Korean Studies at the University of Cambridge

01/05/2026

Event: "Life in North Korea Seen from the Heart of the Regime—and the Journey to Freedom."

Please join us for this year's Ra Jong-Yil Distinguished Lecture in Korean Studies on 21 May (Thu) at 5pm. Mr Tae Yong-Ho, the highest ranking North Korean diplomat to have defected to South Korea, will share his experience and insights.

When: 21 May (Thu) 5pm
Where: Buckingham House Conference Centre, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge UK

Please sign up here:

Life in North Korea Seen from the Heart of the Regime and the Journey to Freedom (University of Cambridge) – Buckingham House Conference Centre, Thu 21 May 2026 - The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge is delighted to announce this year's Ra Jong-Yil Distin...

02/12/2025

Job Announcement

We are excited to announce that we are recruiting for a new post in Korean popular culture. This is a five-year position with potential to be extended. The deadline for applying is 15 Jan 2026. Please help spread the word widely. More information can be found in the link:

Applications are invited for a 5-year, fixed term, full-time position of Assistant Professor in Korean Popular Culture in the Department of East Asian Studies,

05/11/2025

Scholarship Announcement

We are excited to announce that we will continue to offer the Yang Won Sun Foundation scholarship for students in Korean Studies on the Master's level at the University of Cambridge. To maximize chances, applications should be submitted by the university's funding deadline which is 2 December 2025. Please feel free to share widely with colleagues and students. More information can be found here:

Postgraduate Funding Search

14/10/2025

We are delighted to announce the below event on Korean art and technology next Friday (24 Oct) with Soh-Yeong Roh (노소영) and Inkeon Chun (전인건), two insiders of the Korean art and museum scene. Please feel free to sign up here: https://app.tickettailor.com/events/universityofcambridge16/1903825

08/10/2025

Please join us tomorrow (9 Oct, Fri) for a special Korea Foundation-Cambridge roundtable on trilateral cooperation between ROK, Japan, and the USA. More details can be found in the link below.

https://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/cambridge-korea-foundation-special-roundtable

01/10/2025

New Master's program in East Asian Popular Culture

We are excited to announce a new one-year MPhil program in East Asian Popular Culture across Time at the University of Cambridge.

The program offers a novel approach to popular culture by emphasizing transnational flows within East Asia and connecting premodern and modern cultures. Students will develop skills in analyzing key cultural products while considering how they are shaped by transmedial flows and other processes including translation, adaptation, top-down design, and grassroots creativity.

For Korean Studies in particular, we will soon seek a new hire who can contribute to this program.

Applications are now open for 2026-27. More details and requirements can be found in the link below.

East Asian Popular Culture is a vibrant and fast-moving field. Study with us to pioneer a new academic approach and join the dots between past, present and future in the first programme of its kind. East Asian Popular Culture is emerging as a vibrant and dynamic academic field. Become a key player i...

18/05/2025

Event Announcement: "Baby Shark Swims in the Korean Wave: A Cultural Analysis of Global Media Phenomena"

Please join us for this year's Ra Jong-Yil Distinguished Lecture in Korean Studies at the University of Cambridge on June 10 (Tue). Our speaker will be Seungkyu Ryan Lee, co-founder of the Pinkfong company. Please find details in the link below and reserve your tickets. The event is open to the public.

While the Korean Wave is usually associated with film, TV shows, and popular music, Korean entrepreneurs have also achieved significant global success in family entertainment. The song “Baby Shark” in particular has become the most watched Youtube video of all time, etched into the minds of mill...

04/02/2025

This Saturday (8 Feb 2025) at 2pm.

A roundtable on contemporary South Korean Politics at the University of Cambridge. Please reserve your spot here:

Understanding South Korea’s Political Crisis: Martial Law, Impeachment and Populist Politics

22/11/2024

Please join us for the next Korean Studies Lecture on 28 Nov (Thu).

The talk is entitled "Evolution of Korean Criminal Law: From Confucian Moralism and Japanese Colonial Legacies to a Human Rights-Oriented Approach" and will be given by Prof Jinyeong Hong from Seoul National University. More details can be found in the link.

The Criminal Act of Korea was enacted in 1953, during the upheaval of the Korean War. Legislators aimed to modernize Korean criminal law and create a legal framework independent from Japanese influences, one that aligned with democratic values and human rights. However, due to limited resources and....

13/11/2024

Dear all,
The University of Cambridge is hiring an Assistant Professor in Asian Film and Media. This includes Korea. Please feel free to circulate widely!

If the link does not work, please copy and paste the below address:
www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/49149

Assistant Professor in Asian Film and Media in the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics at the University of Cambridge.