Tae-Ung Baik – Center for Korean Studies| University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Two UHM Ph.D. Graduates Got Teaching Jobs in Korea

Recent UHM graduate students, Dr. Yongshin Kim (political science) and Dr. Yuki Asahina (sociology) got tenure track assistant professor positions at the Department of Chinese Studies, Inha University and at the Department of Japanese Studies, Hanguk University of Foreign Studies respectively this fall.

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Dr. Yongshin Kim joins the Department of China Studies at Inha University, South Korea in Fall 2020 as a tenure-track assistant professor. He was awarded a Ph.D. degree in Political Science from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 2017, and previously a non-tenure track assistant professor of Chinese political economy in the Division of International Studies at Sejong University, South Korea. His doctoral dissertation, “Rapid Growth amid Failed Policies: Market Transition, Industrial Policy, and the Paradoxical Success of China’s Auto Industry,” examines how growth-promoting industrial policy failed to realize policy intentions but nonetheless produced rapid growth in China’s auto industry. His doctoral research has been funded by numerous institutions, including the Donald Kim Scholarship from the Center for Korean Studies, UHM; UHM-Peking University Exchange Program; the Konosuke Matsushita Memorial Foundation research grant; and, the Chinese government initiated Confucius Institute New China Study Plan. Furthermore, the Chiang Ching- Kuo Foundation also awarded one of the most prestigious doctoral fellowships in China studies to complete the dissertation. Up to now, he has published seven refereed journal articles both in English and Korean, which appeared in Pacific Focus, The Pacific Review, China: An International Journal, Sino-Soviet Affairs, and Social Science Review, and so on.

Dr. Yuki Asahina starts his assistant professor position at the Department of Japanese Studies, Hanguk University of Foreign Studies this fall. He is a sociologist specializing in inequality, globalization, and politics. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in 2019. He holds a B.A. from International Christian University in Tokyo. His work seeks to understand why we experience inequality and insecurity in the ways we do at different times and places. His dissertation, “Insecure Millennials: Coming of Age in Seoul and Tokyo,” finds that, in spite of many commonalities such as trajectories of economic development, the failure of the state to provide security to citizens and levels of income inequality, young adults in Seoul are much more anxiety-ridden and sensitive to economic inequality and insecurity than their peers in Tokyo. Drawing on 14 months of ethnographic research and interviews with 98 young adults, it examines how national politics, institutions, and culture affect the ways people experience inequality and insecurity from a comparative perspective.

Big Congratulations!!

CKS Receives the AKS Strategic Research Institute Program Grants for Next 10 years

On July 8, 2020, the Academy of Korean Studies announced that the Center for Korean Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa was selected the recipient of the grant, 2020 Strategic Research Institute Program for Korean Studies. The Center will receive a total of one billion Korean Won (approximately $820,000) for next 10 years.

The grant was newly created by AKS this year, and the Center was selected with a proposal titled “Sustainable Values for Korean Studies in the Americas: Korean Diaspora and the Prospects for Peace, Prosperity, and Unity of the Korean Peninsula.”

The Management Committee that consists of Profs. Tae-Ung Baik (Program Director, law), Sang-Hyop Lee (economics), Young-a Park (Asian studies), Seunghye Hong (social work), and Cheehyung Harrison Kim (history) will lead the projects in cooperation with the CKS members and other partners commencing on August 1, 2020.

CKS Scholarships Support Korean Studies Students for AY 2020-2021

The Center for Korean Studies awarded $44,800 as CKS Scholarships to support graduate and undergraduate students in Korea-related studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa for the 2020‒2021 academic year.

Descriptions of all the scholarships administered by the Center and instructions for applying for them can be found on the Center for Korean Studies Web site.

The recipients of the 2020 – 2021 academic year awards are listed below.

CKS Scholarship - $2,500 each

Kamilah Druex, BA, Korean

Chihiro Mase, BA, Korean

Bonnie Fox, PhD, Korean

Meghan Delaney, PhD, Korean

Keith Scott, PhD, Sociology

Sulim Kim, PhD, History

Wonkeun Lee, PhD, History

Donald C. W. Kim Scholarship - $2,500

Laura Becker, PhD, Sociology

Yong-Min Endowed Scholarship

Hwanhee Kim, PhD, Korean - $2,800

Sujin Kang, PhD, Korean - $2,500

N.H. Paul Chung Endowed Graduate Scholarship - $2,000

Young Seo Kim, MA, Asian Studies

Herbert H. Lee Scholarship - $2,000 each

Lei Yoshioka, BA, Korean

Soo Min Kim, BA, Korean

Sara Nishiie, BA, Korean

Glen Hill, BA, Korean

Yeeun Hong, MA, Asian Studies

Kim Ch’on-hung Memorial Scholarship - $2,200 each

Yoomee Baek, PhD, Music

Hae In Lee, PhD, Music

Korean National Association/Kook Min Hur Endowed Scholarship - $1,400

Hana Kim, PhD, Political Science

Dong Jae and Hyung Ja Lee Endowed Scholarship - $1,700

Shyanne Saunders, BA, Korean

In addition, the FLAS Scholarships for Summer 2020 ($2,500 each), FLAS Scholarships for graduate Students ($15,000 and tuition each), and FLAS Scholarships for undergraduate students ($15,000 each) for Academic Year 2020-2021 were also awarded to the selected students in Korean Studies.

FLAS Summer 2020
Mariah Abdelfatta, BA, Korean
Kyle Constantino BA, Korean

FLAS AY 2020 – 2021
Yini Lin, BA, Korean
Nicole Bradshaw, BA, Korean
Brianna Leisure, MA, Korean
Carey McClure, MA, Korean

To apply for CKS Scholarships, visit the University of Hawai‘i student scholarships Web site (STAR) at www.star.hawaii.edu/scholarship/ and complete the appropriate on-line application form.

News: Governor David Ige proclaimed June 25, 2020 as “Korean War Remembrance Day”

On June 8, 2020, Governor David Ige proclaimed June 25, 2020 as " Korean War Remembrance Day" in Hawai‘i in observance of the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War honoring the Korean War veterans and their families for their brave and selfless sacrifice.

The Proclamation states:

WHEREAS, the Korean War began on June 25, 1950 and officially ended on July 27, 1953 with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement which drew the Military Demarcation Line and created the Demilitarized Zone that separated North and South Korea; and
WHEREAS, with the United States-Republic of Korea alliance formed in the aftermath of the war, the two countries stand together as strong allies and economic partners for peace, security and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and beyond; and
WHEREAS, this year marks the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War; and

WHEREAS, nearly 6 million Americans served in the Korean War;and
WHEREAS, about 25,000 from Hawai‘i served in the war with over 400 killed in action and over 900 wounded; and
WHEREAS, in Hawai‘i, more than 8,000 names of Americans missing in action from the Korean War are inscribed on the Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific; and
WHEREAS, the Korean War Memorial on the Hawai‘i State Capitol grounds bears the names of the 456 Hawai‘i men who died in the war;

THEREFORE I, DAVID Y. IGE, Governor of the State of Hawai‘i, do hereby proclaim June 25, 2020 as “KOREAN WAR REMEMBRANCE DAY” in Hawai‘i.

News: Cheehyung Harrison Kim Appointed as Chair of the Publication Committee and Editor of Korean Studies

Professor Cheehyung Harrison Kim (김지형) is appointed the new Chair of the Publication Committee of CKS and Editor of "Korean Studies," succeeding Professor Christopher Bae who had served the position for four years. Dr. Kim joined the History Department of the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2017, and has done terrific jobs in many projects at the Center. He has been working as a member of the Publication Committee last couple of years, and has begun his new duty as Chair and Editor as of June 3, 2020.

The Publications Committee of CKS sets the standards governing Center publications; seeks out and encourages the submission of scholarly work that meets these standards; and supervises the evaluation, editorial policy, and publication of books, monographs, and the Center’s journal, Korean Studies. The Chair of the Publications Committee serves as editor of Korean Studies.

News: Tae-Ung Baik appeared on the ThinkTech Talk Show: The COVID Experience in Korea

Professor Tae-Ung Baik, Director of the Center for Korean Studies, appeared on the ThinkTech Talk Show, titled "The COVID Experience in Korea" on May 18, 2020.

Hosted by Mr. Jay Fidell, Professor Baik explained South Korean approach of testing, tracing, isolation, and quarantine with comprehensive information sharing, which enabled the country to deal with the Pandemic successfully.

News: CKS Member, Donald Reid Womack named a 2020 Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

CKS Member, Professor Donald Reid Womack of Music Composition and Theory was named a 2020 Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The Guggenheim Fellowship is one of the major competitions for the arts and other fields.

Womack is among a diverse group of 175 writers, scholars, artists and scientists from the U.S. and Canada to receive the achievement. The candidates were chosen through a rigorous peer-review process from almost 3,000 applicants in the foundation’s ninety-sixth competition.

Womack plans to use the fellowship to write a geomungo (a plucked Korean instrument) concerto for virtuoso Yoon Jeong Heo.

“I’m thrilled and honored to have my work recognized and I am grateful for the support UH has provided, and especially for my wonderful colleagues in the music department,” said Womack.

A professor of composition at UH Mānoa since 1994, Womack's music brings together a diverse range of ideas, reflecting various influences: his background as a native of the Southern Appalachians, his longtime home in Hawaiʻi and his time spent in East Asia. He is the composer of nearly 100 works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments and voice. Womack is widely recognized as a leader in intercultural composition and often integrates Asian and western instruments.

Womack’s music has been performed on six continents by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Russia Ulan Ude Symphony, Changwon Philharmonic, National Orchestra of Korea, National Gugak Center Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra and Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, among many others. His works can be heard on numerous recordings, and he has lectured throughout the U.S., Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Announcement: Scholarship for researching Korean Americans issues

The Center for Korean Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa is now accepting applications for the fall 2020 – spring 2021 Duk Hee Lee Murabayashi Scholarship, totaling $2,000.

This scholarship, established by Duk Hee Lee Murabayashi, the eminent historian of the Korean experience in Hawai'i, provides support for students enrolled in any discipline at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa with a focus on or interest in researching Korean Americans in Hawai‘i or elsewhere in the United States. The award may be used for costs associated with attendance (e.g., tuition, books, fees) or to provide stipends for materials, travel, and the like to conduct research. The scholarship is available to full-time undergraduate and full-time or part-time graduate students pursuing a degree or certificate.

Follow this link to download a copy of the scholarship application form. In addition to the completed form, applications must include a 1-2 page essay explaining your academic objectives, briefly explain your career goals and study plans, including your major and how it relates to your focus on or interest in researching Korean Americans in Hawaii or elsewhere in the United States; copies of academic transcripts; and one letter of recommendation (see the application form for details).

Applications and supporting documents must be sent to kortne@hawaii.edu and received by Friday, May 15, 2020, 4:30 P.M., HST. Documents that contain sensitive information should be sent via either UH FileDrop (https://www.hawaii.edu/filedrop/) or your preferred filedrop method. For further information, please contact Kortne Oshiro-Chin at kortne@hawaii.edu or telephone 1-808-956-2212.

Course Announcement: Korean Dance, Fall 2020 by Mary Jo Freshley

Ms. Mary Jo Freshley teaches Korean Dance 105, 305, and 405 in Fall Semester, 2020. Ms. Freshley is one of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii's Living Treasures of Hawaii, and is one of Hawaii's foremost experts on Korean dance.

She will explore the diversity of Korean culture through folk dances and music. The class will meet every Monday at 4:30 – 6:20 pm in Fall semester in Room 116 of the Music Department of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Korean Dance Course - Mary Jo Freshley Fall 2020

News: The AKS is seeking applications for 2020 Graduate Fellowship

The Academy of Korean Studies is seeking applications for 2020 AKS Graduate Fellowship. It's a non-degree program which invites international graduate students abroad in the fields of Korean studies to the Graduate School of Korean Studies, the Academy of Korean Studies, and offers opportunities to conduct research in Korea for 6 months.

Fellowship Benefits
○ Monthly stipend of KRW750,000, and round trip airfare

○ On-campus accommodation is available free of charge.

○ Fellowship period : 6 months (1 Sep 2020 ~ 28 Feb 2021)

○ Fellows will designate one of the AKS’ professors whose specialty is most relevant to their research topic as their academic advisor, who will guide them through the fellowship period.

○ Korean language courses as well as cultural experience program are available free of charge.

Eligibility
○ International students enrolled at an overseas university in a Master’s or doctoral degree program as of the beginning of the fellowship period (1 Sep 2020), whose research topic pertains to Korea/Korean studies

※ Students in an ABD(All But Dissertation) status of a Master’s degree program are eligible, but doctoral degree students in an ABD status are not eligible.

※ Korean language proficiency is not required.

Application
○ Applicants should apply online at gradaks.recruiter.co.kr between 20 April and 15 May, and submit required documents by post or in person no later than 22 May.

Application Guidelines
○ In Korean : http://grad.aks.ac.kr/cop/bbs/selectBoardArticle.do…

○ In English : http://intl.aks.ac.kr/english/viewtopic.php…