KOREA FOUNDATION

How did Korean Studies first develop in Russia?

This year marks the 120th anniversary of the launch of the Korean Studies program at Saint Petersburg State University. Russia’s interest in Korea can be traced back to the end of the 19th century, when Russia and Joseon established diplomatic ties. The bilateral relations grew in importance over the course of the Sino–Japanese War (1894–95), the Joseon royal family’s taking refuge at the Russian Legation (1896–97), and the attendance of Special Ambassador Min Young-hwan, head of the Joseon state delegation, at the coronation of Emperor Nikolai II in 1896.
  Since Russia needed experts well versed in the Korean language, culture, politics, and economy, Kim Byeong-ok, who came to Russia as interpreter for the Min delegation, remained in Saint Petersburg. On September 1, 1897, Kim began to teach Korean at the university’s Department of Oriental Languages, thus becoming the first such teacher in all of Europe. He produced textbooks in his native language and used them to teach Korean history, economy, politics, and culture. He is known to have taught Korean language classes until 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution. All of this happened 120 years ago.

Could you give us an overview of the Korean Studies program at your University?

In 1938, Professor Aleksandr A. Kholodovich (1906–1970) published the first Russian book on Korean grammar at our university, which at the time was called Leningrad State University. (Saint Petersburg had its name changed to Leningrad in 1924 and recovered its original name in 1991.) Professor Kholodovich headed the Korean language program, which began in 1947, and Professor Nikolai .V. Kuehner, followed by Associate Professor L.V. Zenina, headed the Korean history program. From 1952, Professor Kholodovich served as head of the Department of Korean Studies and taught Korean language classes independently, but that stopped when he left the school in 1962. In the same way Korean history was taught as part of Far East Asian history, Korean language instruction was included in the Chinese language course, to which students of Korean Studies were admitted once in a while.
  Korean linguistics was taught by Chief Lecturer Anatoly G. Vasiliev from 1962 onwards, and Senior Lecturer Lim Su and Associate Professor Gennady E. Rachkov conducted Korean language and literature classes from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Upon the suggestion of Professor George Y. Smolin, who was teaching Far East Asian History, I left the Leningrad Office of the Institute of Oriental Manus at the Russian Academy of Sciences and joined the faculty as an Associate Professor in the early 1990s. As further experts joined the department, Saint Petersburg State University started to regularly enroll students majoring in Korean linguistics and Korean history and re-established the Korean history curriculum in 1992.

Could you tell us about your research in Korean studies since the 1990s?

In 1995, the Center for Korean Language and Culture (CKLC) was founded thanks to Honorary Professor Vasiliev’s efforts and the support of various Korean organizations and institutions. Since I took office as its director in 2002, CKLC has carried out substantial research on Korea’s history, economy, and politics, and in 2013, the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies of Korea (IISK) was established to replace CKLC. Another important milestone was the publication of Russia’s first Korean Studies Journal, Proceedings of the Center for Korean Language and Culture , published by Saint Petersburg State University since 1996. In 2004, I succeeded Professor Vasiliev as the journal’s editor in chief. Published annually, the journal issued its 17th volume in 2016.

The KF and Saint Petersburg State University have worked together on numerous cooperative projects.

KF has continuously supported Saint Petersburg State University’s Korean Studies program ever since the late 1990s, assisting with the research of CKLC personnel, the collection of Korean Studies books and development of educational materials, the publication of books and textbooks authored by Korean scholars, and the printing of our Korean Studies journal, as well as supporting Korean studies clubs and providing scholarships. Several seminars and international conferences were held thanks to KF. Particularly impressive were the university’s Korean Studies Centennial Seminar in 1997 and the International Conference held in 2011 in memory of the 100th anniversary of the death of Yi Beom-jin, the First Minister of the Korean Empire’s Diplomatic Mission in Russia. Without the KF’s support over the last 20 years, Korean studies in Russia could not have advanced the way it has.

What are the future prospects for your school’s Korean Studies program?

Since the 2000s, as the Russo–Korean relationship has grown stronger, Korean linguistics and history have become remarkably popular with students. The number of Korean studies scholars joining our university has also increased, paving the way for the reintroduction of an independent Korean Studies course. Notable faculty members include senior lecturer Alexey A. Vasiliev, the son of Honorary Professor Vasiliev, who has been teaching Korean language theory since the late 1990s; Russian-Korean senior lecturer Dr. Lim Su and Professor Jeong Yang-ok, a Korean national, who have jointly managed the Korean conversation courses since 2002; Associate Professors Inna V. Tsoy (Choi) and Anastasia A. Guryeva, who obtained doctoral degrees in 2003 and 2012 respectively; and myself. I became a tenured professor of the Department of Oriental Studies in 2008. There have been persistent calls for a separate Korean Studies course, and if and when such a demand is met, it will be the best possible 120th anniversary present to the Department of Oriental Studies.

Last but not least, would you tell us more about yourself?

My relationship with the KF began in 1993 when I was chosen for the KF Research Fellowship. From then on, I did lots of research and obtained meaningful results as a recipient of the Korean Language Fellowship in 1995 and the Korean Studies Fellowship in 2007 and 2014. I also attended various seminars and events sponsored by the KF.
  The KF actually published an article about me in one of its newsletters in 2007, so for this interview I would like to focus not on myself but on the history and present state of our university’s Korean Studies Program. I would also like to express my appreciation of my wife, Assistant Prof. Jeong Yang-ok, for helping me serve as a Professor of Korean Studies in Russia and for working together with me to promote the subject.
  Here is a list of seven books I have authored, which will hopefully offer a glimpse into my research and the present state of Korean Studies in Russia.

1) “어느 소련유학생의 조선일기.” 한국경제신문사, 1990.
2) “Lectures on the History of Korea: From Ancient Times to the late 20th Century. ” St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2002.
3) “Confucian Classics: The ‘Book of Filial Piety’ and its Korean interpretation. ” St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2007.
4) “History of Korea from Ancient Times to the Beginning of the 21st Century. ” St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2009.
5) “With a writing-pad through Korea: 1987 – 2011. An Orientalist Traveler’s Notes”. St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2013.
6) “Reflections on Historical Science and the Role of the Individual in History (With Examples from Korean History).” St. Petersburg, RChHA Publishing House, 2016.
7) Korean Diplomatic Mission in St. Petersburg from 1900 to 1911. (Activities of Lee Bum-jin) in “Reflections on Historical Science and the Role of the Individual in History (With Examples from Korean History).” St. Petersburg, RChHA Publishing House, 2016.