AKS publishes Arabic book on Korean culture

Arabic countries are not unfamiliar places for Koreans anymore as the nation's television dramas such as "Daejanggeum" (Jewel in the Palace) and "Jumong" garnered enormous popularity in some Middle Eastern countries a few years ago.

Since then, their interest in Korean culture and history has risen rapidly. But there is little Korean cultural content available in Arabic.

To address this shortage, the Center for International Affairs, a division of the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS), has recently published "Cultural Landscapes of Korea" in Arabic to reach out to a wider audience. The book was published in English, Russian and Chinese in 2010.

This is the third Arabic publication after "Exploring Korean History through World Heritage" and "Korea, More Accurate Facts and Information."

Arabic is one of the six official languages of the United Nations and widely used in some 22 countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa with some 300 million speakers.

"Despite the importance of the language, Korean culture and history remain little known in Arabic-speaking countries," the center said in a statement.

The book deals with Korean religions, traditional rituals, industrialization and urbanization and regional culture in a concise manner, accompanied by various photographs.

The book was translated and edited by Mohamed Hassan Ahmed Hamad and Lee In-sup, both professors of the Korean University of Foreign Studies.

"Our content is available free of charge on our website. Our aim is to promote Korean culture and history to a wider audience as much as possible. The free download might be of great merit for people who are interested in Korea in other countries," an official of the academy said.

The academy will distribute the book at Korean embassies, major universities and academic research centers and to textbook publishers in Arabic-speaking countries.

The book and other material about Korean studies in various languages can be downloaded from http://www.ikorea.ac.kr.