Special program marks forty years of leadership in Korean studies

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Yung-Hee Kim, (808) 956-7041
Director, Center for Korean Studies
Merclyn Labuguen, (808) 956-7041
Administrative officer, Center for Korean Studies
Posted: Nov 5, 2012

One of America's top experts on Korea will keynote an observance on November 8 marking the 40th anniversary of the founding of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Korean Studies.
 
Victor D. Cha will speak on the topic of Korea scholarship and policy at the event, which begins at 10 a.m. in the Center for Korean Studies auditorium located at 1881 East-West Road on the UH Mānoa campus.
 
Cha is director of Asian Studies and holds the D.S. Song Chair in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is also senior advisor and holder of the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. From 2004 to 2007, Cha served as director for Asian affairs in the National Security Council with responsibility for North and South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Island nations.
 
The November 8 program will also include special recognition of two individuals for their contributions to the Center: the late Min Kwan-Shik and Donald C. W. Kim. As minister of education of the Republic of Korea (1971-1974), Min played an instrumental role in securing Korean government support for the construction of the building that houses the Center. Kim, a University alumnus and former member of the Board of Regents, has long been a friend of Korean studies and has played a role in every major Center fundraising drive.
 
The program will also feature remarks by the Center's four former directors and performances of Korean traditional music and dance. An afternoon roundtable discussion on the future of Korean studies will conclude the day's events.
 
The Center for Korean Studies was established by the University Board of Regents in 1972, the first such institution in the United States. With nearly forty affiliated faculty members in a broad range of disciplines, the Center represents the largest concentration of Korea-focused faculty in any academic institution outside Korea.
 

For more information, visit: http://cksnews.manoa.hawaii.edu/wp/