Korean Studies Working Group

Project Description

Project Description: With the kind financial support from the Korean Studies Seed program of the Academy of Korean Studies (2019-2022), the Centre for East Asian Studies of the University of Heidelberg launched a program “Strengthening Korean Studies in Education and Research at the University of Heidelberg”. It has two objectives: first, it tries to strengthen education on contemporary Korea at the Centre for East Asian Studies in Heidelberg focusing on social science perspectives through the development of education program through lecture series with Korea-related socioeconomic and political topics, invitation of visiting professors, and provide of Korea-related regular seminars. Second, this project aims to facilitate research on Korea in Heidelberg by establishing a research project “Global Korea: transnational mobility of people, goods, and ideas”. Through organizing regular workshops, employment of master/doctoral students, and publications on the research topic, we attempt to strengthen Korea-related research activities in Heidelberg.

Project members

Project Director:

Prof. Dr. Anja Senz

Anja Senz is a professor of the Centre for East Asian Studies. She was trained as a political scientist as well as a scholar of Chinese Studies. Her research interests are economics, politics, environment, social development and anti-corruption in China and East Asia. In the framework of the Korea Seed Program, she will investigate the movement of goods from Korea to the European market.

Co-Project Director:

Dr. Jaok Kwon-Hein

Jaok Kwon is an assistant professor in the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Her research interests include sociology of development, labour and gender, and transnational labour migration. In the Korea Seed program, she attempts to call into question the socioeconomic meaning of the current transnational labour mobility of the youth sector in Korea to Europe.

Dr. Hyojin Lee

Hyojin Lee is currently working at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice as an assistant professor of Korean Studies since 2019 at the Department of Asian and North African Studies. Currently, she is working on the exchanges of culture and knowledge between Korea and Sweden in 1920s and early 30s by individuals and arts. In this project, she examines the life and exchanges of Korean new Woman Choi Yeongsuk who studied in Sweden and the new discoveries from her experience and its historical meanings.

PhD research fellow:

Xiaoying Jin, M.Sc.

Xiaoying Jin is a Ph.D. candidate in the Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies (CATS) at Heidelberg University. She completed her undergraduate studies in Public Administration and Japanese Studies in China and subsequently finished her M.Sc. program in East Asian Relations at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests include international migration of East Asian immigrants, diasporas, and nation-building in East Asia. In the framework of the AKS Seed Project “Global Korea: Transnational Mobility of People, Goods, and Ideas”, her doctoral thesis examines a new paradigm concerning the mobility of Korean-Chinese (Joseonjok) migrants from the perspective of home-leaving and home-making, with a focus on their self-construction as well as identity transformation in the process of global mobility and using ethnological methods such as semi-structured life narrations and observation.

Student Assistant:

Jérémy Biehler

Research

1. Workshop:

• The first Korea Research Colloquium in Southern Germany: Frankfurt-Heidelberg-Tübingen, February 19-20, 2020  (Programme)
• The second Korea Research Colloquium in Southern Germany: Frankfurt-Heidelberg-Tübingen, March 18-29, 2021  (Programme, Poster)
• The third Korea Research Colloquium in Southern Germany: Frankfurt-Heidelberg-Tübingen, February 18-29, 2022  (Programme, Poster)
• The first Master’s Workshop Korean Studies  (Programme, Poster)

2. Presentations at the Conferences:

• Hyojin Lee. “In the beginning of Korean-Swedish relations: Choi Yeongsuk and Gustaf VI Adolf”, International conference: 60th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Republic of Korea, May 23-24, 2019 at Stockholm University.
• Jaok Kwon. “Transnational Mobility of Refugees in Germany”, Transnational Connections: Migration in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, June 21-22, 2019 at Heidelberg University.
• Hyojin Lee. “Arts, Diplomacy, and History: The cultural exchanges between Korea and Sweden” International Symposium, Korean Art in the West: Tracing Objects from Creation to Collection, June 26-27, 2019 at University of Zurich.
• Hyojin Lee. “Meetings of Korea and Sweden in the early 20th Century,” Östasiatiska museet, August 20, 2019.
• Hyojin Lee. “Two Layers on an Elite Woman in Colonial Korea: The Changing Narratives on Ch'oe Yŏngsuk (1905/6-1932),” Guest lecture, March 3, 2020 at Copenhagen University.
• Xiaoying Jin. “A Review on Second Generation Immigrants' Research and Theoretical Rationale for East Asian Second-Generation Immigrants in Germany”, Ostasien Aktuell Lecture Series, December 11, 2020 at Heidelberg University. 
• Unnur Bjarnadóttir. “Korean Cosmetics in Europe: Their Perception and Connection to Pop Culture from a Transnational Perspective”, January 15, 2021 at Heidelberg University.
• Jaok Kwon. “Birth of Global Nomads among Korean Youth: Interactions of Governmental Actors at the Local, National, and Global Levels”, DGA Conference on Contemporary Asia, March 11, 2021, Duisburg and Bochum.
• Xiaoying Jin. “Korean Migrants and the Engagement of Institutional Actors for Integration in Germany”, DGA Conference on Contemporary Asia, March 11, 2021, Duisburg and Bochum.
• Jaok Kwon. Panel Discussant, “Transnational Economies, Digital Labor and Globalization: Mobilities and Connections”, DGA Conference on Contemporary Asia, March 12, 2021, Duisburg and Bochum. 
• Hyojin Lee. “Korean Studies and Researches in Italy,” Inviting lecture, April 9, 2021 at Yeongnam University.
• Hyojin Lee. “Producing and Promoting Imperial Knowledge,” Roundtable: Keijō Imperial University: Discussing Colonial Knowledge and Academism in Modern Korea,” April 22, 2021 at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
• Hyojin Lee. “Imperial Propaganda: The Overseas Promotion of Japan’s Archeological Work in Colonies.” International conference: Cultural Exchanges between Korea and the West: Artifacts and Intangible Heritage, May 7-8, 2021 at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
• Jaok Kwon. “Creating Aspirating of Youth for Transnational Mobility: Neoliberal Developmental State and Youth Overseas Employment Programs in South Korea”, Conference of the Vereinigung für Koreaforschung (VfK), October 1-2, 2021, Hamburg.
• Xiaoying Jin. “Integration of Immigrants and Nation-state Building of Origin Country: A Comparative Analysis on Overseas Diaspora Narratives of South Korea and China”, Conference of the Vereinigung für Koreaforschung (VfK), October 1-2, 2021, Hamburg.
• Hyojin Lee. “Korean Traditional Medicine Met Western Medicine: Transformation of Korean Traditional Medicine Studies during Colonial Period”, Kick-off International Workshop: Religions, Thoughts, and Health in Asia, October 26, 2021, Ca’ Foscari University.
• Hyojin Lee. “The Vulnerability of the Historical Memory on Women in Modern Korea”, Guest lecture, November 8, 2021, Heidelberg University (online).
• Hyojin Lee. “A History and a Future of Cultural Interaction Studies: The Story of a Graduate”, Guest speaker, November 13, 2021, Kansai University (online).
• Hyojin Lee. “Benevolent Art of Traditional Korean Medicine in Modern Korea”, Society for Cultural Interaction in East Asia 14th annual meeting, May 7, 2022, Keimyung University.
• Hyojin Lee. “Keijō Imperial University and Fujitsuka Chikashi’s Study on Korean Confucianism”, At the Modern Korean Studies Forum: Modern Japan’s Study on Chosun Confucianism, May 18, 2022, Yonsei University.
• Hyojin Lee. “A Benevolent Doctor? The Rivalry between Western and Eastern Doctors in Colonial Korea”, NAJAKS 11, May 20, 2022, University of Helsinki.
• Jaok Kwon. “Skilled Migrants and their Encounters with different Care and Employment Regimes Childcaring among highly skilled female Migrants from Korea in Germany”, June 22, 2022, Seoul National University.
• Xiaoying Jin. “South Korea’s Return Migration Policies in Neo-liberal Era and Delusion of Korean-ness: A Review”, October 7, 2022, 7. Conference of the Vereinigung für Koreaforschung (VfK), Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
• Hyojin Lee. “The Imperial Way of Confucianism (kōdōjudō) and the Insul Units: Medical Mobilization during Wartime”, December 6, 2022, Guest speaker, Jeonbuk National University.
• Jaok Kwon. “The Aspiring Middle Class: Housewifization, Rural Women and the Developmental State of South Korea in the 1960s-1970s”, December 17, 2022, Korean Association of Women’s History, Ewha Womans University, South Korea.
• Jaok Kwon. "Jaok Kwon. Discussant for David Oh, “Western Disciplining of Korean Counter-Flows: A Case Study of Family Guy’s Candy, Quahog, Marshmallow and the Web Drama World”, December 20, 2022, Seoul National University, South Korea (online).
• Jaok Kwon. “Becoming ‘Good’ Working Mothers: Mothering Experiences of Highly Skilled Female Migrants from Korea in Germany”, January 21, 2023, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main Workshop: Korean and German Encounters and Interactions”, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany (online).
• Hyojin Lee. “The Formation of Modern Medical Ethic in Korea and the Implication of Insul”, February 17, 2023, Guest speaker, Yeongnam University.
• Jaok Kwon. “Skilled Migrants and their Encounters with different Care and Employment Regimes: Childcaring among highly skilled female Migrants from Korea in Germany”, March 19, 2023, Boston MA, Association for Asian Studies (AAS), USA (online).
• Jaok Kwon. “Skill in the Migration Policy in Germany and the Change Landscape of the Korean Migrants”, May 31, 2023, The Academy of Mobility Humanities, Konkuk University, South Korea.
• Xiaoying Jin. “Mobilities of People and beyond under the Flows of East Asian International Relations”, Lecture at the Main Seminar: East Asian International Relations: Korean Peninsula and Beyond, June 28, 2023, Heidelberg University.
• Hyojin Lee. “Introduction of Korean Hanja Text Book, EASY HANJA 500 per la lingua coreana (Cafoscarina, 2022)”, August 30, 2023, EAKLE, Olomouc University.

3. Publications:

• Hyojin Lee (2019). “The History of Exchange between Korea and Sweden in the early 20th Century”, Orientaliska Studier, 159: 106-119.
• Jaok Kwon (2020). “Skilled Migrants from East Asia in Germany: Trends, Pattern, and Implications”, Ostasien Aktuell Working Paper, University of Heidelberg.
• Hyojin Lee (2020). [Book review] Colonizing Language: Cultural Production and Language Politics in Modern Japan and Korea by Christina Yi. Kotoba to shakai [Language and Society], Tokyo, Sangensha, Vol. 22: pp. 197-201.
• Hyojin Lee (2021). “Swedish Documents on Korean New Woman Choi Yeong-Suk (1)”, EWHA SAHAK YEONGU 62: pp. 425-445.
• Hyojin Lee (2021). “Sinology and Oriental Studies in Keijō and Taihoku Imperial University: The Human Networks and Imperial Knowledge”, Journal of Toegye Studies Vol. 4. No. 1, June 2021, pp. 81-97.
• Jaok Kwon (2021). “Mobility, Refugees, and Gender from the Third World and Implication for Asia: An Analysis of Refugee Politics in Germany”, edited by Kodamaya Shiro, Sato Akira and Shimada Haruyuki, Approach to Development Studies: Reading Global South from the World View, Tokyo: Minerva Shobo Librairie.
• Hyojin Lee (2022). “Scientizing Traditional Medicine: Cho Hŏnyŏng and Kim T’aejun’s Debates in Newspapers on Traditional Korean Medicine in the 1930s”, Journal of East Asian cultural interaction studies Vol. 15, 2022.
• Hyojin Lee (2022). “The Vulnerability of the Historical Memory on Women in Modern Korea: The Changing Narratives on Ch'oe Yŏngsuk”, Asian Woman, 2022 (under review).
• Hyojin Lee (2022). EASY HANJA 500 per la lingua coreano. Cafoscarina. (Book)
• Hyojin Lee (2022). “Swedish Documents on Korean New Woman Choi Yeong-Suk (2)”, EWHA SAHAK YEONGU 64, pp. 225-238. (In Korean, KCI index) (Translation)
• Jaok Kwon (2022). “A critical Assessment of democratic Labor Unionism in South Korea from a feminist Standpoint”, edited by Angela B. Cornell and Mark Barenberg, The Cambridge Handbook of Labor and Democracy, New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 293-305.
• Jaok Kwon (2023). “Book Review: Asia and Postwar Japan: Deimperialization, Civic Activism, and National Identity, Harvard University Press”, European Journal of East Asian Studies, 22 (1): 89-91.
• Jaok Kwon (2023). “Korean Newcomers in Germany: The changing sociodemographics of Korean Immigrants”, edited by Yonson Ahn, Cross-border Interactions and Encounters between Germany and Korea in the New Century, Lexington Books.
• Hyojin Lee (2023). “Kŭndaegi ŭiryo yulli rosŏŭi Insul ŭi chaet'ansaeng [A Study on ‘Insul (An Art of Benevolence)’: Formation of Korean Medical Ethics in Modern Korea],” Korean Journal of Medical History (A&HCI, SCOPUS).
• Jaok Kwon. “Skilled Migrants and their Encounters with different Care and Employment Regimes: Childcaring among highly Skilled Female Migrants from Korea in Germany”, Social Sciences (under review).
• Jaok Kwon (forthcoming). The Aspiring Middle Class: Housewifization, Rural Women and the Developmental State of South Korea in the 1960s-1970s, London: Routledge.
• Jaok Kwon (forthcoming). “Modern Family Capitalism in South Korea”, edited by Markus Pohlmann and Friederike Elias, International Management Studies: Nine Country Studies on Career Paths and Leadership Orientations in Top Management, Springer.
• Jaok Kwon (forthcoming). “Japan’s Flashback to traditional Capitalism”, edited by Markus Pohlmann and Friederike Elias, International Management Studies: Nine Country Studies on Career Paths and Leadership Orientations in Top Management, Springer.
• Hyojin Lee (2023) (forthcoming). “The Current Hanja Textbook for Foreign Students and Hanja Education in Europe,” EAKLE 2023 Nonmun-jip, Kong and Park. (In Korean)

4. Heidelberg Korea Research Group:

• For a detailed list view please refer to this pdf attachment (Details).

Education:

1. Regular Seminars

2. Visiting Professors
   Summer Semester 2020
   Dr. Hyun-Joo Lim
   Hyun-Joo Lim is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Bournemouth University, UK. Her research interests are identity, ethnicity/race, culture, and gender, focusing East Asians in the UK. She published a monograph East Asian Mothers in Britain: An Intersectional Exploration of Motherhood and Employment (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). During the summer semester 2020, she provided a regular block seminar Escaping North Korea: Transnational Experiences and Lives of North Korean Refugees.

3. Summer Semester 2022
   Prof. Hyun Mee Kim
   Hyun Mee Kim is a Professor in the Department of Cultural Anthropology at Yonsei University, South Korea. Her research interests include the political economy of gender, globalization, and migration, and eco-feminism. She is the author of Cultural Translation in a Global Era (2005, in Korean) and We always leave home: Becoming migrants in South Korea (2014, in Korean) and Feminist Lifestyle (2021 in Korean). She also co-edited Multiculturalism in East Asia: A transnational exploration of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan (Koichi Iwabuchi and Hsiao-Chuan Hsia, 2016). Currently, she is the representative of the Ecofeminist research network “Trees and Moon.”During the summer semester 2022, she provided a regular block seminar Transnational Mobility between Europe (Germany) and Korea: Histories and Recent Trends.

4. Lecture Series (Ostasien Aktuell)