The Centre for Korean Research at SPPGA arranged a wide array of activities and events during the 2024-25 academic year—including five major talks. These events manifested CKR’s dedication to advance, coordinate, and facilitate research on Korean and Canada-Korean issues at the University of British Columbia through multidisciplinary approaches and interdepartmental collaboration. Three of these talks were the fruits of cooperation between CKR and other academic departments at UBC, including the departments of Geography, Asian Studies, and History. These initiatives also brought the latest intellectual trends on Korea to the forefront by providing authors of recent publications in the field with a platform to share their work and engage in dialogues with the academic community of UBC. These authors even included one PhD graduate from UBC, demonstrating the leading role that CKR and UBC are playing in shaping a global understanding of Korea.
The Centre kickstarted this academic year with a book talk organized in collaboration with the Department of Geography. The talk featured UBC Alumnus Jamie Doucette (University of Manchester) and centred around his recent book Postdevelopmental State: Dilemmas of Economic Democratization in Contemporary South Korea. In addition to speaking about his research, Jamie also held a rich discussion with UBC PhD students, Woocheol Kim (Geography) and Eunsil Choi (Political Science). The talk highlighted the socioeconomic transformations in South Korea over the past 25 years and offered a fresh perspective on South Korea’s recent development. This was an important opportunity for students and researchers to engage with Doucette’s emerging work which calls attention to South Korea’s unique experience in an attempt to revise the paradigm of the developmental state.
Kornel Chang discussing his book "A Fractured Liberation: Korea under U.S. Occupation" (photo credit: Quinton Huang)
CKR community at Peter Banseok Kwon's book talk on the Korean Military Industry (photo credots: Si Ming Zheng)
Peter Banseok Kwon at the book talk on the Korean Military Industry (photo credits: Si Ming Zheng)
After the winter break, CKR started the year with another book talk, this time by Peter Banseok Kwon (University at Albany, SUNY) on his newly released book Cornerstone of the Nation: The Defense Industry and the Building of Modern Korea under Park Chung Hee. Kwon about discussed the historical context of the recent global phenomenon of K-defense i.e. the rising share of South Korean-produced weapons in the arms market worldwide. His talk drew on his intriguing research which dates the origin of such rapid development from a country with no self-sufficient weapon industry to a leader of arms exports to the early 1970s under Park Chung Hee’s presidency. He emphasized the South Korean state’s initiative in accelerating this transformation, while at the same time drawing attention to the commoners’ experience and role in partaking in this high-speed growth.
At the close of this academic year, CKR held its last book talk with Kornel Chang (Rutgers University-Newark). His book, entitled A Fractured Liberation: Korea under U.S. Occupation, recounts the diverse experiences of Koreans with various sociopolitical backgrounds after the collapse of the Japanese Empire and the subsequent liberation of Korea in 1945. His talk shed light on these experiences while also exploring the U.S. occupation was concurrently a conundrum and an opportunity for the Korean people to pursue their own agenda and aspirations after liberation.
Aside from these key talks, CKR continued its leadership in fostering the next generation of scholars on Korea. The Centre held its annual open house event in September 2024 to welcome UBC students and instill curiosity about Korea. CKR continued to host and support IAR Fellows, including graduate students from Asian Studies, Geography, Political Science, and IRES. Under CKR, the IAR Fellows conducted writing and research meetings throughout this academic year and organized a Research Showcase in April 2025 to wrap up their activities. This research showcase displayed the IAR Fellows’ cutting-edge research on Korea, from contemporary and immediate issues to historical understandings.
