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Korea-Yemen Center

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Çѱ¹¿¹¸à±³·ù¼¾Å¸  Korea-Yemen Center

No. 14 December, 2000


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Yemen Study

Korean Studies in Yemen

Dr. Seong Min Hong (President, KYC)

Korean Studies in the Middle East is poor besides a few universities because it has been concentrated on America and Europe. In these respects, the need of Korean Studies in the Middle East, especially in Yemen arose. In Korea, the Middle East has been a keen interesting region since the oil crisis of 1973. Due to the Korean advance in the Middle East, its studies and economic relations have been activated in Korea. Now the Middle East is not a strange part to Koreans. The advances and studies of the Middle East, however, have been confined really to the oil-rich countries and the confronted nations with the Israeli struggle.

For this reason, Koreans have treated Yemen as a strange place. The great concerns about Yemen occurred among Koreans after the Yemeni unification on May 22, 1990. However insufficient materials and studies about Yemen and civil war of 1994 have still made her distant to Koreans. Moreover it is true that the significant cooperation has not been realized between Korea and Yemen, though the full diplomatic relations between two countries were established on August 22, 1985.

Yemen, located in the southeastern area of Arabia Felix in the Greek Era, is well known to Korea as the Kingdom of Sheba (B.C. 950-B.C.115). By reason of the fact, Yemen has been a root of the Arabic language and history. In every sense of Arabic language, The Semitic languages can claim a much older ancestry than the Indo-European languages, having been written since about 2,500 B.C. Up to this time the Arabian peninsula was on the fringe of the Semitic region and populated by various tribes. We know about Semitic peoples in the Gulf who were in contact with Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium. Later, another large tribe arrived in southern Arabia about 600 B.C., the Sabean, whose south-Arabian dialect comes closest to Arabic among the southern Arabic languages. Islam also brought Arabic to East Africa, of course. Its powerful expansion led to the incorporation of other Semitic elements in the African languages, in the same way that Ethiopic and pre-Semitic Yemenitic had done previously.

In its historical aspects, Yemen is very important to understand Arab culture and civilization in the Middle East. Over the course of history, Yemen on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula has been serving as a wellspring of people emigrating across the peninsula and beyond, quickly adapting to foreign surroundings and even settling down for good. There are quite a number of families living in Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, the Gulf States and certainly Saudi Arabia, who claim to be of Yemeni origin. Names like "Yamani" or "Hamdani" can be easily traced back to Yemen. Home to 16 million of the Arabian Peninsula's 30 million inhabitants, Yemen offers the only agriculturally fertile land in the Arabian Peninsula. The capital of Sanaa has been called "the Roof of the Arabs," hemmed in by mountains of which "each peak is crowned by a fortified village".

Korea has to hurry up the establishment of Korean studies in accordance with the globalization in the Middle East. Korea, however, has many barriers to extend Korean Studies in the Arab Countries, especially in Yemen. Koreans think that Yemen is the unified nation simply in the early of 1990s and is very important country for Korea's unification. Some scholars had visited to Korea for the purpose of Korean Studies and hope to study about Korea. Really I had discussed the parallel study (Korean Studies in Yemen and Yemeni Studies in Korea) with vice rector of Aden University when I visited Yemen in 1999. Now two organizations between Korea-Yemen Center and Aden University are promoting to have an effect on parallel study since then.

 Yemen that has a long history and experience of disintegration and integration in the Arabian Peninsula has much potential for Korean Studies. In Aden University, there are many scholars who had studied in North Korea before unification. They can speak Korean well and know many things about Korea. Academic work in Aden university (founded on September 10, 1975) had to be organized in accordance with the internationally recognized standards and a favorable climate had to be created for scientific research that is linked with the development needs of the Yemeni society. In the founding year (1975), there were 1,403 students in the University. In the academic year 1997/98, students enrolled in the university totaled 18,252.

Frankly speaking, the role of private level has a limit to promote the Korean Studies. As the above mentioned, Korean Studies and its support by Korea Foundation are concentrated on USA and Europe. Nevertheless Korean Studies has a different style in its performance. In USA, Korean Studies is centered on the universities and is performing by the organization like Association For Korean Studies In Europe (1977) voluntarily. Korean Studies in the Middle East, especially in Yemen must take a compromised style between USA and Europe. In the private level, academic relations and cultural approach have to realize. In the governmental level, diplomatic relations and financial support have to maintain. Present style of approach in Yemen for Korean Studies has many problems in its ability of the private level.

Despite favorable circumstances of Korean Studies in the Middle East, Korea has great barriers and burdens to solve a question pending between the two countries. Korea faced with crucial diplomatic relation, but nobody feels the result of serious problem in the near future. Korean government established the diplomatic relation with North Yemen in 1985. We, however, must know the existence of North Korea in Yemen. Prior to our diplomatic relation, North Korea established diplomatic relation with South Yemen in 1963 and is also maintaining friendly good relations between them till now. To make a things worse Korean government had withdrawn Korean embassy from Yemen in 1998 on the reason of the structural adjustment of IMF incident. Yemen, of course, is maintaining the embassy not only in South Korea but also in North Korea and clarifying to withdraw the embassy from Korea if Korean government does not decide to reopen Korean embassy in Yemen in the near future.

My conclusion is that Korea has to find a way for Korean Studies in Yemen, and, in point of fact, that Korea is missing the opportunity to start parallel study between Korea and Yemen. Even though Korea-Yemen Center, established in 1994, is making an effort to expand the academic exchanges in the private level, it has the limit of approach. There is no time for hesitation to promote the diplomatic relation and academic exchanges as well as in private level and governmental level.

Korea must breed from the lesson of Yemeni unification and expand the academic exchanges with Yemen through parallel study due to the common consciousness of the long history and disintegrated grief. Yemen is very important for us beyond unification issue. Now Yemen is a developing country after unification as an oil producing country. Considering the study for the Middle East in future, we have to maintain a concrete relation in the field of cultural, social, economic and political matters as well as academic relation. Shakespeare's mention in his writings, "those who take a breed of barren metal" remind me of Yemeni situation about Korea. I am afraid that Yemeni thinks Koreans, as is realist.


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This publication is consisted of  Korean, English, Arabic and the other languages concerned. The contents of the newsletter do not necessarily reflect either the position or the views of  KYC.

EW is a character of RIES. RIES means East-West and Research Institute of Economy & Society.

å¥Ú¦ á¼ãÓ KYC Newsletter  Publisher: Dr. Seong Min HONG, President , Editor: Dr. Joo Heon Kang, Director of Research, KYC.

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