The president of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, has chosen not to use his presidential compound. Professor Remco Breuker states in Time that this marks a change in South Korea’s approach to the compound.

This study aims to examine how South Korea (hereafter, Korea) and Japan, two neighboring countries in Northeast Asia, have been responding to and mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

Aron is a second-year student of Korean Studies. He was in Seoul as part of the stay-abroad portion of the program when Leiden University took measures due to the coronavirus. He and his fellow students decided to let the last flight back to the Netherlands pass to stay in South Korea.

‘China has become an academic powerhouse, which is good reason for Leiden University to expand our partnerships with universities there.' A delegation headed by Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker visited China and South Korea, to renew and extend existing partnerships.

South Korean smash hit Squid Game is on track to becoming the most successful Netflix production ever. The series is number one in over 90 countries. Professor and Korea expert Remco Breuker can see why South Korean pop culture is becoming so popular, also outside Asia.

Giovanni Gruni publishes a peer reviewed paper in the Korean Journal of international and Comparative Law.

As South Korean president Moon Jae-in prepares to leave office, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has thanked him for trying to improve relations. Assistant Professor Christopher Green explains in the Calgary Sun what impact North Korea's gesture of goodwill might have.

‘Three books published within a year – that happens only once in a lifetime!’ This was the reaction of Katarzyna Cwiertka, Professor of Modern Japan Studies at Leiden University, on the publication of Cuisine, Colonialism and Cold War, one of her three new books. The book sketches the colonisation of…

Why does the past elicit this intense activity in the present? What does the past mean for the present, and what does it do to it? A WAR OF WORDS will engage this complex of Chinese claims to Manchu-Korean ancient history, South Korean reactions, public discourse and cultural expression in both states,…

Yeonhwa Jeon defended her thesis on 6 July 2017.

Xiao Ma defended her thesis on 26 September 2018

The threats from North Korea have become so serious that the US and South Korea may feel compelled to respond. Remco Breuker, Leiden Professor of Korean Studies, would like to see a European mediator.

This project investigates the effects of the Asia-Pacific War (1931-1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953) on the production, distribution, preparation and consumption of food in transwar Japan and Korea.

With the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang being over, it can undoubtedly be said that a lot transpired between the both Koreas: the visit of Kim Jong-un's sister to South Korea, the $2.64 million budget from South Korea for members of the North Korean Olympic delegation, and the first time the North…

The announcement by US President Donald Trump on 9 March in response to the invitation for a summit meeting with the North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un came as a big surprise. Media analyses vary from being very positive to almost cynically negative. However, according to researcher on Korea Koen…

The major objective of the study is to ascertain how Japanese colonialism affected the manner in which food was produced, processed, prepared and consumed in the colony, and how new attitudes towards these practices were constructed.

The MA South Asian Studies at Leiden University is designed for students with an interest in studying South Asia from a range of perspectives including its history, literature, art, media, culture, religions, philosophy and philology.

Since it was announced that North Korean President Kim Jong-un is ready to launch an intercontinental nuclear missile, fear of a nuclear war is growing by the day. Professor and North Korea expert Remco Breuker talks about the increased international tensions and their consequences for his work.

This project embarks on empirical analysis of popular psycho-physical practices in contemporary Korea.

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of the Faculty of Science with the University of Pretoria.

Christopher Green defended his thesis on 26 February 2020

Brandon Valeriano (Cato Institute) and Aleydis Nissen (Leiden University) publish an article on the soft power of K-pop in The Diplomat.

North Korean detention camps are no different from Nazi prison camps. But as long as the country remains economically isolated, international criticism will be ineffective, writes North Korea expert Remco Breuker in the opinion section of Dutch newspaper NRC on 21 February. Breuker advocates using the…

In the South African context, certain iconic images have been a dominant source for public understandings of historical events. The emphasis given these images tends to overshadow the historical value of other more personal photographic sources – like studio or amateur photography. This project looks…

The Master’s in Korean Studies at Leiden University offers specialised, in-depth study of the cultural and societal issues of pre-modern and modern Korea.

LIAS aims to advance the globally conscious vision of area studies, both within and outside the academic community. Focusing on Asia and the Middle East, the institute is a meeting place of multiple fields of inquiry, theories and methods, historical periods, and areas.

LIAS aims to advance the globally conscious vision of area studies, both within and outside the academic community. Focusing on Asia and the Middle East, the institute is a meeting place of multiple fields of inquiry, theories and methods, historical periods, and areas.

Volume 4 and 5 of the Leiden series 'Dutch Sources on South Asia' are now available, written by Markus Vink (vol.4) and Carolien Stolte (vol.5).

This project investigates the causes of the major archaeological change in the period of 40.000-20.000 BC in South Africa.

How do videos, movies and documentaries dedicated to indigenous communities transform the media landscape of South Asia? Based on extensive original research, this book examines how in South Asia popular music videos, activist political clips, movies and documentaries about, by and for indigenous communities…

Did you know we have a complete dossier about Korea in de news? Together with Remco Breuker, Professor of Koreastudies, and our other experts we keep you posted about everything regarding both Koreas!

Study Information, Online Experience

South and Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most dynamic and diverse areas. Interested in speaking one of its major languages, and understanding its history, culture, and current affairs? Then this is the programme for you!

Maureen Kuijs, third-year BA Korean Studies student, is one of the students that received the 2020 Global Korea Scholarship this year. With this scholarship, Maureen can pursue a Master's degree in Korean Language and Literature at Yonsei University, receiving financial support from the South-Korean…

This monograph by Robert Ross provides a detailed narrative of the Kat River Settlement in the Eastern Cape of South Africa during the nineteenth century.

Cwiertka wants to investigate how waste is produced and disposed of in modern East Asian society. With her research group she will be carrying out a comparative analysis on two levels: the international level (between China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan) and the inter-regional level (between East Asia…

K-pop band BTS joining the Korean military is a compulsory obligation, one with increased meaning as tension builds on the Korean Peninsula and around the world, postdoc Aleydis Nissen writes in an article in The Diplomat.

How can the emergence of primary justice systems be facilitated and furthered?

The aim of the project is to contribute to the process of archive formation ongoing in Post-Apartheid South Africa through the inclusion of photographs that have been either unacknowledged or excised from the national canon.

It is difficult to get access to North Korea. That makes scientific fieldwork very difficult. Korea expert Valérie Gelézeau shared her experiences during a lunch lecture at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) on 16 February.

This recently released book takes a critical view of conceptual issues and practical problems that inevitably emerge when ‘excellence’ takes center stage in science systems in the Global South. What is ‘excellent science’? And how to recognize and assess it? After decades of inquiry and debate there…

On the 10th of November, Sara Petrollino succesfully defended her PhD-thesis and graduated. LUCL congratulates Sara on this great result.

North Korea is generally thought to be an isolated country. But, according to PhD candidate Tycho van der Hoog from Leiden’s African Studies Centre, the opposite is in fact the case. North Korea actually has strong alliances with countries in southern Africa. Van der Hoog is trying to shed more light…

This book sheds new light on domestic forced migration by examining the experiences of American-born slave migrants from a comparative perspective.

This book offers readers an alternative history of the origins of the discipline of International Relations.

Research how ‘custom’, ‘traditions’ and ‘heritages’ take on new meanings in the uplands of South and (mainland) Southeast Asia.

Lecture

The International Institute of Air and Space Law is one of the leading international academic research and teaching institutes in the world, specialising in legal and policy issues regarding aviation and space activities in the broadest sense of the word.