community, our collaboration research and education must be based on sincere trust and a genuine respect for diversity. Only when we respect our differences and the varying socio-political and economic contexts and historical and cultural backgrounds, we will be able to sustain our trust and unity.

KoSASA began our cooperation in 2000. Fifteen years have passed, but I am confident that we will continue to cooperate for the next 15 years and beyond. Of course, many of us will have retired by then. How can we sustain our zeal and excitement in our collective endeavour? We must operate on the principle of ‘long-term partnership’. When people have a “membership” mentality, everyone will consider what they can acquire from the gathering. However, when the attitude changes from ‘membership’ to ‘partnership’, we begin to consider investing together for the future, sharing both the risks and difficulties.

Genuine sharing and mutual learning can take place only if all members in our community treat one another as long-term partners.

Therefore, we should extend our planning horizon and build the next generation of scholars, inviting capable young scholars in our collaborative research projects and welcoming a new generation of scholars as PhD candidates in our institutes. AKS is an ideal institute to undertake a PhD degree in Korean Studies. UNSW have also provided PhD scholarships to capable staff and students from KoSASA member universities. Some of these recipients will specialise in research areas related to Korea and join the future generation of Korean Studies scholars in each university and in each country.

At this conference celebrating the 70th anniversary of Korea’s Independence, let’s look back and celebrate the national partnerships between Korea and Southeast Asia, as well as the institutional partnerships between AKS and KoSASA member universities. Let’s look around and assess our collaboration and find scope and areas for further collaboration. Let’s celebrate the success of our partnership, but not boastfully.

Let’s remember that our collaboration is based on the principle of mutual learning and equal partnership, so that we can contribute to wide cooperation across universities through inter-disciplinary research and we jointly build the next generation of scholars. Let’s share our vision and hold hands, and let’s walk together as long-term partners. As we did for the past 15 years, let’s continue our collaboration for the next coming years ahead. Let’s set good examples of our partnership and open a new dimension of cooperation in Korean studies, so that the next generation of scholars will continue what we have started, perhaps for the next 70 years.

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