KOREA FOUNDATION

My name is Santosh Kumar Ranjan, and I am an assistant professor at the Centre for Korean Studies (CKS) atJawaharlalNehru University (JNU) in India. Having operated for 27 years, the CKS is the one and only department of higher learning devoted to Korean language education in South Asia. The center opened with a pre-degree diploma course in 1976, launched Korean language education at the undergraduate level in 1995, and added its master’s course in 1998. In August 2013, its PhD course was established, making the university the first Indian institution to provide bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in Korean studies. One of the most distinguished universities in India, JNU is named after JawaharlalNehru, India’s first prime minister. While I was studying Korean language at JNU, the KF became a very special presence to me, giving me wings whenever I needed them. Majoring in Korean in India, I dreamed of studying in Korea. There is a saying that each of us gets three big chances during our lifetime.

In 2008, I was selected as a recipient of the KF Fellowship for Korean Language Training (KLT), earning the opportunity to study in Korea. It was the first set of wings the KF gave to me. The year 2008 was an extraordinary one, with lots of incidents and events in both countries. At the beginning of the year, the language institutes for KLT fellows were unified into the Sogang University Korean Language Education Center. In India, a series of terrorist attacks (the 2008 Mumbai attacks) took place. During the attacks, dubbed the Indian version of the September 11 attacks in the United States, a group of 10 terrorists attacked the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel on November 26, staging a hostage situation for over 60 hours. At least 200 people were killed and more than 300 others injured. I still vividly remember the scenes of 26 Koreans escaping the hotel. The movie Hotel Mumbai (2018) deals with these attacks. In the meantime, Korea faced a financial crisis in the same year.

In Korea, I made remarkable improvements to the Korean language skills I had cultivated in India thanks to the KF Fellowship, and my understanding of Korean history and culture was greatly enhanced by KF-arranged site surveys. After finishing the language training at Sogang University, I continued my study of Korean history and culture at Korea University and the Academy of Korean Studies. Then, I began a doctoral course in Korean studies at Yonsei University.

KF Fellows gathered at the KF headquarters in Seoul in 2008

KF Fellows from India and Hungary at the KF year-end party in 2008

The Centre for Korean Studies (CKS) at JawaharlalNehru University

KF Field Research Fellows on Jeju Island in 2018 (Image courtesy of Prof. Thomas Klassen of York University)

In 2018, 10 years after I received my first KF fellowship, the KF gave me another set of wings, allowing me to fly higher and farther: the KF Field Research Fellowship. As the KF was moving its head office from Seoul to Seogwipo, Jeju Island, we Field Research Fellows took a field trip to the island and attended ceremonies celebrating the move. The same year, from November 1 to 3, the KF held the first Public Diplomacy Week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul to promote Korean interest in and comprehension of public diplomacy. On November 2, the second day of the event, I was appointed as the KF Fellow Representative of the KF Friends’ Night, where I presented my research and introduced the KF Fellowship program. In 2021, I was interviewed and featured in an Arirang TV documentary commemorating the 102nd anniversary of the March 1st Movement.

Ceremonies celebrating the KF head office’s move to Seogwipo, Jeju Island, in 2018

The KF Friends’ Night in 2018

Arirang TV interview in 2021

Since years before the Hallyu craze’s embryonic stage, I have been working hard to serve as a bridge connecting India’s Gaya, home to the Buddha’s Bodhi Tree, and Korea’s Gaya, the ancient kingdom ruled by King Suro. For over six years, I was able to enjoy Korean language and Korean studies courses with little financial difficulty thanks to the KF Fellowship, funded by Korean taxpayers. I feel deeply grateful to Korea and Koreans, and am doing my best to become a person that benefits the country and people. With a deep interest in Korean history and culture, I will spread correct information about Korea around the globe. As a Korean studies scholar, I will seek to help cement closer ties between Korea and India by uncovering hidden materials of crucial historical importance.

I extend my sincere appreciation to the KF for granting scholarships to students at JawaharlalNehru University for Korean language study and Korean studies research, and for donating many books to the CKS’s Korea Corner.

The Korea Corner at the CKS, JawaharlalNehru University