[KS] Re: Cambridge DJ Centre

[Youngsook Pak]

>I am finding it difficult to explain to myself and (even more difficult)
>to those surrounding me, the decision (reported in today's Korean
>newspapers) to name a newly established Korean Studies Centre at
>Cambridge (UK) 'The Kim Dae Jung Centre of Korean Studies'. The
>evaluation of his current standing will of course vary greatly among us
>all, some may even think that he deserves such an honour, but the only
>question I am being asked is, 'How much funding did he provide?' and I
>wonder if Cambridge realizes how nuanced (not to say tarnished??) is the
>current perception of DJ in Korea, even among many of his supporters?
>However, perhaps a more important question would be why such a centre
>should be established at Cambridge when London, Oxford, Sheffield, might
>seem to have a stronger prior claim. The full story can be read at
>http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/news/2000/03/__02/20000317_0202.htm
>Bewildered in Seoul,
>Br Anthony
>Sogang University

For those of us who have devoted our whole lives to enhance standards in
this field and who have become experts in it, the news that it has been
decided to establish in Cambridge another centre of Korean Studies is quite
frustrating.

It is a depressing phenomenon that government officials and businessmen who
have no idea or knowledge of a particular scholarly field think that a
learned centre can be created overnight with a large sum, without
considering the need for a proper infrastructure.

Britain is a small country, with few scholars in Korean Studies, so that
the creation of a separate centre will disperse both the available funding
and the energies of scholars and institutions for building existing
research and teaching resources and library materials, to create conditions
of excellence for developing Korean Studies.

Youngsook Pak
Youngsook Pak
Chairman, Centre for Korean Studies
School of Oriental and African Studies
University of London
Thornhaugh Street
London WC1H OXG
Tel: 0044-20-7898 4224
Fax: 0044-20-7898 4229
e-mail: yp at soas.ac.uk


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