08/12/2026
🎤🇰🇷 The Bunche Center Brings Korean Language, Culture, and History to the Library of Congress!
We recently partnered with the Library of Congress for LIVE! K-Pop LIVE! @ the Library, an engaging evening celebrating Korean music, language, creativity, and cultural heritage.
With guidance from Dr. Kukjin Cheon, Howard University's Korean language professor, and several Bison (study) Abroad alumni volunteers, participants learned how to write their names and favorite K-pop lyrics in Hangul using traditional ink and brushes. Guests then decorated their creations with stickers while enjoying popular K-pop music in a vibrant atmosphere filled with fans, artists, students, community members, and visitors.
In addition to the hands-on activities, attendees, including our own international students, explored an exhibit that highlighted a fascinating historical connection between Howard University and Korean cultural history.
In 1896, seven Korean students enrolled at Howard University with support from Korean diplomat Suh Kwang Bum. Later that year, recordings were made of students singing the Korean folk song "Arirang." Those wax cylinder recordings, now preserved at the Library of Congress, are recognized as the earliest known recordings of Korean voices in the United States.
The exhibit also explained how BTS's Arirang album concept draws inspiration from this history, honoring the students who helped preserve and share Korean culture abroad more than a century before K-pop captured audiences around the world.
By connecting language learning, cultural exchange, historical preservation, and contemporary music, the event offered visitors a unique opportunity to discover an important story linking Howard University, Korea, and the Library of Congress.
Thank you to Dr. Cheon and the Library of Congress for helping bring this remarkable history to life while fostering meaningful cross-cultural engagement.