China is a key player on the Korean peninsula, yet its relations with North as well as South Korea are fraught with tension. We sat down with Professor John Delury to speak about China’s place in the world, its role in the region, and how the country and its behaviour evolved under the leadership of Xi Jinping.
The Korean family, how it functions and what it looks like, has fundamentally changed over the course of the past decades. We spoke to Paul Y. Chang about how the extended family has given way to the nuclear family, about how families are becoming more diverse, and about the implications this has for Korean society.
Korean shamanism is a set of ethnic religions and practices. It has a long history on the peninsula, yet the role it plays in Korean society has changed over time, and especially so before and during the colonial era. We spoke to to Professor Merose Hwang about Korean Shamanism in general and its fate during the Japanese rule.
Buddhism has a long history in Korea, yet its most popular period lies centuries in the past. During the Koryo period, from the 10th to the 14th century, it was the official state religion on the Korea peninsula – until it fell from grace. We spoke to Professor Juhn Ahn about the reasons for and origins of this change of Buddhism’s fate.