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Kim Ji-myung

Cyber memorial for Sewol

“Sae-hyeon, this is Dad. I will never forget you. I am so sorry that I was not there to save you.” - A note on a desk at Danwon High School, Ansan, South Korea. This is a message from a suffering father sent to his dead son, one of more than 300 victims of the Sewol ferry tragedy in 2014. The high school lost 250 students and 11 teachers in the worst peacetime disaster in Korean history.

2016-02-12 16:44

On history and environment

There are numerous incidents in history which could only be properly explained after seemingly remote factors - that of humans along with environment and ecology - and their interactions were found and connected. One broad example is the fact that the success or failure of sea-faring countries in the Imperialist period between the 15th century to around 1910 largely depended on their skills to cope with the climate, sea and the unfamiliar, tropical regions.

2016-01-15 17:06

A special book donation

Do you know what keeps a college professor awake at night as retirement nears? A new lecture position? A plan to write a book? What to do during long, leisurely hours every day? No. The answer is “books.”

2015-12-18 16:43

Funding is key factor

The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. Defense Department appears first when we search out the history of the Internet. It was in 1963 that the agency began research to build a reliable communication network that would function normally even in an emergency situation.

2015-11-20 17:03

Regional studies and language skill

By Kim Ji-myung How much language capacity is required for country-specific study? Or to be more concrete, is it possible for a Korean studies scholar to work without the linguistic competence to read the source materials?It is hardly imaginable that a Chinese studies scholar doesn’t speak or understand written in Chinese or that a Japanese studies expert cannot read documents written in Japanese. Classics and old books of all three countries are in Chinese characters. But this classic literacy issue is one of the major issues facing Korean studies academia, according to a survey condu...

2015-10-23 17:08

Solving historical puzzles

Stories of the murder, mysterious death and poisoning of kings and queens inside royal courts are a familiar and intriguing topic of fables and history around the world. And the 519 years of the court history of the Joseon Kingdom is no exception. In many cases, puzzles remain surrounding the truth of these intriguing royal deaths.

2015-09-25 14:19

'The Korean Mind'

I am writing this article in the hope that somebody will help me get in contact with the author of “The Korean Mind.” Subtitled “Understanding Contemporary Korean Culture” and published by Tuttle Publishing Company, the book is on sale at a major downtown bookstore in Seoul and on the Amazon website.

2015-08-28 17:07

Korean moms are strong

“Women are weak, but mothers are strong.” And someone said, “Being a mother is learning about strengths that you did not know you had, and dealing with fears you did not know existed.” Korean mothers are famed for their conspicuous dedication to family and children.

2015-07-31 17:17

On changing foreign textbooks

Did you know that 11 Koreans - experts and staff - work year-round to convince the authorities of other countries to revise parts of their textbooks? I am talking about the CEFIA (Center for International Affairs) of the Academy of Korean Studies. The center is in charge of finding and correcting mistakes, errors and distortions on facts about Korea in school textbooks of other countries.

2015-07-03 17:13

Bringing truth to light

Kim Moon-ja is a Korean-Japanese historian born in 1951. I know almost nothing about her, except for the information printed in her book. She wrote “The Murder of Joseon Queen and the Japanese,” which was published in 2009 by Koubunken Co. in Japan

2015-06-05 17:01

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