Oxford University to Keep Korean Studies Courses

A glimmer of hope was sparked regarding Korean studies at Great Britain’s Oxford University. Previously, courses on Korea faced scrapping due to financial reasons.

President Kwon In-hyuk of the Korea Foundation, who is visiting Great Britain to participate in an Association for Korean Studies in Europe (AKSE) conference, met Vice-Chancellor John Hood of Oxford University on July 4 and agreed to cooperate as fully as possible to retain Korean studies at Oxford, according to the foundation on July 5.

Vice-Chancellor Hood is known to have said, “Funding must be provided for at least four professors for the courses on Korean studies to be maintained. Oxford will provide funds for the existing Korean history professor position. Korea needs to provide support for the three new professor seats in Korean literature, Korean language and Korean diplomacy.”

In response, President Kwon replied “If Oxford University requests financial support in a specific manner, the foundation will review methods to provide financial support and the size of the assistance,” according to a Korea Foundation official.

Hyong-gwon Pu bookum90@donga.com