Why do American teachers not teach about Korea in the classroom setting?

Why do American teachers not give their students the opportunity to learn about Korea in the classroom setting?

Why is the information on Korea, compared with other Asian countries like China and Japan, extremely limited in US World History textbooks?

The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea(VANK) has a passion for Korea and inquired from college students on exchange in Korea from America on just how much students are taught about Korean history in the classroom. They answered that usuallyK-12 students, over a span of 12 years, learn about Korea for only a span of 30 minutes of class time which limited to the US participation in the Korean War.

These college students, who strive in the development of the relationship between the two countries, expressed their sentiment for the classroom curriculum to expand to include Korean history and culture and wanted American teachers to actively pursue teaching their students about Korea.

So how can American students learn about Korea in the classroom?

How about Korean students personally teaching their American counterparts about Korean history and culture using the internet as a medium?

In order to raise American students’ interest in Korea, shouldn’t US World History textbooks at some point include and expand on current descriptions of the country?

Well, this site is the start of fulfilling that idea, thought, and action.

This site serves as an NGO introducing Korea to the world. The non-governmental organization known as the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea(VANK), has the plan to have American and Korean students affiliated with the organization to personally introduce Korea’s history and culture. In particular, and most importantly, utilizing American figures, place names, locations, history and other similar information when introducing Korea’s history and important figures will allow for an easier understanding.

Through this site, we are striving to give American students, who otherwise had a shortened opportunity in K-12 to learn about Korea in the traditional classroom setting, an understanding of Korean history and culture and for the inclusion of more content on Korea in US World History textbooks. In conclusion, we also hope for the development of a close and sincere friendship between Korea and the US moving forward

please visit our website at  http://usa.prkorea.com

The name of this familiar fish is “Koi.” Koi is a type of fancy carp, known for its unique characteristic. 

In a fishbowl, koi can only grow to 5 to 8 cm. In a pond, koi can grow to 25 cm. In a river, they can grow up to 120 cm.

Depending on their environment, the same fish can grow to different sizes. Koi can be small aquarium fish or big river fish. Depending on our environment and the size of our dreams, our life can also be different. Break out of the fishbowl to expand your dreams. Pursue bigger dreams in a bigger world.

What should we do?

Use your passion 1000 times.
Take a challenge 1000 times.
Take action 1000 times.

Then, your dream will no longer be just inside your mind.
Soon, your dream will have the power to change the world.

Here, let us introduce you to a man who made it happen. 
This man has been changing young Koreans and the world.

The achievement of his dream is related to the number “1000.”

VANK was established about 10 years ago by a college student, who was interested in developing pen-pal relationships with foreigners.

Without his passion, challenge and action, VANK would have been impossible. 

1000 times using his passion
He sent 1000 emails to Korean language programs around the world.

He had never travelled abroad.
His dream was to take a trip to a foreign country.

At the time, he couldn’t afford such trips.
So, he found foreign pen-pals online. 

He developed friendships with his foreign pen-pals.

He started dreaming of becoming a person who represents Korea abroad. He knew that there were other people like him who have never been abroad. For those people, he sat at an internet café and built a small pen-pal website. He needed to take other actions to recruit foreign members for his website.

Again, he used his passion 1000 times. He emailed 1000 professors who teach the Korean language at universities. Such efforts led many foreign students to join his pen-pal website.

10 years later …
Guess what happened to this website.

It has become a leading organization that helps young Koreans build friendships with foreigners and promote their country to the world.

It is now widely known as Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK).

1000 challenges
In pursuit of persuading 1000 textbook publishers and cartographers around the world 

While running the website, he discovered something unexpected. Foreign textbooks and maps have a lot of errors about Korea. The East Sea is often referred to as “the Sea of Japan.” Dokdo is often referred to as “Takeshima.”

Korean history is often introduced as a part of Chinese history.

He started searching through other textbooks to find similar errors.

He identified 1,000 authors of the textbooks that contained errors.

He launched a project to contact and persuade each of the authors to make corrections.

National Geographic and renowned textbook publishers started correcting the errors.

An increasing number of foreign sources accurately represent Korean territories and history.
 
1000 actions
A million copies of Korean promotional materials were delivered to foreign classrooms.

The young man took notice of another surprising fact.

The number of pages in foreign textbooks that cover Asian countries
Japan 20 pages
China 30 pages
Korea 1 page

Most foreign textbooks didn’t even mention Korea.

However, he didn’t despair.

Instead, he distributed Korean promotional materials to Korean students who were going abroad.

He made world maps that accurately represent Dokdo and the East Sea.

He sent these maps to classrooms around the world. 
 
Until now, over a million copies of Korean promotional materials have been sent to thousands of classrooms abroad.

Numerous foreign students received our materials.

For the last 10 years, this young man used his passion 1000 times, took 1000 challenges, and took 1000 actions to achieve his goals.

In the beginning, his small pen-pal website was in a fishbowl.

Now, it works with 100 thousand Korean members who represent Korea.

The website is now known as an organization called VANK.

For the last 10 years, the young man and VANK members took 1000 challenges together!

As citizen ambassadors, we travelled to many different countries. 

We have offered helping hands to people in Asia and Africa.

We have been growing to become true global leaders.

Now, you use passion, take challenges and take action 1000 times.

Achieve a big dream in a bigger world!

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” – Isaac Newton

We hope that young Koreans find their own dreams through our 1000 projects.

They will stand on the top of the world. 

Eventually, they will become giants who change the world.

Young Koreans’ dreams create the future of Korea. 

Korea’s dreams create the future of the world.

A cool and shady bamboo forest

Stretching out to the sky, bamboo trees grow up to 30m.

A small bamboo shoot
The amount of time this small thing takes to make a sheltered forest …

“Only 6 weeks”
Each day, a bamboo tree can grow 1m.

However, many people fail in their attempt to grow a bamboo forest.

The reason many people give up
“5 years”
For about 5 years after they are planted, bamboo seeds show no change.

No sign of change.

To grow a bamboo forest, a long time is spent being patient and constantly watering and fertilizing the soil.

Only people who endure the long wait can finally see a thick and strong bamboo forest. We have a dream of seeing a bamboo forest grow. What are you doing to grow your own bamboo forest? Your dream can be realized within 6 weeks.

However, you need 5 years of preparation to see the change.
A bamboo forest requires 5 years to take form. 
5 years + 5 years = 10 years

For 10 years …
There was a young man who dreamed of growing a big forest.

In February 2013, he received an award in recognition of his work in training young Koreans to become citizen ambassadors in innovative ways. 

The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development gave him the presidential award.

It was the fifth presidential award that he received.

The forest that he created to receive such results was Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK). VANK is leading Korean promotional activities with its 100 thousand members.

We are also dedicated to creating a better world. 

The amount of time this forest took
10 years

In the beginning, the young man had nothing in his hands. He had no knowledge of diplomacy, special skills, financial resources, or connections. However, he made a constant effort for 10 years to see the forest.

For that period, he developed his own techniques and programs to promote Korea abroad. VANK is now empowered with a widespread network of 100 thousand members!

The network continues to fertilize his forest.  This is not an unordinary story about one man.

Written by an internationally recognized author, Malcolm Gladwell,
“Outliers: The Story of Success”

The author investigated commonalities among people who made great accomplishments.

He reached a conclusion. 

The 10,000-Hour Rule
3 hours per day for 10 years

What made their accomplishments possible was not their genius, but the efforts that they put into it of over 10,000 hours within 10 years. Through such efforts, they became famed experts. However, VANK suggests that young Koreans go even further.

We hope you prove the 60,000-Hour Rule.

Instead of 3 hours, but in 18 hours a day!
10 years of constant effort to achieve your dream
The 60,000-Hour Rule

Except for your 6 hours of sleep, use all of your time to accomplish your goal.

Do you think it is impossible?
No, it is not true!

Guess how much time VANK took to become what it is now. Three hours a day was far from enough to achieve his dream! His English wasn’t good enough to promote Korea. First, he bought a pen-pal guidebook and started memorizing English sentences. Korea has had conflicts over history with China and Japan.

He stayed up all night reading history books written by renowned scholars. When he couldn’t understand by himself, he visited experts to ask questions. Then, he emailed foreign scholars and publishers.

Through such efforts, many errors about Korea have been corrected in foreign textbooks. He also made promotional materials about Korea for foreign tourists. Whenever possible, he distributed them to foreign friends. Three hours didn’t seem to be enough for him to create a forest.  

He spent all his available time to achieve his dream.

His constant efforts have continued
For 60,000 hours

It made his small pen-pal website into a leading organization for public diplomacy. What made this miracle possible was 60,000 hours of dedication. What is your dream to grow your own forest?

How do you need to spend your day to achieve your dream?

VANK is looking for young Koreans who will prove the 60,000 Hour Rule to the world.

Let’s create a miracle together.

Don’t blame your lack of knowledge, techniques, money or connections.

Become a pioneer by using your time as fertilizer to grow your dream!

You are the future of Korea.
You are the one who gives hope to the world.

Do you know what the world’s longest protest is in the Guinness World Records?

Who are they, and why have they been protesting so long?

Every Wednesday
In front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Korea

The protesters are the former “comfort women” for the Japanese military.

During the Japanese imperial period, they were drafted for military sexual slavery by Japan. 

For the Japanese government, “comfort women” are a part of the past that it wishes to forget.

However, the pain of the surviving victims is still present.

In 2011, the weekly protest of these gray-haired women marked its 1000th anniversary.

To commemorate the anniversary, a statue was erected in front of the Japanese Embassy.

These elderly women have long been asking for an apology from the Japanese government.

This statue of a girl always stands by them.

On the day of the 1046th Wednesday protest, a Korean girl set out on a trip to America.
 
Her goal!
“Promote the truth about the comfort women system as a Japanese war crime.”

“Promote the Dokdo naming issue as the lingering legacy of Japanese imperialism.”

Dokdo was incorporated into Japan in 1905. Like the comfort women issue, Dokdo is also considered a remnant of Japanese imperialism.

1. The comfort woman statue goes to the UN headquarters in New York!

Standing before the United Nations, an organization that represents human rights and peace

The girl wanted to promote the truth about the “comfort women” to the world.  

The winter wind in New York was harsh.
She shivered with cold.

Then, she thought of those strong survivors in Korea.

On Wednesdays, whether it is raining or snowing, they go to the Japanese embassy.

2. The comfort woman statue goes to Times Square!

Standing at Times Square, a famous place among New Yorkers and tourists

On this busy street, the girl tried to tell true stories about the “comfort women.”

However, she was confronted with indifference.

Suddenly, rain started falling and people hurried to their destinations. Her voice became muted in the rain.

Then, an American man approached her.

He was interested in who the statue represents. 

“The statue represents the victims of Japan’s military sexual slavery system.”

“For 15 years from 1931 to 1945, Japan took women from its occupied territories and forced them into sexual slavery.”

“Japan was committing this terrible war crime in Asia, while Nazi Germany was carrying out the Holocaust in Europe.”

“America is a country that supports human rights, isn’t it?”

“There are still a lot of human rights violations around the world. The comfort women issue is one of them.”

“In order to move forward, Japan should reflect on its past and apologize to its victims. Your interest and support will be a great help.”

He showed empathy and gave a flower to her. Then, he left.

3. The comfort woman statue goes to American universities!

Visiting renowned institutions that educate future leaders, who will tackle human rights violations and war crime issues

Harvard University
Georgetown University
Cornell University
Stanford University

During conferences at these universities, the girl told stories about the “comfort women.”

There was a question that surprised her.

“I just searched online. It says that the Japanese government already apologized. How do you respond to that?”

He raised his hand and asked her this question. 

“Yes, Japan did apologize. But, it denied its use of coercion during the recruitment of the “comfort women.”

“It also denied the government’s involvement.” 

“It insisted that those women voluntarily made their choice.”

“So, I don’t consider the apology sincere, but rather meaningless words.”

Still, Japanese politicians pay tribute to war criminals at their shrine and distort historical facts in their school textbooks.

He eventually understood how Koreans feel about their painful past and the Dokdo issue. 

Coldness, indifference and criticism
These are the three things that challenged the girl during her visit to America.

However, she found her strength by thinking about the strength of the surviving victims.

Also, one person at Times Square gave her the courage to go on.

Finally, while answering a student’s critical question, she found hope for change. 

What is the ultimate goal that the girl and the surviving victims want to achieve?

It is to prevent such tragedies from repeating ever again.

Although they lost their youth in their teens and twenties, they hope no one else will go through such pain and instead will live a happy life that they deserve.

However, they know there are still many people suffering in different parts of Asia and Africa.

For those who are suffering from wars, human rights violations and forced labor, these women are making contributions.

They refused to live as victims, but instead as human rights and peace activists. 

The Wednesday protest still continues in front of the Japanese embassy. 

The number of current survivors:
Only 60 women

The ultimate goal of the Wednesday protest

They are not fighting for “compensation” for themselves, but rather for an “assurance” of a peaceful future for everyone in the world.

VANK wants to promote this cause to Asia, Africa, Europe and all other parts of the world.

We are looking for courageous young Koreans who will take this journey with us.

A Korean girl came back from her first journey to America.
You can be a part of our next journey!

[Additional ending]

While we were making this video after our journey, we heard the news about the passing of two of the victims among the 60 survivors.

Kim Bok-sun passed away on December 12, 2012, followed by Hwang Geum-joo on January 3, 2013. May they rest in peace!

Now, there are only 58 survivors.
Time is running out.

What if your name disappears from the world …?

Geese fly and leave their sound. People die leaving their names.
- Chinese proverb 

Tigers die and leave their skin. People die leaving their names.
- Korean proverb

Historically, Chinese and Koreans put emphasis on names.

One’s name carries a lot of information.
Their ancestry
Their family background
Their parents’ expectations

Names reflect one’s identity. When babies are born, parents think of their future. 
They spend a lot of time and effort to name their children. 

About 80 years ago, some people had to lose their given names.
They were confronted with a harsh reality that their parents never wanted.

Numerous Asians became war victims in the 20th century.

14 girls named Su-Young
Seo Su-Young, Kim Su-Young, Bok Su-Young, Ryu Su-Young,
Po Su-Syoung, Shi Su-Young, Bang Su-Young, Gye Su-Young
And Two Wang Su-Young and three Lee Su-Young

All these girls with the same name were victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

[Nanjing Massacre, December 1937 ~ January 1938]
A mass rape and murder in Nanjing committed by Japanese troops

In 1937 during the Sino-Japanese War, Japan invaded Nanjing, then the capital of China.

Within only six weeks, the Japanese invaders murdered three hundred thousand Chinese people.

The purpose of the massacre
To create fear of the Japanese Army through a massacre in the capital of China

Due to their cruel war tactic, fourteen Chinese girls named Su-Young were killed.

In Chinese, Su 秀 [xiu] means excellent or beautiful.
Their parents probably hoped that they would live happy lives as lovely women. 

However, they became victims of a massacre.  The girls and their families were brutally murdered or raped. Men were used for Japanese military training and beheading contests. Women were raped by soldiers. Their names and dreams were lost because of Japanese imperialism.

There were another 200 thousand women, who lost their names and dreams because of Imperial Japan. They were from different parts of Asia, including Korea, China, Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia, and the Philippines. 

Many innocent Asian girls were sacrificed during the war. During WWII, Japan had a problem of their soldiers raping local women in occupied areas. The rape of civilian women produced serious anti-Japanese sentiment, leading to trouble for its occupational rule.

As a solution, Japan decided to use young women from its 10 occupied countries. It set up military brothels, so-called “comfort stations,” at Japanese military bases. The young girls were brought to those stations. They were named “comfort women,” meaning women who comfort Japanese soldiers.

With the disguised name, they were forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military. Two hundred thousand Asian women lost their names and youth. No official apology by Japan has made to these women. Now, the elderly victims are dying.

Erasing names
Forced Name Change
Japan’s policy of forcing Koreans to take Japanese names

Japan forced Koreans to give up their names.

From February 1940 to August 1945, Japan implemented a policy that required Koreans to take Japanese names.

It was to erase the identity of the Korean people. For those who refused to take Japanese names, Japan denied their children admission to schools. It also took away their livelihood.

Japan aggressively promoted name change by using famous Korean people. By forcing Koreans to take Japanese names, Japan wished to destroy the identity, culture and values of the Korean people. Many Asians lost their names and lives during the Japanese Imperial Period.

However, Japan still refuses to accept the past and continues to distort history. 
Instead, Japan is trying to take away another name.

The name of Dokdo!
Dokdo was the first Korean territory taken over by Japan.

Japan is trying to change the name of Dokdo to Takeshima and erase the name of Dokdo from world maps.

Japan’s sovereignty claim over Dokdo
Japan is imposing pain on Asia again.

Global economists and futurists predict the future of Asia as a double-edged sword.

- Continent of enormous potential to lead the global economy                  
- Continent of constant territorial and historical disputes due to Japanese imperial history

VANK members have a different perspective on the future of Asia. Asia will prove its great potential by reconciling conflicts over history. Asia will get its true name back by rewinding time and resolving unsolved historical conflicts.

We need to find the key to peace in Asia. We are the ones who will create the future of Asia.

Korea, China and Japan, we must work together.

In 2005, a public campaign advertisement about VANK was broadcast after the prime time news. The 50 second advertisement promoted VANK’s dream to the public.

Now, VANK has a bigger dream.

VANK started with an email that one young man sent to his foreign friend. His foreign friend didn’t know anything about Korea, but he still expressed an interest. The young man felt happy about having the opportunity to promote Korea.

Soon, he realized that there was a lot of incorrect information about Korea.
“Historically, Korea was a colony of China and Japan.”
“Korea is a crime-ridden and poor country.”

The lost name of the East Sea on world maps
The wrong reference to Dokdo as Takeshima

Actually, Korea has a prosperous culture.
Korea has 5000 years of great history.

We Koreans have strong passion.
VANK wants to accurately promote Korea to the 7 billion people of the world.

We also want to change the world. We hope that young Koreans will find their own dreams and make a difference in the world. Now, even people on the other side of the world have started getting interested in Korea.

Some foreigners buy a Korean dictionary to learn Korean. There is a foreign friend, who wants to become a diplomat and work in Korea. We research foreign textbooks, and write to publishers if we find errors about the East Sea.

With VANK, young Koreans have been promoting Korea to the world. Now, we have also started paying attention to our friends in Asia and Africa. We are helping them promote their culture and history to the world. VANK has been widely recognized for its contribution to promoting Korea abroad.

We received five presidential awards for our contribution to culture, education, diplomacy and national promotion.  Korea has become “a country of friends” around the world.  This is what we have achieved with our love for our country. A mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds.

However, it eventually grows to a big tree. Soon, birds come down to rest on its branches. The seed of VANK was our passion to accurately promote Korea. Now it has become a tree with thick branches and abundant fruit.

We hope it will continue to grow, and become a forest of hope for the world.

That is VANK’s dream.

We want to share our dream with everyone who believes in the potential of a mustard seed.

Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK)

We know that the gunshots didn’t end that day, and continued in the following days. Those innocent people shouldn’t have lost their lives that way; they deserved to enjoy their life on earth. The earth is their mother. But no one was able to stop the frenzied Japanese army. More people fell and the blood continued to flow. It was a dark day.

On that day, Japanese Embassy Representative Ancun Sanlang was welcomed by the International Committee in Nanjing. The United States, Germany, and England had to respect and abide by Japan’s requests because Japan was the victor of the war. Although Ancun Sanlang spoke English, he chose to speak in Japanese as a display of his pride. He approached the International Committee with the request to immediately clear the roads of the dead bodies in order to make room for Captain Matsui’s entrance ceremony on December 17th.

All the roads were a chaotic mess, full of cars and debris. There were too many bodies to remove in a short time, so some Chinese people began to work as porters of the dead as their only means of survival in the dark era.

The living Chinese people stacked the bodies in high piles along the walls. Wild cats, stray dogs and rats lived between the corpses ate the bodies for food.

The Big North Mountain near No.2 Alley is called “the mountains filled with dead bodies” and the ponds in the Dazhong Pavilion, Dafang Valley and Jiangsu Roads are called “the ponds full of blood”. All of the places were overflowing with corpses and blood. The Japanese army poured gasoline on the piles of corpses, sending bursts of bright flame skyward. Bloody bodies were thrown in creek and left to scream.  Hundreds of thousands innocent Chinese civilians turned into dust immediately.

Even after civilians were killed, soldiers did not allow them to have their peace. Corpses were looted for anything of value. The silver dollar turned black and the color of paper money turned pale. People called this kind of money “dirty money”, and the money from the dead flowed back into the market again by hands of the pillagers. It is said that a Japanese soldier even hacked off the legs of a corpse just to get the money in his trouser pocket.
On the night of April 18, 1987, on the 36th floor of Yuansheng Alley, Nanjing, a retired couple watched television as they did on every other day. Suddenly, the old man shouted out: How could that Japanese monk return to Nanjing!

The broadcaster in the TV explained that 69 people of a delegation to China, attended the memorial activities held in the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall Plaza, and expressed deep sympathies for the Chinese victims. This was the second time Japanese displayed the desire to mourn the victims in the Nanjing Massacre.

The old man’s thought reflected back to 1937. He was working as the chauffeur of the monk, a member of the Nakajima forces. After he dropped off the Japanese officials at their office, the chauffeur was forced use the car to move the dead bodies. He often cried when he saw how many young people lost their lives. When the weather became warmer, the dead bodies began to reek. The chauffeur had to wear a mask and wash his car twice a day. Every time he returned home, he had to shake off the maggots off his body before he entered the room. How could the Japanese have forced them to work these types of jobs?
Although 1937 may seem like a time long ago, but the sorrow and sadness does not belong only to the old man and his generation.

We still not know all the exact burial sites of these innocent bodies. In the showroom of the Bones of Jiangdong District, the soul of tens of thousands deceased persons are crying. The bones tell the true history! As new generation, we promise we will never forget our history! We are still fighting for the truth!

Sun Jiao in Suwon Fortress

As a foreigner, I spent my time after working in VANK to visit some places like Gyeongbokgung Palace, Namsangol Hanok Village, North Village, Hwaseong Fortress. I like entering into the history through these old architectures. When I walk along these traditional houses, I felt Korea has a perfect match in history and modern.

In January 1962, Korean government promoted” Law on the protection of cultural property”, it has been revised many times afterwards. And it changed to better and better version. In 1998, the government in Korea applied the policy to establish a cultural nation.  Hunminjeongum, Joseonwangjosilok (The annals of the Joseon Dynasty), Seungjeongwon Ilgi, and Jikjisymcheyojeol are four  Korean  history  records  in the list as World Heritage. South Korea makes the determination of the treasures of the chronological order, with the digital sequence number.

Sun Jiao in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace

Every time I visit the tourist interests, I often get the copies of these places in Korean version, Chinese version and English version. It is convenient for me to understand the history of these places and have a nice visit. I can feel that they show respect to traditional culture. Traditional clothes being reserved and some concepts inheriting from old times are often seen in modern Korea.

Gate Guards in Gyeongbokgung Palace

In Korean social life, their relation with families, the attitude to the old and the young can all trace back to the tradition. Most important, Korean people have the strong desire to protect the historical cultural relics and remain. It can be often seen that on weekends, teachers bring students to the museum to teach them the history of Korea. This will do great help to young students to form the awareness of the importance of the protection of cultural sites.

Korean has cultural industry to express their tradition to the world, like the famous Korean Drama Dae Jang Geum, as a way to show to the world how ancient people live and give audience a nice experience.

All of the historical sites have been preserved for future generations. These buildings, stone pagodas and lanterns, and other pieces of sculpture are known as National Treasures and are numbered. Seven sites have been selected as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Korean treasures included in the World Heritage List are Bulguksa Temple and nearby Seokguram Grotto; Haeinsa Temple’s Changgyongp’ango (depositories for the Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks); Jongmyo Shrine; Changdeokkung Palace Complex; Hwaseong Fortress; Kochang, Hwasun and Kanghwa Dolmen Sites; and Gyeongju Historic Areas. 

Korea is a country with long history, I really hope that more and more people  in the world can know more about this country  through the reserved heritages and make the Asian culture to the world!

By Sun Jiao,
An intern from China

In 1955, after the Korean War, Korea was devastated and became one of the poorest countries in the world. There were many kids begging on the street.

After graduating in History from Seoul National University, I flew to France.

I felt a great responsibility as the first Korean woman to study in France.

I had a dream of finding and returning the Oegyujanggak Uigwe to my country. The French army took the Uigwe during the French campaign against Korea (Byeongin Yangyo in Korean).

In 1967 while I was studying history and religion for a doctoral degree in Belgium and at the University of Paris Diderot in France, I got a job offer from the National Library of France.

Finally, I got a chance to search for the Oegyujanggak books. It had been my dream since I left Korea.

While working in the library, I tenaciously searched through old books

Without a break, I looked through all the books in the Division of Oriental Manuscripts at the library.

One book suddenly caught my eye. It was an old book that was categorized as Chinese literature and mixed with unsorted documents.

The book was printed in 1377 during the reign of King Gongmin of Goryeo and sold cheaply to France during the late Korean Empire.

It was Jikji. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
The first volume was missing and the first page of the second volume was gone.

The world’s oldest extant book printed with movable metal type had been totally neglected in this foreign country and mixed with unsorted Chinese documents. 

At the time, France had no idea about its value.

My research proved that Jikji is the oldest book printed with metal type.

Suddenly, after the long period of neglect, France categorized Jikji as a valuable record and started protecting it as if Jikji was its own heritage.

My hands started shaking and my eyes started tearing up in sorrow. However, I didn’t have time to dwell on the emotion.

I had to find more documentary heritage that might be neglected somewhere else. I began searching for the Oegyujanggak Uigwe that was taken by France in the 19th century.

In 1975, I finally discovered 297 volumes of the Oegyujanggak Uigwe.  

I ran to the Korean embassy in France to inform them of my discovery. There is an enormous amount of documentary heritage from the Joseon dynasty at the National Library of France.

However, I faced a frustrating reality.

At the time, the Korean government had little interest in retrieving its cultural properties.  

My discovery seemed to be an annoying burden for embassy employees.

My colleagues at the library also seemed to be displeased with me. 

From their perspective, I abused my position as a librarian at the national library and tried to take away their property. 

From that point on, I was continuously pressured to resign.

I had to give up all I had achieved. The only thing that sustained me was the pride of what I did for my country that produced such great documentary heritage.

I eventually resigned, but continued on with my research at the library, despite the fierce glares of my old colleagues. For the next ten years, as an ordinary library visitor, I reviewed the Oegyujanggak books, translated them, and organized the table of contents.

It was a lonely and difficult time. However, I reminded myself of the excitement I had in 1967 when I found and eventually proved that Jikji is the world’s oldest extant book printed with movable metal type.

If I had given up on the challenge, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to present my finding to international scholars that Jikji was printed in 1377, which is 78 years before the printing of Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible.

I also urged the Korean government and academia to make more of an effort to retrieve its documentary heritage.

In June of 2011, it had been 56 years since I started dreaming of finding and returning Oegyujanggak books to Korea.  Finally, the Oegyujanggak Uigwe returned to Korea.

It was a homecoming 145 years after it left the country.

At age 89, I lay in a hospital bed and couldn’t even eat. I still felt like I had a lot to do for my country.

Around five months passed after the return of the Oegyujanggak books to Korea.
Now I have become a member of heaven.

Jikji still couldn’t make its return home.
However, I am ready to rest.

I believe in my country and the people. They will retrieve Jikji, which made me feel proud of my country even during its poorest days. 

Eventually, Jikji will also be returned to Korea.

There are things that I couldn’t finish during my lifetime.
However, I know that future generations of my country will carry on the work.  

Number of Korean cultural properties remaining outside the country: around 74,000

Considering that there are privately owned and untraceable properties, the actual number can be much higher. For the last 60 years, the Korean government has retrieved around 5,000 cultural properties that were scattered around the world.

Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK)

VANK urges young Koreans to build friendships and interact with foreign students and teachers around the world.

VANK members are persuading their foreign friends that Korean cultural properties contain our spirit and that those in foreign countries must be returned.  

 Korean cultural properties are our treasures that reflect our history.

We consider the retrieval of our cultural properties as our responsibility to history.

As people of a powerful country that respect culture and pursue general human values, we have the responsibility and right to retrieve our cultural properties.

Each country has the right to possess its cultural properties that were taken away illegitimately.

These days, Korean drama viewers from many countries can tell the names of a number of Korean important historical figures. They are also more inclined to try Korean food, learn Korean language, or pick Korea for their vacations. Korean fashion or makeup styles become a trend among the foreign fans, who know how to tie their winter scarves the way shown in “Winter Sonata”, or embrace Korean BB cream as a solution for a natural-looking make-up, among many examples. Needless to say, Hallyu enhances the image of Korea in the minds of overseas audience in a positive way that sparks an enthusiastic followership consisted of people who want to learn more about Korea, or who want to do things the Korean ways.

II. Economy

The widespread popularity of Korean culture has shown visible impacts on the domestic economy. In recent years, South Korea earns over a billion of U.S. dollars annually from entertainment exports. The rise of foreign visitors to South Korea, according to tourism officials, is partly attributed to Hallyu followers. Places like Coffee Prince shops or houses that appear in popular Korean dramas turn out to be favorite places for tourists who love Korean entertainment culture.

Travel agencies across  Asia and North America offer Korean package tours to filming locations. Chuncheon city – where the sensational drama “Winter Sonata” was filmed – is a notable case of a city that has significantly developed thanks to its transformed role as a popular tourist destination. The presence of online fandom also allows Korean entertainment businesses to promote with fewer costs and earn more revenue through the Internet, e.g. YouTube partnerships. Unsurprisingly, Korean cosmetics and technologies brands, especially those that employ Korean top celebrities as their endorsers, secure their share of commercial benefits thanks to the growing phenomenon.

III. Political relations

Besides the effects on Korean economy, political implications of the Hallyu successful international reach also emerged. The remarkable popularity of Korean entertainment industry has positively influenced the diplomatic relationships between South Korea and many countries. This influence is especially tangible for countries whose relationships with South Korea have been troublesome in the past. For instance, though Vietnam and South Korea established relations back in 1992, history reminds us that during Vietnam War, South Korean troops were sent to Vietnam, allying with American army, to fight against Vietnam Liberation Army.

In 2001, in a dinner hosted for Vietnamese former Prime Minister Tran Duc Luong, South Korea former President Kim Dae Jung invited actors Jang Gong-gun and actress Kim Nam-ju, who were well-liked Korean celebrities in Vietnam. Recently, Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) announced the decision to bring Music Bank, its famed Kpop program, to Vietnam in 2012 to celebrate 20th year anniversary of Vietnam-South Korea establishment of friendship ties. As another example, South Korea and Japan relationships went through rough times as Korea was under violent occupation of the Japanese in the early 1900s. At the beginning of 21th century, singer BoA was considered an icon of cultural exchange between Korea and Japan. The singer was invited to perform at the South Korea-Japan 2003 Summit Conference between South Korean’s former president Noh Moo Hyun and Japan’s former Prime Minister Koizumi. As South Korea and other countries are putting efforts into developing undisturbed diplomatic relations, the powerful Hallyu can take on a useful role.

Binh Nguyen,
a Vietnamese intern