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4. Government Support for Hallyu and Korean Studies

Any superficial Hallyu policy of the government and the government`s promotion of Korean studies may provoke unnecessary misunderstanding and invite undesirable side effects. There must be higher demand to study the cultures and languages of the U.S., Europe, China or Japan. However, these countries refrain from directly supporting research activities concerning their own cultures or languages through releasing research funds or paying expenses for faculty positions overseas, with the exception of Japan. China`s Confucius Culture Center to promote international study of the Chinese language is a noteworthy project in this regard.

Various Korean government organizations have been engaged in promoting Korean studies and language education separately but there have always been overlapping support programs. (Table 3) Realistically, rearranging these projects through discussion seems difficult because of bureaucratic rigidity and other reasons. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) reported to the cabinet last May that it would establish a “Korean Studies Promotion Committee” in order to readjust Korean studies programs overseas.

This plan called for the participation of MOFAT, the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Planning and Budget, The Korea Foundation, The Korea Research Foundation, The Academy for Korean Studies, The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). However, there was a conflict between the MOFA and MOFE over the budget problem, so the beginning was difficult.

In 2005, the budget to support Korean studies overseas was set at 16 billion won with the Korea Foundation under MOFAT allotted 14 billion won and the Academy for Korean Studies under the Education Ministry secured 2 billion won including a budget of 1.5 billion won coming from the Korea Research Foundation.

To be reasonable, it might be recommended for each supporting organization to consider the following. For example, the enhancement of efficiency in the need for systematic support, that there is a need to consider regional characteristics in Western Europe and non-Western Europe, that there is unreasonable support for unstable business by depending on the immediate visual outcome, interest relationship or personal network in principle.

The root of Korean studies in Western society was research to obtain regional information for imperialistic purposes in past centuries. However, such a motivation has gradually been weakened, and the future of Korean studies as a part of regional studies does not seem bright. In the U.S., which has many Korean immigrants, Korean language education has been relatively strong, but in the case of Western Europe, the need for Korean language has not been significantly high.

In Europe and elsewhere, securing faculty positions in existing language and history departments would be much more desirable rather than in regional studies programs such as East Asia studies or Korean studies. And, with this as the springboard, it would be better to attract a Korean studies major program and collaborative courses.

〈Table 3〉 Status of Korean Studies Support Projects Overseas

Institutions	Contents of project	Record in 2004	Plan for 2005
Korea Foundation	1. Support of Korean studies in colleges in overseas
	Faculty position	5 countries 10 agencies 2.4 billion won	7 countries 9 agencies 1.3 billion won
	Lecture (dispatch of faculty)	26 countries 36 agencies 800 million won	35 countries 57 agencies 2 billion won
	Korean studies support program	17 countries 47 agencies 1.7 billion won	17 countries 47 agencies 2.5 billion won
	Overseas research data	57 countries 306 agencies 800 million won	Subject of support undetermined 800 million won
	2. Support for Policy Research Center	9 countries 2.7 agencies 2.4 billion won	7 countries 22 agencies 2.5 billion won
	3. Developing Korean specialists overseas
	Scholarship for graduate students	20 countries 226 persons 1 billion won	6 regions, 250 persons 1.2 billion won
	Fellowship to study in Korea	21 countries 49 persons 500 million won	21 countries 50 persons 600 million won
	Support of research for scholars	4 countries 7 persons, 300 million won	Around 10, 4 billion won
	Subsidy for publication	5 countries 9 cases 6 billion won	Subject of support unknown 170 million won
	4. Overseas dispersion for Korean language
	Fellowship for Korean language study	33 countries 76 persons 1.2 billion won	42 countries 93 persons 1.6 billion won
	Development of education data	8 countries 9 cases 230 million won	Subject of support undetermined 260 billion won
	Workshop for educators	5 countries 78 persons, 250 million won	5 countries, 90 persons. 350 million won
	Total	11.6 billion won	14 billion won
Korea Research Foundation	1.Dispatching lecturers to colleges overseas	20 countries 24 agencies $609,200	24 agencies, $780,000
	2. Support for academic studies	10 countries 15 cases $257,000	14 cases, $260,000
	3. Support for academic conferences	10 countries 4 cases $216,000	14 cases $320,000
	4. Publication of academic publications	3 countries 5 cases $14,000	3 cases $15,000
	Total	25 countries 58 cases $ 1,097,000	55 cases, $1,375,000
Academy for Korean Studies	1.Support for Korean studies overseas	17 persons 150 million won	25 persons 150 million won
	2. International conferences for Korean studies	6 cases 190 million won	8 cases 130 million won
	3. Publication of data on Korean studies	10 cases 220 million won	8 cases 230 million won
	4. Lecture on culture	1 case,30 million won	1 case, 30 million won
	Total	17 persons 17 cases 590 million won	25 persons, 17 cases 550 million won

Source: Korea Foundation

Outside Western Europe, the Korean language is in growing demand for practical needs but the demand for full-scale Korean studies is relatively low. In these areas, it is necessary to have systematic support for Korean language education. Korean studies programs have just started in the Asian region. But it is much more advisable to establish Korean studies professorship in existing humanities departments rather than trying to open separate Korean studies courses. As an intermediary measure, it may be worthwhile to hold Korean culture lectures as part of the Korean language course, through which the demand for Korean studies may be measured.

In this connection, it is suggested that the irregular, non-professional and sporadic education support by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) be limited to developing a new education field only and once the possibility is confirmed, it should turn over the next stage to the Korea Foundation, the Ministry of Culture or the Ministry of Education.

The lecture on Korean culture as the intermediary stage may be provided through the Korean studies professors dispatch program, which has been taken over by the Academy for Korean Studies from the Korea Research Foundation. In areas where the possibility of developing Korean language programs is greater than that of promoting Korean studies, Korean language departments at universities in Korea may send the lecturers for Korean culture sessions.

In supporting overseas scholars of Korean studies, it would be inevitable for overlapped assistance to important foreign scholars but there has to be a reasonable management and verification system. In addition, government authorities are cautioned that their support policy for Korean studies in regions outside Western Europe could face significant repercussions in targeted areas if it is perceived as attempt to increase their economic dependency on Korea taking advantage of the spreading of Hallyu in the region.

The Korean government in recent days has taken a series of measures to strengthen cultural promotion programs. First, the Framework Act on Korean Language included a provision calling for the support of Korean language education overseas. On March 24, 2005, the Office for Government Policy Coordination under the Prime Minister discussed “Systematization and Substantiation of Korean Language Propagation Overseas” in two meetings for relevant institutions and three public hearings.

As a result the “Korean Language Propagation Council” was formed with members chosen from the Prime Minister`s Office, the Education, Foreign Affairs and Culture Ministries, the Korea Research Foundation, the National Institute for International Education Development, the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation, the National Korean Language Board, the Korea Foundation, and the Overseas Koreans Foundation. Third, the Education Ministry has transferred the budget for supporting Korean studies overseas from the Korea Research Foundation to the Academy for Korean Studies.

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