Korea Research Centre of Western Australia

KRC Research Associate, Dr Sung-Young Kim, Macquarie University, has published a research article “States can take the lead fixing Australia’s energy strategy through green hydrogen”

On 4 and 5 February we will be holding a Collaboratory where we aim to explore how experiences of attachment and connections are expressed in a range of practices, textual, material, visual, social, in Korea’s past and present.

Associate Lecturer, KRC, Caleb Kelso-Marsh published his new book chapter: ‘East Asian Noir: Transnational Film Noir in Japan, Korea and Hong Kong’ in Renegotiating Film Genres in East Asian Cinemas and Beyond.

Researcher, KRC, Dr Nicola Fraschini published his new article "'Because Korean is cool’ Adolescent learners’ vision, motivation, and the study of the Korean language”

Deputy Director, KRC, Dr Sam Han launched his new book “(Inter) Facing Death – Life in Global Uncertainty”

Director, KRC, Associate Professor Jo Elfving-Hwang published her new article: "Man Made Beautiful: The Social Role of Grooming and Body Work in Performing Middle-aged Corporate Masculinity in South Korea"

The Australia-Korea Hydrogen Futures Roundtable 2020 was held on Tuesday 24 November was attended by more than 100 people. Thank you to all who participated.

Tuesday 24 November 2020 12pm-3pm - The Australia Korea Business Council of Western Australia (AKBCWA) , the University of Western Australia’s Korea Research Centre (KRC), and the City of Perth are delighted to invite you to the Australia-Korea Hydrogen Futures Roundtable 2020.

We have extended the submission day to Friday, 27 November 2020. Please see attached flyer!

Hi all. The start time for today's (27 Oct) seminar is 2pm in Western Australia (AWST) and 5pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). Apologies for not factoring daylight savings in!! Looking forward to seeing you all at the correct time!

In this talk, Associate Professor Brian Yecies will introduce the meteoric rise of Korea’s online and mobile webtoon industry and explore how this new digital entertainment medium is transforming Korea and the world’s creative industries. In particular, he will trace some of webtoons’ dynamic links to cross-media storytelling, styles and technologies, as well as the production, localization and reception of innovative smartphone apps and platforms. While the “Korean Wave” of popular culture has enjoyed striking global success since the 2000s, limited attention – at both popular and scholarly levels – has been paid to the complex relationships between webtoon artists, platforms, agencies, policymakers, fan-translators, and readers – all elements of what he calls the “Webtooniverse”. Through a brief sketch of his ongoing research, he will explain why the South Korean webtoon industry is important to amateur and professional content creators across the globe, and how their work in this diverse platform environment is contributing to the digital economy.

The eWorkshop is designed to provide a forum for those enrolled in a research degree course such as PhD, MPhil or MRes in Korean Studies to present their research, and receive feedback and mentoring from established international scholars in the field of Korean Studies. Postgraduate students are invited to submit proposals for presentations that draw on their dissertation. PhD students should have passed their confirmation of candidature at the time of applying. COVID-19 has resulted in traditional face-to-face conference formats migrating online, a transition that has made online presentation skills integral to academia. As such, one aim of this year’s workshop is to provide presenters with an opportunity to develop their online presentation skills. To do so, an eWorkshop format will be utilised.

Attachment and connection in Korea's past and present Terms such as han (한), jeong (정) and perceived practices such as injeong juui (인정주의), yeongo juui (연고주의) and inmaek (인맥)have been claimed (by some) as distinctly Korean experiences of attachment and connection that have created a dynamic sense of self that is relational, interdependent, and interconnected. Most often these terms have been studied in psychological, therapeutic, pastoral and sociological contexts. With this collaboratory, we wish to broaden the analysis of such concepts and their lived experiences to analysis within the arts, literature, media, historical and contemporary social practice, by focussing particularly on their expressive forms. We aim to explore how such experiences of attachment and connections are expressed in a range of practices, textual, material, visual, social, in Korea's past and present. Participants may wish to consider: • The nature of expressive practices purposed for specific contexts, and how they change over time • How gender shapes expressive practices • Expressive practices in educational contexts/settings • How religious and spiritual practices shape expressive practices • How film, television, and other modes of popular culture articulate experiences of attachment and connection • How expressive practices can both represent and enact experiences of attachment and connection Collectively we hope to investigate changes and continuity in expressive forms over time and their implications for experience of attachment and connection.

Following calls in recent critical debates in English-language Korean studies to reevaluate the cultural concept of han (often translated as “resentment”), this presentation argues for its reconsideration from the vantage point of minjung theology, a theological perspective that emerged in South Korea in the 1970s, which has been dubbed the Korean-version of “liberation theology.” Like its Latin American counterpart, minjung theology understood itself in explicitly political terms, seeking to reinvigorate debates around the question of theodicy—the problem of suffering vis-à-vis the existence of a divine being or order. In connecting the concept of han to theodicy, minjung theology, this presentation argues, offers an opening towards a redirection from han’s dominant understanding within academic discourse and public culture as a special and unique racial essence of Korean people. Moreover, by putting minjung theology in conversation with contemporary political theory, in particular the work of Wendy Brown and Lauren Berlant, this presentation hopes to bring minjung theology to the attention of critical theory. Dr Sam Han is Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, UWA. The seminar will be held on Friday 9 October, 11am-12:00pm, This seminar will be conducted online with Zoom. To join click https://uwa.zoom.us/j/85214715324?pwd=TjJ2WnpFbUNyTW5qT3lmMWY3bXpxQT09 Password: 599753

(Commences at approximately 16:00 minute mark) - #Alive - a South Korean film about an airborne zombie cannibal plague - is a global hit on Netflix - breaking into the service's top 10 films within days of its release. Why is this film about zombies, isolation, and our reliance on technology for human connection hitting a nerve right now? We have a few hunches. With Joanna Elfving-Hwang, associate professor of Korean Studies at University of Western Australia.

UWA will establish the first Korea Research Centre in the State, providing a dedicated hub for Korean studies and research.