Background and Establishment
In September 2004, In-hyuk Kwon, then President of the Korea Foundation, a government-affiliated organization of the Republic of Korea, visited Kyushu University and paid a courtesy call to the Research Center for Korean Studies. During this visit, President Kwon and the Center reached an agreement to create a new global model for Korean Studies.
Based on this agreement, a preparatory committee was formed by Professor Duncan (UCLA), Professor Deok-soo Choi (Korea University), and Shoji Ishikawa (then Director, Research Center for Korean Studies, Kyushu University). Leading Korean Studies centers in the Pacific Rim region were selected, and in February 2005, eight universities—Seoul National University, Korea University, Peking University, Fudan University, University of Hawaiʻi, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Australian National University, and Kyushu University—formally established the Pacific Rim Korean Studies Consortium. A signing ceremony was held in February 2005.
Subsequently, applications for membership were received from University of London, University of British Columbia, Harvard University, and Yonsei University. These applications were approved at a meeting of center directors, and the consortium was expanded and reorganized as the World Korean Studies Consortium, consisting of twelve universities. The signing ceremony for the expanded consortium was held in October 2006 (approved by the International Exchange Committee in July 2006).
Participating Universities
Harvard University
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Australian National University
University of British Columbia
Korea University
Seoul National University
University of Hawaiʻi
Fudan University
Peking University
Yonsei University
University of London
Kyushu University
Participation and Hosting Record
1st Meeting
2005 (Kyushu University)
11 universities, 22 participants
2nd Meeting
2006 (Kyushu University)
16 universities, 26 participants
Delegate: Mitsuharu Tanaka (Kyushu University)
“Research on Special Activities in Korean Elementary Schools”
3rd Meeting
2007 (University of British Columbia)
17 universities, 22 participants
Faculty: Tsuguo Inaba (then Director, Research Center for Korean Studies, Kyushu University); Takatoshi Matsubara (Professor, Kyushu University)
Delegates:Tomohiro Hara (Kyushu University), “The Appointment System of Colonial Officials in the Government-General of Korea during the Period of Military Rule”
Sang-jin Choi (Kyushu University), “Control of the Waegwan by Dongnae Magistrate Gwon Yi-jin in the Early 18th Century and Korea–Japan Relations”
4th Meeting
2008 (Australian National University)
19 universities, 28 participants
Faculty: Tsuguo Inaba (then Director, Research Center for Korean Studies, Kyushu University)
Delegate: Yuya Kawanishi (Kyushu University), “A Study of Hong Ho-yeon, a Captive Korean”
5th Meeting
2009 (University of Hawaiʻi)
18 universities, 26 participants
Faculty: Tsuguo Inaba (then Director), Takatoshi Matsubara (Professor), Michihiko Shinjo (Researcher), Kyushu University
Delegates: Hajung Lee (Kyushu University), “The Impact of McDonaldization on Early Childhood Education in Korea”
Yukako Irie (Kyushu University), “Medical Missionary Activities Related to Childbirth and Childcare in Colonial Korea, 1910–1920s”
6th Meeting
2010 (Yonsei University)
19 universities, 28 participants
Faculty: Michihiko Shinjo (Researcher, Kyushu University)
Delegate: Yumiko Yamato (Kyushu University), “Constructing Transnational Memory between Koreans and Japanese”
7th Meeting
2011 (SOAS, University of London)
19 universities, 27 participants
Faculty: Tsuguo Inaba (then Director, Kyushu University)
Delegate: Hiroshi Inooka (Researcher, Kyushu University), “The EU and the DPRK: Democracy and Sanctions”
8th Meeting
2012 (Korea University)
21 universities, 25 participants
Faculty: Takatoshi Matsubara (Professor, Kyushu University)
Delegates: Daiki Kojima (Kyushu University), “Exceptional Combinations of the Korean Particle ‘-e’”
Seonju Oh (Kyushu University), “Misuse of Quotations in Japanese and Korean: A Contrastive Study”
9th Meeting
2013 (Peking University)
17 universities, 23 participants
Faculty: Takatoshi Matsubara (Professor, Kyushu University)
Delegates: Yu Muto, Yumi Kim (Kyushu University)
10th Meeting
2014 (Harvard University)
Faculty: Hitoshi Nakano (then Director), Takatoshi Matsubara (Professor), Kyushu University
Delegate: Yu Muto (Kyushu University), “Korean Images in the Japanese Entertainment Industry, 1930–1945”
11th Meeting
2015 (Fudan University)
Faculty: Takatoshi Matsubara (Professor, Kyushu University)
Delegate: Shintaro Egami (Kyushu University), “Cultural Policy under the Park Chung-hee Regime”
12th Meeting
2016 (Seoul National University)
Delegate: Gentaro Takamura (Kyushu University), “Aspects of Military Service Taxation in the 19th Century”
13th Meeting
2017 (University of California, Los Angeles)
14th Meeting
2018 (Leiden University)
15th Meeting
2019 (Free University of Berlin)
Faculty: Hiroshi Fukagawa (then Director, Kyushu University)
Delegates: Mika Tanaka (Kyushu University), Soo-yeon Jeong (Kyushu University)
*Meetings from 2020 to 2022 were cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
16th Meeting
August 9–11, 2023 (Seoul National University)
Faculty: Hironori Tsujino (Deputy Director, Kyushu University; online participation in the directors’ meeting only)
Delegate: Ryosuke Mizouchi (Kyushu University), “Meanings Embedded in Korean Culture in Literacy Education Practices”
17th Meeting
May 9–10, 2024 (University of Hawaiʻi)
Faculty: Kaoru Izumi (Director, Kyushu University; online participation in the directors’ meeting only)
18th Meeting
August 10–12, 2025 (Korea University)
Faculty: Yuka Yamaguchi (Assistant Professor, Kyushu University), Panel discussant in sessions on “Ideology and Memory” and “Women”