뉴스레터

1. Ever since the 2012 APEC summit was held in Vladivostok, South Korea and Russia have been reviewing how far their strategic partnership has progressed and exchanging ideas on ways to strengthen the institutional framework for personal and cultural interchange between the two countries. President Putin's visit to South Korea last year also seems to be understood as a turning point in what had been a rather distant bilateral relationship. Having the experience of working as deputy director of the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the Far Eastern People, which is part of Russia's national think tank, the Russian Academy of Sciences, could you share your thoughts on the current state of South Korea-Russia relations?

One of the goals, perhaps the main, pursued by the ROK government, establishing its cooperation with the Russian Federation, is to expand its industrial expansion through Russia to European markets. Assuming in the future to achieve peaceful reunification of the peninsula, the ROK government also intends to exploit opportunities and to retain influence on the DPRK Government of the Russian Federation. Economic cooperation will contribute to the development of transport infrastructure, construction industry, agriculture, light industry, food industry of Korea. Implementation of planned projects of cooperation with Russia suggests creating a unified logistics infrastructure, the overall energy system.

The interests of Russia and Korea seems to be close. Russia, in case of favorable development of the planned projects will be able to download the potential power of the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur railway, create a common electrical grid with the Korean Peninsula.

Cooperation with Russia is carried out in the framework of the so-called "Eurasian Initiative" of President Park Geun Hye, which requires multilateral cooperation, should lead to the integration of economic space in Europe and Asia. It includes the creation of integrated logistics and energy systems.

President's initiative, on the one hand, will help to attain the markets of Asia-Pacific by South Korean high-tech enterprises, and, on the other hand, serve a breeding ground for new Russian economic policy aimed at fostering innovation, economic development of Eastern Siberia and the Far East.

Russia's interests, including the development of the Far East, which is directly related to regional development programs, coincide with the ROK desire to start industrial expansion in the north-east direction.

2. Although South Korea's relationship with Russia has been less intimate compared to that with the United States, China or Japan, the history of Korean studies in Russia is known to be quite extensive. Could you please introduce the history of Korean studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences and the background to its growth in Russia in general?

The following and some other institutes of Russia Academy of Science are making research in the history, economy, politics, philosophy, language, literature, ancient and modern culture of Korea:
Institute of Oriental Studies' Center of Korea and Mongolia, and Oriental Languages department (Moscow);
Institute of the Far-Eastern Studies' Center for Korean Studies (Moscow), established in 1994. Institute' Sinology library has more than 300 thousand books, including those written in the Korean language. The Korean Studies conferences held annually since 1997. The main topics of the Center includes: the situation on the Korean peninsula and the security interests of Russia, the contemporary political and economy problems of DPRK and ROK, the problem of Korea unification;
Institute of Oriental Manuscripts' Department of Far Eastern Studies (St Petersburg). There are more than 70.000 manuscripts and block-prints written in Oriental languages, including the Korean language at the archive and library. It was published two issues of annotated bibliographic description of the Korean culture manuscripts, which are stored in the SPbGU Oriental department library and at the Oriental Manuscripts Institute (Троцевич А.Ф., Гурьева А.А. Описание письменных памятников корейской традиционной культуры. Вып.I: Корейские письменные памятники в фонде китайских ксилографов восточного отдела Научной библиотеки Санкт-Петербургского государственного университета);
Institute of History, Archeology & Ethnology of the Far-Eastern People (Vladivostok);
Scientific Center of Eurasian Studies of Russia Academy of Natural Sciences;
Asia Pacific Research Center RF MOFA Diplomatic Academy.

3. The program for Korean language at Saint Petersburg State University, where you did your doctoral degree, is known for its prestige not only in Russia, but in Western academia as well. Could you please tell us about how the program was created and developed?

Saint Petersburg University is one of the leading international centers of science, education and culture today. The Oriental Department of St. Petersburg State University is one of the oldest in Russia which educates specialists in different areas of Oriental studies.

The teaching of the Korean language was started at the St Petersburg University in 1897. In 1947 the Korean Philology department (otdeleniye) was opened at the Oriental department of Leningrad State University. In 1947, under the leadership of Professor Nikolai Kuhner (1877-1955), it began to teach students majoring in Korean history.

In 1995, with the support of the Republic of Korea government organizations, as the Korea Foundation, at the Faculty of Oriental studies, St.-Petersburg State University it was opened the Center for Korean Language and Culture. The Center is currently implementing research programs, such as the creation of new teaching materials on Korea, description of ancient Korean manuscripts and block-prints stored in St. Petersburg. In addition, the Center conducts scientific conferences and seminars.

4. Other than the institute you're at and its close relation to the Vladivostok Oriental Institute, could you please introduce major universities in different parts of Russia that are well known for teaching Korean studies? Would there be any specifically teaching Korean history? Also, approximately how many experts in Korean history would you say there are in Russian academia and what part of Korean history are they specializing in?

It is not easy to calculate how many specialists in Korean studies are now in Russia.
According to the "Biobibliographical Dictionary of the contemporary Korean Studies specialists in Russia" (Биобиблиографический словарь современных российских корееведов / Симбирцева Т.М. (сост.) // Современное российское корееведение.
Справочное издание. — М., 2006) there are 186 experts, 131 of which got their professional education and were graduated from Korean departments of the higher education institutions, and 55 more are engaged in teaching of the Korean studies disciplines, or who wrote papers on the topics related to Korea. Although such kind of separation of Korean studies specialist from non-professional (nekoreeved) is rather arbitrary.

The Korean language and Korean Studies are conducted now at about 30 Universities through all over Russia, at four of which the Centers of Korean studies have been established: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok Universities.
The teaching of Korean language and culture are conducted at A.I.Gertsen Russian State Pedagogical University (St.-Petersburg), Institute of Economics, Law and Natural Specialities (Krasnodar), Kazan State University, Krasnoyarsk State University, Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk Linguistic State University, Buryat State University, and others.
Russian Association of Korean Studies and Russian University Association for Korean Studies (RAUK) were established recently.

5. If a quantitative comparison were to be done on which country Western scholars in East Asian studies are focused on, the highest number of scholars would be specializing in China, then Japan and Korea would come last. What is the ratio of experts in China, Japan and Korea at the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnology of Peoples of the Far East? How many of them study the history of more than one of the three countries in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of East Asia? There are still many distortions among Western scholars' understanding of Korean history that remain accepted as facts and achievements made by Korean academia to correct such distortions are not as widely recognized, so I ask the above questions because I believe it could be important to communicate with Russian experts in Chinese or Japanese history in order to spread the word about the achievements I just mentioned

Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnology of Peoples of the Far East was established in 1971. In its name it has identified key areas of research that are held by the scholars. Important area is study of history, contemporary trends, and regional relations in Northeast Asia. The ratio of researchers at the institute devoted to the study of problems of NEA is approximately the same as in Western countries , i.e. dominated by studies related to the problems of China, hereinafter - Japan and Korea. Many scientists conduct research on issues of regional cooperation, the development of Sino-Japanese, Sino-Korean, Russian-Chinese-Korean relations at the contemporary period mainly. It is quite reasonable, if take into consideration the development of relationships between the countries and the globalization processes of interaction in the modern world.

At present Institute collaborates with research institutions from Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. The major part of partner agreements falls on the institutes of NEA, China, Japan, ROK, and Mongolia. Many important institutions have maintained various academic contacts with the IHAE. The Institute has strong relations with representatives of the higher education community and state authorities. IHAE is widely known for the strength of its intellectual potential.

6. The Northeast Asian History Foundation and the Russian Academy of Sciences have maintained friendly academic communication over the past five years since signing a memorandum of understanding and we believe it is turning into an essential base that will contribute to improving South Korea's understanding of Russia and vice versa. Under the common interest in peacefully resolving conflicts and disputes over history and territory in East Asia, scholars from both institutes have presented papers on historical reconciliation and cooperative growth in East Asia and an intellectual consensus seems to have been formed throughout the process. This in turn has reminded scholars here at the Foundation with different fields of expertise of Vladivostok's geopolitical importance to Northeast Asia and has drawn their interest in expanding academic communication and cooperation with scholars based in Vladivostok. There has also been an amazing scholarly achievement made through the joint excavation of the Kraskino fortress. Would you have any suggestions or propositions to further promote constant cooperation between the two institutes?

Maintenance and development of relations between our two institutions is an important component of the policy pursued by the Institute. We hope that the cooperation between our institutions will continue in the future.

Until now understanding of traditions, customs and culture of peoples inhabiting the region is not sufficiently complete, and sometimes is inadequate. That is an important problem in the countries' relations. To expand the understanding of the population of its own country about the neighbors, the peoples living in the region – is an important task for scientists. How to achieve this? In practical activities, joint conferences, joint research projects aimed at the study and comprehension of the culture of the peoples inhabiting the region for to live in peace and prosperity - that is the task, which must adhere to the researchers, scholars of our academic institutions.

7. You did a presentation titled Russia-Korea-China borderland and Korean migrations: A case study of the XIX century "Map of Russia" last December while you were here at the foundation as a visiting scholar. The Map of Russia encompasses the borderlands of Russia, Korea and China and carries historical, cultural and even military significance. Please tell us why you became particularly interested in the map and what it means in terms of discerning Russia's relationship with Korea and China.

The Map itself is a unique document, which is not investigated thoroughly in Korea and unknown outside the country. The document depicts the 19^th century Far-Eastern Russia, many of described settlements are very familiar for Russians; it is interesting, for example, to compare the description of nowadays Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, and other cities with the Map content. Not less important is to see the image of Russia, which was created by Koreans in the end of the 19^th century, to define the differences or commonalities with nowadays Korea image of Russia, to trace the roots of the created understanding of Russia and Russian people in Korea. The translation of the rare document into Russian language could help future scholars to make research in the early history of Russia-Korea-China relations.

8. You mentioned that the identities of the authors of the Map of Russia remain as a matter of controversy. Their identities are generally accepted in Korea as Kim Gwang Hun (金光薰) and Shin Seon Uk (申先郁), so could you please elaborate on the background to producing the map and your reasons for doubting the consensus on the map's authorship?

Determining who and when the map was created is complicated by the absence of information on the identity of the map makers and the authors of the text, or the dates of production. Scholars have long been intrigued by the problem and attempted to identify the map by indirect evidence, such as using the dates of historical events mentioned in the text as reference points, taking into consideration any additional data and facts. Korean scholars are unanimous in attributing the authorship of the map to Kim Kwang Hun 金光薰 and Sin Son Uk 申先郁, based on the fact that the foreword to the map is signed by those two. Little is known about these supposed authors of the map. They were associates to high-ranking officials, namely Kwon Dong Su 權東壽 and Kim Yong Won 金鏞元, sent by King Gojong to Russia. Why the document prepared for the King, as it is said in the foreword, was not signed by the leaders of the mission, but by the unknown associates?

Besides geographical data, the map contains information about the plants, animals and other notable natural phenomena of the Primorskii region, and about the history of relations between Russia, Korea and China. The map could also have been used by contemporaries to specify the characteristics of the border line, to study the history of Russo-Chinese cross-border relations, and to analyze cross-border problems. It shows military facilities, characteristics of guard troops, and fortifications along the border. There are descriptions of life and customs of Korean immigrants who fled to Russia in the 1860s. It seems to me, to gather such big information content needs much more people involved and time.

Dr. Lee Wang Moo from Jangseogak Library, one of the researchers of the Map, proposed recently (이왕무. 초기 한러관계와 "아아국여지도"의 제작 // NEAHF conference, November 2013) the name of another high-ranking official, who could also participate in the creation of the document.

Inconsistencies and contradictions in determining the periods of the supposed authors' stay in the Primorskii region and the time of their return to Korea, some other still unanswered questions require us to be cautious about the document itself. Further extensive work with archive materials should help to confirm more accurate dates and authorship of the map.

9. As the country with the largest territory in the world, Russia must be advanced in research on historical geography, so could you tell us when such research began in Russia?

Historical Geography of Russia as a scientific discipline initially evolved in the course of national historical science. First synthesis and gradual separation of historical geography began in the XVIII century. Vasiliy Tatischev (1686-1750), a prominent Russian historian, geographer, economist and statesman in his magnum opus "History of Russia" devoted many pages to the argument about the use of geography in modern life. Similar representations had distinguished historian, prominent Russian writer Nikolai Karamzin (1766-1826), he considered the geography of the past as an integral part of history. His "History of the Russian state" (Istoriya Gosudarstva Rossiyskogo) began with historical and geographical essays, and in his work it is given a lot of clarification of the location of different points and areas mentioned in the historical sources.

In the 1830-1840-ies. it appeared a number of historical and geographical works of prominent Russian scholar Nikolay Nadezhdin (1804-1856), among which stands out the article "An attempt of Russian world historical geography" (Надеждин Н. И. Опыт исторической географии русского мира // Библиотека для чтения. 1837) dedicated to ethnic geography of Eastern Europe in the early Middle Ages and the question of early settling of the Slavic peoples.

Among the researchers of the second half of the XIX century great contribution to the development of historical geography was made by Nikolay Barsov (1839-1889) who created the first specialized dictionary containing list of geographical names of Russian land in the IX - mid XIV centuries (Барсов Н. П. Материалы для историко-географического словаря России. Вильна, 1865; Очерки русской исторической географии. География Начальной летописи. Варшава, 1873).

10. The northeastern parts of China are known to be quite active and productive in conducting research on the far eastern region of Russia. Are you aware of any joint research projects done in Russia on China and the two Koreas? If so, what topics are covered by such projects and do they include fields other than history, such as economics, politics, diplomacy, security or culture?

"The History of Chinese Civilization" (中华文明史。北京大学出版社，2006。In four volumes), written by scholars from Peking University, provides a history of Chinese civilization in its totality, from Neolithic times to the founding of the Chinese Republic in 1911. Each of the four volumes covers political and social institutions, economics, religion, philosophy, science and technology, literature, art and daily life. It is a joint project created, consolidating scholars from different academic organizations in Russia, to translate the work into Russian language.

11. Many historical documents held in Russia are vital in understanding the modern history of Korea as well as East Asia, which is why Korean scholars have recently continued to translate and introduce documents involving Korea-Russia relations that are held at the Russian State Historical Archive of the Far East. If there are other Russian archives of interest that are less known in Korea, could you please introduce them and let us know whether joint research on their collections would be a viable possibility?

The main archives in Russia which possess materials on Korea:
Russian Federation State Archive (Gosudarstvenniy Arkhiv Rossiyskoy Federatsii, Moscow);
Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs Foreign Policy Archive (Soviet period, Moscow);
Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs Russian Empire foreign policy Archive (before 1917-1922, Moscow);
Russia State Historical Archive (St. Petersburg);
Russia State Ancient Documents Archive (Moscow);
Russia State Military-Historical Archive (Moscow);
Russia State Navy Archive (St Petersburg);
Russian Federation Ministry of Defense Central Archive (Podolsk);
Irkutsk Oblast State Archive (Irkutsk);
Novosibirsk oblast State Archive (Novosibirsk);
Primorskiy Krai State Archive (Vladivostok);
Khabarovskiy Krai State Archive (Khabarovsk), and others

12. 2014 is the 150^th anniversary of the immigration of Koryo people and its meaning is gaining interest among scholars and the general public in South Korea. Recently, the 'Symposium on the 150^th Anniversary of the Immigration of Koryo people and Launching of the Preparatory Committee for its Memorial Project' took place. As Russians, Koryo people play a vital role in sharing the history and culture of both Russia and Korea, so could you please introduce some recent interests of scholars whose research involves Koryo people?

Since 60–ies of the 19^th till 30-ies in 20^th century across the whole of the southern part of the Russian Far East was widely settled by Koryo people, who established relationships with almost all social groups of Eastern Slavic population of the region. However, a particularly high level of intensity and stability of these relationships reached with the Cossacks, it was determined by socio-economic and cultural specificity of the Cossack population of the region. The causes and consequences of such interactions explores Anton A. Kireev at one of his works: Korean immigrants and the Cossacks in the Russian Far East: the factors and dynamics of the interaction (Корейские иммигранты и казачество на российском Дальнем Востоке: факторы и динамика взаимодействия (вторая половина XIX – первая треть ХХ вв.) // Сибирская заимка, 2012 ).

History, the initial stage of the immigration of the Koryo people to Russian Primorye, Manchuria, America, Japan in the second half of the 19th century explores German N. Kim in his monograph "History of Koreans Immigration" (История иммиграции корейцев. 1999, Алматы). The author draws attention to the analysis of the causes of migration, immigration waves dynamics, age and sex, and the social composition of immigrant settlement geography in host countries. The scholar describes domestic political and international situation at the turn of 19-20 centuries in Korea, determine the causes of mass emigration beyond the Korean peninsula.

Definition of relations between Russian authorities and Korean migrants, description of features distinguishing Korean migration to the Russian Far East, devoted his research Karaman V.N. The Korean immigrants and Russian authorities in the Russian Far East: dynamics of interaction (second half XIX – first third ХХ centuries) (В.Н. Караман. Корейские иммигранты и русские официальные власти на российском Дальнем Востоке: динамика взаимодействия (вторая половина XIX – первая треть ХХ вв.) // Ойкумена, 2008, № 3).