KDIS-FUIKS Korea Europe Center Human Security and Development Forum 2022:Recent developments on the Korean Peninsula and the question of unification: the Yoon Sok-yeol Government - Policy towards the DPRK

In order to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of German unification, the Minister of Unification of Korea, invited by invitation of the German government, visits the Institute of Korean Studies. Minister Kwon Young-se will give a lecture followed by a Q&A session on the topic of  the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and the current government's unification and North Korea policy.

Ort: Offline: Holzlaube Raum 2.2058, Fabeckstrße 23-25, 14195 Berlin

Korea Competence Week for Graduate Students and PhD Candidates

The Korea-Europe Center at the Institute of Korean Studies/Freie Universität Berlin is pleased to announce the 2022 Workshop Series <Korea Competence Week> for graduate students and PhD candidates intending to enhance the academic and political competence of those involved in Korea-related research and politics.

2022 Korea Global Forum for Peace The Impact of the War in Ukraine on Inter-Korean Cooperation and Security Systems in the Korean Peninsula (Session 8-3)

The geopolitical restructuring triggered by the Ukraine War has created a shockwave that has unsettled not only inter-Korean cooperation but also the overall security of the Korean Peninsula. Ukraine's Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR), which was originally considered to be a successful denuclearization program, was viewed as an unreasonable alternative. The reason for this is because Ukraine succeeded in denuclearization but it failed to guarantee security. As Russia became the target of economic sanctions, the effectiveness of economic sanctions on North Korea decreased. While the economic sanctions imposed on North Korea did not lead to denuclearization, they did succeed in isolating the North Korean economy and limiting its actions. However, as the target of economic sanctions expanded, the restrictions were weakened. The weakening of the Helsinki process, along with Finland's accession to NATO membership, also undermined the structure of the Six-Party Talks, which were created to ensure security for the Korean Peninsula. It is time to consider the situation and acknowledge that the security system is being dismantled.  Panel Members and Topics:  Moderator: Prof. Lee Eun Jeung (Dean of Department of History and Culture, Freie Universitaet Berlin)  Presenter #1: Prof. August Pradetto (Professor of International Relations, em., Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg / University of the Armed Forces, German)  Topic:  Impact all the way to the Korean Peninsula Presenter #2: Prof. Brendan Howe (Dean and Professor, Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University) Topic:  Impact of the Invasion of Ukraine for Korean Geopolynomic Positioning Presenter #3: Dr. Kang Hojye (Research Professor, Institut für Koreastudien, Freie Universitaet Berlin) Topic:  The Alternative way for Denuclearization of North Korea Discussant: Dr. Tereza Novotna (Korea-Europe Center Fellow, Free University Berlin) Discussant: Prof. Kim Byoung Joo (Visiting Professor, KDI School of Public Policy and Management)

Ort: Online: Youtube

Korea-Europe Summer School 2022 in Kongju

The summer school is an academic program with field trip supported by the KDI-School , the Institute of Unification Education and the Research Institute of Buddhist Cultural Heritage . The objective of the Summer School is to provide students with an expert-lead, on site training in Korean history, culture, politics, and North-South Korean relations, this year in cooperation with History D – Asia Peace and History Institute (Dr. Lee Sincheol), Seoul. The program provides a great opportunity to expand knowledge on the diverse fields of Korean Studies.  

2022 Summer Special Lecture Series - Encountering Korean History in Kongju

The Institute of Korean Studies at Freie Universität Berlin invites you to attend its Summer Special Lecture Series 2022 – “Encountering Korean History in Kongju and near area”.  Kongju was the capital city of Paekche (Baekje) from 475-538 and even afterwards it played a central role in the region, until Taejŏn (Daejeon) arose as a new regional center. Historically, it has experienced diverse phases not only as a local center of politics but also in terms of culture and education. Some of its historical sites have been selected as UNESCO World Heritage site. Held in the form of online presentations by leading experts, these lectures form part of this year’s KDIS-FU Korea-Europe Program: Summer School in Korea, but are equally open to all those who have an interest in Korean History.

Ort: Online: Webex

KEC International Graduate student Conference 2022

The Institute of Korean Studies welcomes 14 graduate students from 7 universities in 6 countries (Berlin, Bochum, Leiden, Prague, Paris, Seoul and Venice - BVS and PBBP) majoring in Korean Studies to present their individual research during the Joint International Conference 2022 (BVS and PBBP). 

Ort: Offline: Institute of Korean Studies Otto-v.-Simson-Str. 11 14195 Berlin Germany

Special Talk - War and Women. The long and sad History.

The Institute of Korean Studies, in cooperation with the Margherita von Brentano Center and Graduate School of East Asian Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, invites you to a special talk by Prof. Lee Na Young on "War and Women - the long and sad History". Presenter: Prof. Lee Na Young Na-Young Lee is Professor in the Department of Sociology at Chung-Ang University in South Korea and Chair of the Board of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan. Her research interests include post/colonialism, gendered nationalism, sexuality, and trans/national women’s movements. She has published many books and articles in Korean, in English and in Japanese, covering the subjects of Japanese military ‘comfort women,’ U.S. military bases, prostitution, women’s oral history, and migration. Her international publication include “Un/forgettable Histories of US Camptown Prostitution in South Korea: Women’s Experiences of Sexual labor and Government Policies” (2017); “Korean Men’s Pornography Use, Their Interest in Extreme Pornography, and Dyadic Sexual Relationships” (co-author) (2015); “The Korean Women’s Movement of Japanese Military ‘Comfort Women’: Navigating between Nationalism and Feminism” (2014); “Negotiating the Boundaries of Nation, Christianity, and Gender: The Korean Women’s Movement against Military Prostitution” (2011); and “The Construction of Military Prostitution in South Korea during the U.S. Military Rule, 1945-1948” (2007).

Ort: Offline-event: Institute of Korean Studies Otto-v.-Simson-Straße 11 14195 Berlin

KDIS-FUIKS Korea-Europe Center - SLS 2022 - How to Understand North Korea

Presenter: Jae-eyon Chung (Director of Programs at an English school, TalkHow) The KDIS-FUIKS Korea-Europe Center invites you to the 2022 online Special Lecture Series: How to understand North Korea. Jae-eyon Chung is an English teacher and a travel blogger with a passion for exploring exciting destinations and writing about their cultures and foods. Born and raised in South Korea, she visited North Korea in 2018 and 2019, publishing her first North Korean travelogue, "A Day in the Life: Visiting North Korea", in 2019, a book which began as a series of blog entries. Ms. Chung currently teaches English in Seoul and is involved in developing English education programs as a representative of TalkHow English Education Center and has given numerous presentations across South Korea about her North Korean travel experience. Currently, Ms Chung is also completing work toward her MA in TESOL from Bond University, to be awarded in late 2022.  "In 2018, I was fortunate to have a rare opportunity for someone born and raised in South Korea: I was able to visit North Korea as a tourist. I have now enjoyed two trips to North Korea. I shared food and stayed in the homes of some of my generous North Korean neighbours. If you ask me what North Korea was like, I will say without hesitation, "I have friends there." I look forward to sharing some of the things I learned and specific changes in my perspective on North Korea between what I felt and believed before and after my trips." - Jae-eyon Chung

Ort: Online: Webex

FUIKS Special Lecture Series - Reading Korean popular culture

Presenter: Prof. Dr. Eun-Jeung Lee Abstract: tba

Ort: Online: Webex Offline: Institute of Korean Studies Otto-von-Simson-Straße 11 14195 Berlin (Please register in advance. Only 20 seats available)

KDIS-FUIKS Korea Europe Center Human Security and Development Forum 2022 - The EU and South Korean Strategies for the Free and Open Indo-Pacific

With a growing geopolitical and geo-economic significance of the Indo-Pacific, the European Union (EU) has been shifting its attention to this region. Several EU member states – including Germany and France – have recently published their Indo-Pacific strategies, whereas the EU issued its own policy documents throughout 2021 and the European Parliament has just adopted the Report on the EU and the Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific. Although South Korea does not have an overarching strategy for this geographical area, it is in fact one of the key Indo-Pacific players and the EU’s most important like-minded partners in the region. To what extent do various strategies complement – or contradict – one another and in what sectors best to implement them? How can Europe collaborate with Seoul in order to maintain the Indo-Pacific which is free, open and rules-based while confronting mutual challenges such as China’s increasing assertiveness? What impact does Russia’s war in Ukraine have on the EU’s relations with the Indo-Pacific countries and what other partners and actors can the EU and South Korea team up with, especially since President Yoon has been recalibrating Seoul’s approach to its Indo-Pacific neighbors? David McAllister, MEP and Chair of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, will give a opening speech and will answer questions to open a hybrid event on the EU and South Korean strategies for the Indo-Pacific. The roundtable discussion will be joined by Dr Antoine Bondaz, Director of the Korea and the Taiwan Programs at the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS) in Paris, Dr Eunjung Lim, Associate Professor at Kongju National University and Dr Tereza Novotná, Korea-Europe Center Fellow at Free University Berlin, Korea Associate at 9DashLine and EUROPEUM Prague.   The roundtable discussion will be chaired by Dr Florian Pölking, Lecturer at the Institute for Korean Studies at Free University Berlin.

Ort: Hybrid event Offline: Institute of Korean Studies Otto-von-Simson-Straße 11 14195 Berlin Online: Webex

5th Annual Kim Dae Jung Lecture - Kim Dae-jung’s Legacies and Their Relevance Today

In memory of the late South Korean President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Kim Dae Jung, the Institute of Korean Studies of the Free University, Berlin celebrates the 5th Annual Lecture. Prof. Dr. YOU Jong-il, Dean of the KDI School of Public Policy and Management will give a lecture with the title “Kim Dae-jung’s Legacies and Their Relevance Today”. Presenter: Dr. YOU Jong-il (Dean of the KDI School of Public Policy and Management) Dr. Jong-Il You graduated from Seoul National University and received his Ph. D. in Economics from Harvard University. He has published numerous articles and books in such areas as economic growth, income distribution, macroeconomic policies, development and labor issues including his most recent and influential policy proposal, ‘A Transformative New Deal’. As an active policy advisor, Dr. You served as a member of the Presidential Committee on Northeast Asia Economic Hub and chaired the Special Committee on Economic Democracy of the Democratic Party. He also served as a member of the Public Funds Management Committee, the Advisory Committee for the Constitution Revision Committee of the National Assembly, and the Commission on Financial Administration Reform. In addition, Dr. You is an influential advocate of economic and political reforms as a broadcaster, columnist, and leader in the civic movement.

Ort: Online: Webex Offline: Institute of Korean Studies Otto-von-Simson-Straße 11 14195 Berlin (Please register in advance. Only 20 seats available)

KDIS-FUIKS Korea-Europe Center - SLS 2022 - How to Understand North Korea

Moderator: Dr. Hojye Kang Presenter: Dr. Hyuk Jung (Deputy director, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea) The KDIS-FUIKS Korea-Europe Center invites you to the 2022 online Special Lecture Series: How to understand North Korea. What are the benefits and risks of treating North Korean defectors’ account as a source of research data? This lecture will offer some guidelines on how to approach the defectors’ account and how to avoid pitfalls in using their stories for scientific purposes.

Ort: Online: Webex

FUIKS Special Lecture Series - Reading Korean popular culture

Presenter: Gwendolyn Domning In light of the 20 th anniversary of the UNESCO declaration on cultural diversity the lecture takes a look at the current state of cultural diversity in the virtual space. Choosing the video-sharing platform YouTube as the analytical focus, most successful content, central actors, and their impact on the “real” world in Germany and Korea are discussed. Is the virtual space blending into reality and contributing to cultural diversity? And what about the much-discussed phenomenon of hybridization ?

Ort: Online: Webex Offline: Institute of Korean Studies Otto-von-Simson-Straße 11 14195 Berlin (Please register in advance. Only 20 seats available)

KDIS-FUIKS Korea-Europe Center - SLS 2022 - How to Understand North Korea

Moderator: Dr. Hojye Kang Presenter: Joseph Lee (Senior Researcher, Korean International Trade Association) The KDIS-FUIKS Korea-Europe Center invites you to the 2022 online Special Lecture Series: How to understand North Korea. International trade of North Korea in its unique forms has developed and also hindered by sanctions up to date. In this lecture, the overall structure of North Korean trade is studied using United Nation and World Trade Organisation data. Major trading countries, items and changing trends are discussed. Furthermore, in this lecture, two fundamental questions will be addressed: why does North Korea trade and how?

Ort: Online: Webex

Open Research Seminar - The challenges facing South Korea's new administration

Presenter: HeeJung Kim Abstract: tba About HeeJung Kim: Heejung Kim is a Korean politician with all experience in the political party, government, and presidential office who served as a re-elected national assembly member, a minister, a spokesperson for the Blue House. She was the first in Korea to be nominated to the National Assembly by a political party through "a public debate", also she holds the record for the youngest female constituency member of the National Assembly and the youngest minister. Her family has a special relationship with Germany: her mother-in-law worked as a nurse dispatched to Germany, her husband studied at the Aachen University of Technology, and she was a member of the Korea -German Parliamentary Friendship Association.   The lecture will be held in Korean

Ort: Online: Webex Offline: Institute of Korean Studies Otto-von-Simson-Straße 11 14195 Berlin

FUIKS Special Lecture Series - Reading Korean popular culture

Presenter: Prof. Dr. Hyangjin Lee In the COVID era, audiences have been isolated by border closures and fear of infection has been manifesting in an old form of prejudice—discrimination and xenophobia. But against these odds, Korean dramas have been spreading empathy and a sense of global community. The ongoing popularity of Crash Landing on You , Japan’s most watched Netflix series in 2020, challenges anti-Korean sentiments. Squid Game , Netflix’s most watched show of all time in the first month after its release, undermined Western cultural elitism. Streaming services are competing to secure Korean content for the global market. The genres and themes vary, and the audience is diverse. But what these works have in common are melodramatic social criticism and a strong sense of poetic justice. This lecture will explore the ways in which satires of the social realities of Korea—in the form of “bingeworthy” TV—have resonated with audiences all over the world.

Ort: Online: Webex Offline: Institute of Korean Studies Otto-von-Simson-Straße 11 14195 Berlin (Please register in advance. Only 20 seats available)

KDIS-FUIKS Korea Europe Center Human Security and Development Forum 2022

Am 9. März 2022 wurde Yoon Suk Yeol, ehemaliger Generalstaatsanwalt und Kandidat der Oppositionspartei People Power Party, mit einem historisch knappen Ergebnis   zum 20. Präsidenten der Republik Koreas gewählt .  Der Wahlkampf wurde von zahlreichen Skandalen der beiden Hauptkandidaten begleitet und offenbarte die tiefe Spaltung in der südkoreanischen Gesellschaft. Dem designierten Präsidenten stehen nun eine Reihe innen- wie auch außenpolitscher Herausforderungen bevor. Der als unerfahren kritisierte Yoon hat bereits angekündigt, dass er die Indopazifik-Strategie der Biden-Administration aktiver unterstützen und härter als die Moon-Regierung auf Provokationen aus Nordkorea reagieren wird. Doch wie werden sich die Beziehungen Südkoreas zu Deutschland und der EU unter Yoon ausgestalten? Welche Rückschlüsse lassen die eher vagen Aussagen der letzten Woche zu? Wird es eine Vertiefung auch über die vorwiegend durch Handel geprägten Beziehungen geben? Oder stehen für Südkorea zunächst regionale Aspekte Ostasiens im Vordergrund? Die Veranstaltung zielt darauf ab, diese und weitere Fragen näher zu betrachten.  

Ort: Webex-Veranstaltung