A Very Brief History

KSAA was established on 15 July 1994 at the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) Biennial Conference at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. The founding President was Dr Kenneth Wells (The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia), Vice-Presidents Dr Wol-Young Seo (Swinburn University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia) and Dr Hong-Key Yoon (The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand), Secretary Dr Duk-Soo Park (The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia), Newsletter Editor Ms Minjung Lah (Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia), and Treasurer Mr Ron Munro (The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia).

Early in February 1995, the KSAA Constitution was formally adopted with some amendments that were needed for the inclusion of New Zealand memberships, at the conference of Korean Studies held at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.

On 9 July 1996, the second election of executive committee members took place at the KSAA business meeting at the ASAA Biennial Conference at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. President elected was Dr Duk-Soo Park (The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia), Vice-Presidents Dr Kenneth Wells (The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) and Dr Stephen Epstein (Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand), Secretaries Minjung Lah (Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia) and Kyu-Suk Shin (Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia), and Newsletter Editor Dr Wol-Young Seo (Swinburn University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia), and Treasurer Mr Ron Munro (The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia).

The 1998 ASAA Conference, held at the University of New South Wales (28 September - 1 October 1998), included four panels in Korean Studies: Religion and Politics in Colonial Korea (Chair, Pankaj Mohan), Religion and Society in Northeast Asia (Chair, Kenneth Wells), Korean Language Education (Chair, Duk-Soo Park), and Korean Linguistics (Chair, Chong-Woon Kim).

On 30 September 1998, there was an election of the KSAA office bearers during the 1998 ASAA annual conference that was held at the University of New South Wales. The following people were elected: Dr Chung-Sok Suh (President, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia), Dr Ken Wells (Vice President, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia), Dr Stephen Epstein (Vice-President, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand), Dr Young-A Cho (Secretary, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia), Dr Ki-Sung Kwak (Treasurer, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia) and Dr Andrei Lan'kov (Newsletter Editor, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia)

The first KSAA Biennial Conference was held at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, on 27 - 28 September 1999. The conference proceedings were published entitled, Linking Korea and Australasia for the New Century.

On 5 July 2000, the new office bearers were elected at the general meeting held in Melbourne University: Dr Kenneth Wells (President, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia), Dr Stephen Epstein (Vice President, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand), Dr Young-A Cho (Vice President, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia), Dr. John Jorgensen (Secretary, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia), Dr Duk-Soo Park (Treasurer, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia), Professor John McKay (Executive Member, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia) and Dr Andrei Lan'kov (Newsletter Editor, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia).

The second KSAA Biennial Conference was held at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, during 24 - 25 September 2001. The conference proceedings were published entitled, Korean Studies at the Dawn of the Millennium.

On 30 June - 1 July 2003 the third KSAA Biennial Conference was held at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. The conference proceedings were published entitled, Korea: Language, Knowledge and Society.

On 1 July 2003, at the KSAA general meeting held at the Australian National University, the following new office bearers were elected: Dr Kyu-Suk Shin (President, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia), Professor Ken Wells (Vice President, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia), Dr Changzoo Song (Vice President, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand), Dr Chung-Sok Suh (Secretary, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia), Dr Gregory Evon (Treasurer, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia), Dr Gi-Hyun Shin (Newsletter Editor, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia)

The 4th KSAA Biennial Conference, titled Intellectual Engagements with Korea: Diversity in Korean Studies in Australasia, was held at the University of Auckland, 14-15 July 2005. Selected papers have been published as conference proceedings.

On 15 July 2005, at the KSAA general meeting held at the Australian National University, the following new executive members were elected: Dr Gi-Hyun Shin (President, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia), Dr Kyu-Suk Shin (Vice President, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia), Dr Changzoo Song (Vice President, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand), Dr Chung-Sok Suh (Secretary, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia), Mr Hyun Chang (Treasurer, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia), Mr Chong-Woon Kim (Newsletter Editor/Webmaster, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia)

The 5th Korean Studies Association of Australasia (KSAA) Biennial Conference was held at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia, during 12-13 July 2007. The theme of the conference was "Enlightening Korea: Converging or Diverging".

On 13 July 2007, at the KSAA general meeting held at Curtin University of Technology, the following new executive members were elected: Assoc. Prof. Hong-key Yoon (President, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand), Dr John Jorgensen (Vice President, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia), Dr Changzoo Song (Vice President, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand), Professor Ken Wells (Newsletter Editor, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia), Dr Duk-Soo Park (Treasurer, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia) and Assoc. Prof. Chung-Sok Suh (Secretary, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)