Column

The northern part of China is where the education and research of Korean studies began first in China due to its geographical and historical relations. Currently, out of 591 four-year universities in 16 provinces and cities, there are a total of 69 universities with Korean studies major. Starting with Joseon Language major under the Department of Oriental Language and Literature at Peking University established in August 1949 with a merger with the National Oriental Language School and the Department of Joseon Language and Literature at Yanbian University established in March 1949, department of Korean studies was created at 6 universities in total before China's reform and opening up including PLA Foreign Language University, University of International Business & Economics, Central University for Nationalities, Beijing International Studies University, etc. Since then, starting with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and China, universities in each province of the northern regions, especially in Beijing and Shandong provinces, rushed to open the department of Korean studies, particularly around 2000. From around 2004, those universities began to open graduate programs. making fast progress until around 2015. However, since 2015, due to the political upheaval between the Republic of Korea and China, economic changes, and reforms of educational environments at Chinese universities, Korean studies in China has faced serious crisis and challenges resulting in a state of lull. This paper makes a detailed investigation into the faculty, capacity of undergraduate students, undergraduate curriculum, fostering of graduate students, and research results of the department of Korean studies of 38 universities among 50 universities excluding 19 private universities out of the universities in the northern region with established department of Korean studies. It sheds light on the current status and problems of the education and research of Korean studies in northern China which is currently in crisis, and suggests directions for future development.

1. Relevant Issues

The northern region of China is where the education and research of Korean studies began first in China due to its geographical and historical relations. Currently, out of 591 four-year universities in 16 provinces and cities, there are a total of 70 universities with courses in Korean studies. Prior to discussions, it is required to identify the range of Korean studies and intended in this paper to include some aspects of Korean politics, relations between South Korea and China, and Korean economy into the range of Korean studies in relation to seeking a change of direction in practical crisis and challenges faced by Korean language departments in Chinese universities and colleges now.

The Joseon Language course was opened in the Department of Oriental Language and Literature of Peking University established jointly with the National Oriental Language School in August 1949 and Korean language departments were opened in six universities before China's social and economic reforms, such as PLA Foreign Language University, University of International Business & Economics, Central University for Nationalities, Beijing International Studies University, etc. starting with the Department of Joseon Language and Literature at Yanbian University established in March 1949. Since the renewal of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China, especially around 1995, universities and colleges began to open Korean language departments in the northern region focused on Beijing and Shandong Province and, since around 2000, 2005, and 2010, Korean language departments were continuously increased in the northern region. Also, since around 2004, graduate school courses of Korean language were opened and showed rapid progress until around 2015.

However, due to political and economic shocks and conflicts between Korea and China and innovation of Chinese educational environment including the rollout of a faculty system and free major-change system in universities, etc., Korean studies is currently in serious crisis and facing challenges in China, and have entered into the state of lull such as department closures of Korean language in some universities and a significant decrease in numbers of undergraduate students. Korean language departments were closed in Beijing Union University and Beijing University of Technology, while the Department of Korean Language was closed in Northwest University of Political Science and Law in 2019. The Department of Korean Language in Qingdao University of Technology suspended new student enrollments for two years and started closure of the department, while Linyi University enrolls new students every two years. Korean language departments in the northern region enrolled 50-60 new students or even 200-300 new students actively enrolled until around 2010, but overall enrollments of new students for a Korean language department in the northern region has decreased to 30 new students in 2021 in most of cases. There are direct influences of changes in the educational environment of universities including rollouts of the faculty system in Chinese universities, etc., and new student enrollment was opened every two years or suspended with the expectation of department closures due to rapidly decreased applicants.

Student enrollments for Korean language departments of graduate schools are also in a declining trend from more than ten students to six or fewer students due to the influence of operation policies, i.e. "reduction of numbers of graduate school students for academic purpose and rapid increase of numbers of master's course students for practical purposes."

As stated, in contrast to the situation where enrollment of students for Korean studies education has significantly decreased, and related departments are closed in some universities due to the influences of variables such as changes in political relations between South Korea and China, economic changes, and changes in the educational environment of Chinese universities, researches on Korean studies are relatively developed with respect to acquisition of projects, publication of theses through major professional academic journals, and publication of books, etc., research performances still continue to show qualitative improvement compared to the time from the early 2000s to around 2010 when Korean studies education reached its peak level in terms of enrollments for Korean language departments, while the research power of professors has fairly improved overall.

Also, from the early 2000s to around 2010, only four universities such as Yanbian University, Central University for Nationalities, Peking University, and Fudan University had the authority to grant doctorate degrees in Korean studies but, at present, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Shanghai International Studies University, Shandong University, Nanjing University, Ocean University of China, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing Language and Culture University, and Hunan Normal University, etc. have the authority to grant doctorate degrees, while as many as 12 universities have the authority to grant doctorate degrees in China. And then, what are the causes of such asymmetry or unbalance in the education and researches on Korean studies? It would be unfair to draw a simple conclusion that a virtuous cycle for education and researches on Korean studies has not been properly formed.

In this study, we have surveyed professors, enrollments of undergraduate students, undergraduate academic curriculums, development of graduate students, and the research results of Korean language departments of 38 universities of which access to their websites is possible among 48 universities excluding private universities with dedicated Korean language departments in Northern China regions, so as to evaluate the status and current issues of Korean studies education and researches on Korean studies, which has still shown certain qualitative and quantitative improvements, and then propose the future direction of development.

2. Status of Korean Studies Education in Northern China

Northern regions are the places where Korean studies education was started the earliest, 4-year departments of Korean studies are currently opened in 70 universities, and Korean language departments are operated in 51 universities excluding 19 private universities.

Korean studies was first opened in Peking University and Yanbian University and these two universities opened Korean language departments before foundation of New China. As the Department of Joseon Language belonged to the Department of Oriental Language and Literature of Peking University early on when it was opened, it was started as a part of oriental studies and the subjects of enrollment were students of ethnicities other than Korean-Chinese indicating that the purpose was Korean studies education as a foreign language and studies. The Department of Joseon Language and Literature of Yanbian University belonged to Faculty of Language and Literature, Yanbian University was started as an ethnic-oriented university founded for university education of Korean-Chinese people, and Korean studies was not foreign language or studies but rather were ethnic studies. In fact, the Department of Joseon Language (formerly, the Department of Korean Studies), was opened for a foreign language and studies in Yanbian University in 1972. It should be considered that the early name of the Korean Studies course at Peking University was the Department of Joseon Language and, in fact, Korean Studies courses in Chinese universities are currently called the Department of Joseon Language indicating that the goal of faculty Korean studies education in Chinese universities is language skills.

After that, Korean language departments were opened at the University of International Business and Economics (1952), Central University for Nationalities (1972), Beijing International Studies University (1972), and PLA Foreign Language University, etc. before China's social and economic reforms. The target subjects of student enrollments for the Department of Joseon Language and Literature of Central University for Nationalities are also Korean-Chinese people, indicating the property of ethnic studies.

Since the renewal of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China in 1992, Korean language departments have sprung up in waves everywhere in the northern region and such time periods may be roughly divided into the 1990s (1992-1999), early 2000s (2000-2005), and after 2005 (2006-present time).

In the 1990s, Korean language departments were opened in Shandong University Weihai Campus (1991), Shandong University Jinan Campus (1992), Ocean University of China (1992), Qingdao University (1992), Yantai University (1994), Shandong Normal University (1994), Ludong university (1999), Beijing Foreign Studies University (1994), Beijing Language and Culture University (1995), Tianjin Foreign Studies University (1994), Liaoning University (1993), Dalian University of Foreign Languages (1995), Jilin University (1993), and Heilongjiang University (1996), etc. In terms of geographical distribution, the largest number of Korean language departments was opened after the renewal of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China in 1992 in Shandong Province (7 universities), Beijing (2 universities), Liaoning Province (2 universities), Tianjin (1 university), Jilin Province (1 university), and Heilongjiang Province (1 university). The main reason for introducing as many as 7 Korean language departments, with the largest number in Shandong, since the renewal of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China can be attributed to geological proximity to Korea and economic demand in relation to strong business activities of many Korean companies in Shandong Province, which has been actively opening up trade.

In the early 2000s, Korean language departments were opened in Tianjin Teachers' College (2002), Hebei University (2004), Eastern Liaoning University (2002), Jilin University of Finance and Economics (2005), Qiqihar Teachers College and Qiqihar Light Industry Institute (2002), Jinan University (2000), Qingdao Agricultural University (2005), Qufu Normal University (2005), Weifang University (2004), Zhengzhou University of Light Industry (2005), and Xi'an International Studies University (2004), etc. It should be considered that Korean language departments were not opened anymore since the early 2000s and, in fact, they were opened in Beijing Union University and Beijing University of Technology for a short time in the early 2000s but then closed. Also, in the early 2000s, 4 departments, the most tallied, were opened in Shandong Province, and it should be considered that Korean language departments were opened in Hebei University in Baoding City in Hebei Province, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry in Zhengzhou City (provincial capital) in Henan Province, and Xi'an International Studies University in Xian City (provincial capital) in Sanxi Province indicating that they were opened in northern inland areas which are far from South Korea and lack almost any relations with Korea. It should be considered that with the development status of Korean language departments in the early 2000s, Beijing showed some stagnation with closures after the opening of departments in the early 2000s, but a large number of the departments was continuously opened in Shandong Province with the opening of departments was started in northern inland areas such as Hebei Province, Henan Province, and Sanxi Province.

Since 2005, Korean language departments were opened in Hebei University of Economics and Business (2010), Dalian Minzu University (2008), Tonghua Normal University (2009), Jilin Normal University (2006), Changchun Normal University (2006), Jilin Police College (2010), Jilin Agricultural Science & Technology College (2018), Harbin Institute of Technology Weihai Campus (2007), Jiamusi University (2009), Haerbin Normal University (2007), Mudanjiang Teachers College (2008), Qingdao University of Science and Technology (2006), Qingdao Technological University (2006), Shandong University of Science and Technology (2012), Shandong University of Technology (2007), Liaocheng University (2006), Linyi University (2010), Shandong Technology and Business University (2008), and Northwest University of Political Science and Law (2014), etc. It should be considered that the departments were closed in Beijing Union University and Beijing University of Technology in Beijing areas from 2005 to 2010 but the departments still showed positive developmental progress in Shandong Province and three Northeastern provincial areas, with a good number of universities opening a department. Since 2010, Korean language departments were opened in four universities such as Shandong University of Science and Technology, Jilin Police College, Jilin Agricultural Science & Technology College, and Northwest University of Political Science and Law, but the department was closed in Northwest University of Political Science and Law in 2019. Qingdao Technological University, founded in 2006, closed the department after suspending undergraduate student enrollments, while Liaocheng University, founded in 2006, suspended undergraduate student enrollment for three years since 2019. Linyi University decided to open enrollment of undergraduate students every two years from this year due to the effect of rollouts of the faculty system. Since 2010, Korean language departments have been experiencing a stagnation compared to the early 2000s marked by a rapid increase, since 2015, enrollments of new undergraduate students have significantly contracted.

There are three universities with Korean language departments in the northern region, such as Peking University, Shandong University (Jinan), and Ocean University of China which belong to "211," "985," "twin first-class university," and "national first-class curriculum." Let's review "national first-class curriculum" in brief. 13 Korean language departments were selected as the first class (run for 3 years from 2019) by the Ministry of Education of China in 2020 and, among them, Peking University, Fudan University, Shandong University, and Ocean University of China belong to "first-class university," "985," and "211" and have Korean language departments as a "national first-class curriculum." If Fudan University is excluded from the four universities, three universities such as Peking University, Shandong University, and Ocean University of China are in the northern region. Also, Korean language departments of nine universities such as Yanbian University, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, Shanghai International Studies University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Tianjin Foreign Studies University, Beijing Language and Culture University, Tianjin Normal University, and Hunan Normal University belong to the "national first-class curriculum," and among them, Yanbian University, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Tianjin Foreign Studies University, Beijing Language and Culture University, and Tianjin Normal University are in the northern region. Universities in the northern region boast significant superiority in terms of numbers. It indicates that northern regions have long histories of Korean studies and have educational and academic standing with a well-established reputation.

Let's review the university class evaluation of the Ministry of Education of China. These 42 universities which belong to "985" and "twin first-class university" are basically universities at the top-tier of domestic universities in China, while being supported with the large budget of the Ministry of Education of China, and more rationally improved than other universities in terms of systems and operation, etc. The next-tier 100 universities belong to "211," consist of universities, foreign language colleges, and racial local colleges in consideration of regional distribution, etc., are basically supported by the budget of the Ministry of Education of China, and are relatively stable in terms of systems and operation, etc.

Therefore, the Korean language departments in the universities which belong to "211" may be deemed to receive stable funding in terms of budget, systems, and operation, etc. compared to the local state-affiliated universities. Also, the Korean language departments in the universities which do not belong to "211" but were selected as a "national first-class curriculum" may also be deemed to be at stable and sound levels.

Therefore, when classifying the Korean language departments in the northern region, Peking University, Shandong University (Jinan), and Ocean University of China belong to "211," "985," "twin first-class university," and "national first-class curriculum." Three universities which belong to "211," "985," and "twin first-class university" are the Central University for Nationalities, Jilin University, and Harbin Institute of Technology (Weihai), while the universities which belong to "211" are Beijing Foreign Studies University, Yanbian University, Shandong University (Weihai), Liaoning University, and University of International Business and Economics, etc. Among the universities not lower than "211," the Korean language departments of four universities such as Beijing Foreign Studies University, Yanbian University, Shandong University (Weihai), and University of International Business and Economics belong to a "national first-class curriculum." Universities which do not belong to "211" but Korean language departments belong to a "national first-class curriculum" are four universities such as Beijing Language and Culture University, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin Foreign Studies University, and Dalian University of Foreign Languages. Therefore, the Korean language departments in above-stated universities may be deemed to be stably run with the funding of the Ministry of Education of China in terms of budget and systems, etc.

In addition, Beijing International Studies University does not belong to "211" or a "national first-class curriculum" but is a traditional foreign language university and may be deemed to be at a stable level due to the property of a foreign language university with a long history of opening a department in 1972 before China's social and economic reforms. Among the universities in the northern region, four colleges such as Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing International Studies University, Tianjin Foreign Studies University, and Dalian University of Foreign Languages are traditional foreign language universities, while the departments of these universities are at fairly stable level with relatively large bodies and high grades in each university compared to other rare languages. Due to the characteristics of such foreign language universities, the departments of traditional foreign language universities may be deemed to be still in good condition for continuous stable development, although their scales are significantly decreased compared to the heyday in early 2000 in terms of new student enrollments for Korean language departments. In addition, Peking University is a university; since many languages are operated by the foreign language school, i.e., the college, many rare languages are available due to national strategies, and Korean language departments are relatively stable with high positions among foreign language schools.

As for the competencies of professors, a Korean language department in a university in the northern region has about 10 exclusive teachers in most of cases or about 5 teachers in some cases as follows: The Department of Korean Language in Dalian University of Foreign Languages has 25 teachers, Eastern Liaoning University has 24 teachers, while the Faculty of Joseon Literature and Department of Joseon Language in Yanbian University have 24 teachers and 15 teachers, respectively, and Shandong University (Weihai) has 15 teachers. It should be considered that 90% or at least 70% of teachers of most of the Korean language departments in the universities in the northern region hold doctorate degrees, while these levels are significantly high compared to other departments in these universities, especially the Department of English Language, Department of Japanese Language, Department of French Language, and Department of German Language, etc. The main cause was that Korean language departments were newly opened departments compared to other departments of foreign languages and were opened in early 2000 or even late 2005 with the employment qualification for professors to hold doctorate degrees and, in the case of departments opened before 2000, aging professors who had been employed as college/ university graduates or master's degree holders retired and most of the young teachers who had been employed as master's degree holders completed doctorate courses in Korean or domestic colleges/ universities. When considering that the retirement age of professors of Chinese colleges/ universities is 60 years old (65 years old in the case of doctoral advisors), teachers born in the 1960s are the oldest teachers, teachers born in the 1970s are senior teachers, most of the teachers born in the 1980s are employed, employment of teachers born in the 1990s is started, and most of the teachers born in the 1970s may be deemed to have started their jobs as doctorate degree holders. People born in the 1980s or later cannot be employed as full-time teachers of colleges/ universities. The rate of obtaining a doctorate degree is significantly high in the case of full-time teachers of Korean language departments compared to those of other departments due to a geographic proximity to Korea, and the rate of foreign doctorate degrees is significantly high compared to the rate of domestic doctorate degrees. The reason is that very limited number of universities has the authority to grant domestic doctorate degrees, doctoral advisors are very rare because qualification of doctoral advisors is obtained through strict reviews, and admissions rate for domestic doctorate degrees is higly selective due to doctorate examinations such as second foreign language tests, etc. Also, the enrollment of new students for doctorate degrees is very restricted, and one doctoral advisor may enroll only one new student for a doctorate degree a year. In the case of the Department of Joseon Literature in Yanbian University, which has more doctoral advisors of Korean studies, opened its enrollment of doctorate degree students every two years because new student enrollment for doctorate degrees was smaller than the number of doctoral advisors. Therefore, in the case of Korean language departments, the share of doctorate holders from Korea is relatively larger than the share of domestic doctorate holders, and the share of doctorate holders is significantly high compared to other departments having low accessibility to abroad study.

When reviewing job position structure of teachers of Korean language, each department has 1-3 teachers who obtained their professorship positions in most cases. Dalian University of Foreign Languages, The Department of Joseon Literature and Department of Joseon Language in Yanbian University, and Shandong University (Weihai) have relatively many teachers, i.e. 7, 10, 5, and 5 teachers, respectively. However, Eastern Liaoning University has 23 teachers, but only 2 teachers have professorship positions indicating a relatively low share of professors compared to teachers. Also, Harbin Institute of Technology (Weihai), Dalian Minzu University, Jilin Normal University, Haerbin Normal University, Jinan University, Qingdao Technological University, Shandong University of Technology, Qingdao Agricultural University, Shandong Normal University, Qufu Normal University, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Linyi University, Qingdao University, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, and Jilin University of Finance and Economics lack any teacher with a professorship position. There may be various causes why the teachers in the respective departments lack professorship positions. The first cause may be that the job position review system of corresponding universities may not be rational or teachers may be disadvantaged for promotions because research their performances in Korean language departments are not properly accepted. The second cause may be that professorship positions are not officially held yet because cumulative research performances are insufficient if Korean language departments were opened not too long ago. The third cause may be that professorship positions become empty if aging professors retire because the age demographics of teachers of Korean language departments is not rational. The fourth cause may be that competitiveness with other departments in respective universities is low in professorship position review because the research power of teachers of Korean language departments is insufficient. Otherwise, various causes may be integrated. Detailed analyses will be done in Chapter 4, but disadvantages are incurred in many cases because a job position review system is irrational or unavailable in schools, and there is the issue of non-acceptance of Korean-registered journals which has been raised as an issue by Korean language departments in Chinese universities for a while. Competencies of professors are relatively rationally configured in terms of job position structure and age groups in the case of universities selected for "211" or higher levels, or for a "national first-class curriculum."

Almost all Korean language departments are facing a serious crisis due to significant reductions in new student enrollment for Korean language departments since 2015 as mentioned before when raising this issue. For sure, it is required to think about whether the quantitative expansion in which new student enrollments tallied 200-300 students at most and 50-80 students at the least in the heyday of Korean language departments' demand was desirable. It should be sincerely thought about whether such excessive quantitative expansion hurt the balance between supply and demand and whether such excessive quantitative expansion was a short-lived phenomenon and a recent passing fad is a more realistic scenario. The causes of reduction or contracting enrollment numbers of new students for Korean language departments were discussed above, but all the causes are attributed to structural issues due to external objective causes such as the issue of mutual mistrust between the citizens of both countries due to derailed Korea-China relations caused by political and economic conflicts between Korea and China, difficulty in attracting applicants to Korean language departments owing to the introduction of the faculty system with revamped Chinese university education systems, and the option to change majors (permission of changing majors after entrance) assessed by universities for attracting excellent new students, while the university systems cannot be basically changed until corrections are made by universities.

Under the circumstances where structural basic resolution is impossible, it is necessary to endeavor to adjust the educational goal and improve academic curriculums. Now, the educational goal of most of the Korean language departments is "the development of talents who are well-versed in Korean language and culture" and the academic curriculums for such an educational goal are basically the same. Academic curriculums for Korean language departments of 43 available universities were reviewed and found to be same in general as follows: they consisted of basic Korean language, speaking, listening, writing, Korean society and culture (overview of Korea), Korean history, Korean classical literature, appreciating Korean classical literature, Korean contemporary literature, appreciating Korean contemporary literature, Korean grammar, introduction to Korean, and Korean-Chinese translation, etc. and trade Korean, Korea-China relations, Northeast Asian political society, etc. which were added as elective in some universities. It is required to think about what the talents in Korean studies developed through such academic curriculums would be. At present, in 2021, there have been large changes in political and economic relations between South Korea and China, economic situations of South Korea and China, and the international environment compared to the 1990s when Korean language departments started and around 2010 when Korean language departments were in their heyday. To meet such changes, students' demands are diversified and demands of society and the market for talents in Korean studies are also diversified. It is desirable to diversify educational goals and academic curriculums of Korean language departments. In this regard, the curriculums for Korean language departments in the Harbin Institute of Technology (Weihai) and Shandong University (Weihai) give a lot of insights in terms of diversification of educational goals and academic curriculums.

First of all, let's review the curriculum of the Harbin Institute of Technology (Weihai). The Department of Korean Language in the Harbin Institute of Technology (Weihai) divides educational goals and the related model into two kinds, where one is a "1.5+1+1.5" type direction of Korean language course and the other is a "2+2" type direction of Korean-business administration multiple-degree course. Both directions have the prerequisite of cooperation with a Korean university including credit completion in the Korean university. In the case of a "1.5+1+1.5" type Korean language course, students complete fundamental subjects of Korean language for 1.5 year in China after admission, study and complete related subjects for one year in the affiliated university in Korea as exchange students, then return to China, complete the remaining credits for 1.5 year in the university, and lastly graduate from the university. Subjects to be studied by students are basically identical with the academic curriculums for Korean language departments in other universities. Students should study related subjects in a Korean university from the 2nd year, 2nd semester to the 3rd year, 1st semester in order to have the opportunity to experience and study core Korean language by experiencing the social and cultural environment of a target language country. This is actually similar with the student exchange programs run by many universities. The term of exchange study is flexible from a half to one year, and the subjects to be completed are not definitely determined but the period of exchange is definitely determined, while the student exchange programs are settled as an educational model in a "1.5+1+1.5" type by making the subjects to be completed more definite. Students acquire bachelor's degree through systematic study of holistic Korean studies including Korean literature, history, politics, linguistics, etc. as well as functions of basic Korean language and may continue further study for a master's and doctorate degree in Korean studies in Korea, or may return to China to study for a master's and doctorate degree in Korean studies, resulting in achievement of the goal of academic growth, i.e. development of the next generation for Korean studies.

A "2+2" type direction of Korean-business administration multiple-degree program run by the university is somewhat more extreme and jointly run with Pusan National University in Korea. Students complete prerequisite subjects of Korean language including basic Korean language, speaking, listening, and writing, etc. in the university after admission, complete prerequisite subjects related to business administration and essential subjects, are transferred to the business administration major in Pusan National University in the 3rd year, complete all the subjects determined by both universities by completing subjects related to business administration in order to earn credits and satisfy requirements for graduation with a dual bachelor's degree in Korean language in the Harbin Institute of Technology (Weihai) and business administration in Pusan National University. Subjects to be completed by them are divided into prerequisite subjects and major-related courses as well as essential subjects as follows: Prerequisite subjects consist of fundamental subjects related to Korean language and business administration including beginner's Korean, intermediate Korean, audiovisual Korean, basic business administration, accounting, statistics, macroeconomics, and foundation management, etc.; and major-related courses consist of reading Korean culture, speaking in Korean, basic writing in Korean, marketing, finance, business mathematics, financial management, management information system, financial accounting, mathematical economics, investment theory, business accounting, human resource management, and international business administration, etc. Students for a "2+2" type direction of Korean-business administration multiple-degree program are selected within one week after registration of new students and enrollment is strictly limited to 10 students. The goal seems to be the development of integration-type talents equipped with both functional skills in Korean language and in-depth knowledge of business administration by prescribing the subjects in detail which are required to acquire a dual major degree in Korean language and business administration including prerequisite subjects and major-related courses. If the academic curriculums of existing Korean language departments are deemed to be limited to development of homogeneous talents focused on functional Korean language skills, i.e. talents who are fluent in Korean language and well-versed in Korean society and culture, Korean-business administration multiple-degree program has the advantage to cultivate integration type talents who are fluent in Korean language and have in-depth knowledge of business administration, avoiding the limit of homogenous talents focused on language skills. It would be a highly meaningful measure for diversified selection by the students of the Korean language department and for various selections after graduation for business administration to be selected as the direction of a dual major course because business administration has been positioned as the most popular major in China for recent several years. SAT scores for business administration are too high for application, and major change to business administration is actually impossible because selection of the course is restricted due to high competition of applicants although option to change majors is permitted in the university.

In the case of Shandong University (Weihai), the major-related courses are divided into "translation" and "economy & foreign trade" by the professors of the department. It might act as an advantage that the Department of Korean Language of Shandong University (Weihai) was reorganized from the Korean School to Northeastern School, and the professor hiring pool became somewhat better. Major-related courses of "translation" consist of speaking, listening, reading, & writing in Korean, overview of translation, theory & practice of translation, Chinese-to-Korean sequential interpretation, Chinese-to-Korean business interpretation, and Chinese-to-Korean simultaneous interpretation, etc. Major-related courses of "economy & foreign trade" consist of economy & foreign trade in Korean language, speaking & listening in Korean, Chinese-to-Korean business interpretation, Korean economy & foreign trade, international business negotiation, international finance, international trade, and practical international trade, etc. Major-related courses of "translation" are systemically well-configured in detail to meet the goals, i.e. development of translation skills but major-related courses of "economy & foreign trade" are subjects complementary to Korean language skills and subjects related to foreign trade are adequately provided, and are far from achievement of educational goals. However, such an endeavor would strive to overcome an unfavorable environment of contraction of Korean language departments to meet diversified demands of students by developing talents of diversified and integrated Korean studies through diversification of educational goals and academic curriculums. However, another basic problem of Shandong University (Weihai) is that basic academic preparatory courses for master's and doctorate courses of Korean studies is omitted because subjects such as Korean literature, history, and linguistics, etc., which are core subjects to develop the next generation of Korean studies, are also omitted, although both master's and doctorate courses of Korean studies are provided due to excessive bias to functional skills and integration for development of talents in Korean studies. This is a very inconvenient part in that the university is one of a few universities which opened doctorate course of Korean studies with a long history of Korean studies.

3. Situation of Researches Korean Studies in Northern China

Korean studies education is now significantly contracted and stagnated compared to around 2000, although research performances of Korean studies show quantitatively and quantitatively clear and stable growth compared to around 2000 when Korean studies education was in its heyday and academic background and research power of the teachers of Korean studies in universities show clear improvement. The causes of this situation may be attributed to several reasons.

Firstly, as reviewed above in brief, the age demographics of full-time teachers of Korean studies was significantly changed due to retirement of aging professors, etc. from the early 2000s to 2010 as follows: at present, those born in the 1960s are the oldest professors, those born in the 1970s are senior professors, and those born in the 1980s and 1990s are being employed. Most of the professors born in the 1960s who are the oldest professors completed doctorate courses during their tenures, most of the professors born in the 1960s were employed upon obtaining a doctorate degree or, although they had a master's degree at the time of employment, most of them acquired a doctorate degree with completion of doctorate courses to meet the tighter qualifications of Chinese universities, and those born in the 1980s and 1990s are being employed now but cannot be employed without a doctorate degree. As stated above, the age demographics of teachers of Korean language departments became younger, while the criterion of academic background was enhanced to a doctorate degree or higher levels. Such a strengthened basic condition is directly related to enhancement of teachers' research power.

Secondly, qualifications of Chinese universities for teachers' research power and research performances were significantly strengthened compared to around 2000, and the reason is that the most important index for university evaluation by the Ministry of Education of China is research performances of full-time teachers of respective universities. There was a naturally formed academic climate that there was no way but to manage research performances of full-time teachers and generate research performances because research performances were directly connected to professional promotions in order to enhance research performances of full-time teachers which are the most important index of universities to meet university evaluation by the Ministry of Education. Now, most of the universities suggest digitalized quantitative and qualitative requirements for research performances to fulfill the professional roles of professors, assistant professors, and full-time lecturers and the opportunity to get promoted is provided only when such a digitalized requirement is satisfied. If a digitalized requirement is not satisfied, any submission of applications for promotion is denied. Now, many Chinese universities have strengthened requirements in order to enhance digitalized research performances of full-time teachers as follows: new young teachers are not employed as tenured positions but rather as contract positions for 5 years or employed for 5 years as doctorate candidates, while research performances to meet assistant professor position are required during such a period. If the research performances are insufficient after 5 years, the contract is rescinded Young teachers of Korean language departments are also in such an inevitable situation, and are dealing with excessive requirements for generating research performances. The strengthened qualifications of universities for research performances have acted as a motive to enhance research performances of Korean studies. In fact, research performances of the teachers of Korean language departments in the universities at stable and sound levels such as "211," "985," "twin first-class university," and "national first-class curriculum," etc. are quantitatively and qualitatively excellent compared to other universities and the reason is that such universities support researches systematically and have relatively more strengthened qualifications for research performances of teachers.

Thirdly, lots of research performances have been accumulated through their endeavors for 7 years and research environment and foundation are constructed at a certain level for generating research performances through overseas Korean studies center-university promotion projects, seed type projects, Korean studies translation projects, etc.

Fourthly, lots of researches are conducted on Korean culture & history, Korea-China relations, and Korean economy, etc. due to influences of the Korean Cultural Wave and strategic importance of the Korean Peninsula in political and economic relations of East Asia, while such researches are already included in universal research areas and occupy a part of corresponding research areas of China.

Fifthly, in the renaissance of researches on Chinese classics for reconstructing Chinese character's cultural territory and Chinese culture in East Asia, classical Chinese literature, Korean ancient history, and Korea-China exchange history, etc. emerge as common interests and researches by Chinese studies researchers including researchers of Chinese classical literature, Chinese ancient history, and Chinese characters as well as majors of Korean studies are actively conducted.

Researches on Yeonhaengnok, Jocheonnok, and Pyohaerok, etc. are representative cases and show raid development for the last 10 years and, in the area of Chinese classical literature or ancient history, while they are referred to as a type of overseas transmission of Chinese classical literature, i.e. offshore Chinese character studies, with arrangement and researches done in large scales. More sincere analyses and access are required on whether they are Korean studies in true meaning, but in such a case, it is a highly positive factor that researches are conducted on Korean classical literature and ancient history or Chinese character studies of Korea over the researches on the elements of Chinese classical literature which influenced or was a part of Chinese character studies of Korea.

Important index of academic level evaluation in China is based on registered journals like Korea, and research performances of researchers of Korean studies are mostly based on KCI-registered journals of Korea and CSSCI-registered journals of China. In the case of KCI-registered journals of Korea, doctors who studied in Korea preoccupy a large share of this, with reported theses represented by area. In the case of CSSCI-registered journals of China, only two journals are directly related to researches on Korean studies, research performances of most of the Chinese universities are evaluated based on CSSCI-registered journals, while KCI-registered journals are accepted by few universities, and thus the status of researches on Korean studies of China is reviewed in this study based on CSSCI-registered journals related to Korean studies.

The CSSCI publication whose purpose is research on Korean Studies is only "collected research theses of Korean studies" which have been published two times a year since 1995 by the Korea Studies Research Center of Fudan University. The journal whose purpose of publication is not research on Korean studies but to cover East Asia and undertake Korean studies at a high level is "Dongjiang xue kan" which has been published by Yanbian University four times a year since 1984. This journal was started as a general publication but was upgraded as a CSSCI-registered journal since 2010, but it was downgraded in evaluation since 2019, and now is a candidate of the CSSCI-registered journal.

4. Current Issues and Future Development Direction

The situations of education and researches on Korean studies in China were reviewed above. It was found through analyses that Korean studies education showed rapid quantitative expansion until the early to mid-2000s but are facing serious crisis and challenges such as a reduction of new student enrollments under a crisis of Chinese humanities due to political and economic conflicts between South Korea and China and the revamped education systems of Chinese universities including introduction of a faculty system and the option to change majors in universities, etc. If quantitative expansion, reaching its heyday from the early to mid-2000s, is deemed to have been merely a fleeting fad or bubble phenomenon, resulting in a supply-demand imbalance, the time is now for Korean studies education to develop righteous talents in Chinese universities and reposition itself as an academic course.

If the external and objective factors including political and economic relations between South Korea and China and education systems of Chinese universities, etc. act as a static axis that cannot be changed in a short time, a variable axis for which we can try corresponds to educational goals and academic curriculums. In this aspect, above-shown diversified educational goals and academic curriculums of faculty processes of the Harbin Institute of Technology (Weihai) offers key insights to us. It is required to separate faculty courses from graduate courses, analyze various demands of undergraduate students majoring in Korean Studies for finding jobs, and make an attempt for dual-major degrees such as "Korean language + business administration," "Korean language + Chinese literature," "Korean language + international relations," and "Korean language + English," etc. Also, for development of the next generation of Korean studies, it is required to strengthen the linkage between faculty courses and graduate master's/ doctorate courses, operate integrated faculty courses and graduate courses for those students who show clear academic potential for development as researchers of Korean studies after entering master's/ doctorate courses of Korean studies, and provide them with the linkage of academic researches from faculty courses.

In the case of researches on Korean study, as shown above, Korean studies education shows contracted trend compared to the early to mid-2000s when Korean studies education was in its heyday, but researches on Korean studies show some quantitatively and qualitatively stable growth with a lot of research performances accumulated compared to the early to mid-2000s. This is the result of complex elements such as physical improvement through changes in age demographics of Korean language teachers in Chinese universities, strengthened requirement for research performances to Chinese university professors, and influence of the Korean Cultural Wave, etc.

Research performances of Korean studies are mostly reported through KCI-registered journals of Korea and CSSCI-registered journals in China and the matters related with CSSCI were already reviewed in detail. Journals related to Korean studies in CSSCI are "collected research theses of Korean studies" published by "collected research theses of Korean studies" and "Dongjiang xue kan" published by Yanbian University. It is quite encouraging that there are CSSCI-registered journals related to Korean studies; however, when reviewing theses of Korean studies inserted in the two journals in the last three years, theses in the area of "Korean classical humanities" occupied 42%, but theses in the area of "Korean temporal literature" occupied only 5%, which indicated a serious unbalance and asymmetry. The cause is that Korean classical humanities is mostly based on the foundation of Chinese character's cultural territory of East Asia and has the same root with Chinese classical humanities. Another is that many common denominators are available by sharing the subjects of researches, researchers, and viewpoints of researches. Also, since Korean classical humanities may be included in offshore Chinese character studies, which is a part of a large national project for reconstructing Chinese character's cultural territory in East Asia through Chinese characters and character studies, Korean classical humanities could be positioned as an import academic discourse in Chinese academia. However, in the case of researches on Korean temporal literature, the works for researches are very strange areas to Chinese readers and researchers, and an infrastructure for researches is not provided. The reason is that the interest in Chinese humanities society cannot be attracted since the field of Korean temporal literature has few common denominators with Chinese humanities and that translation and dispersion of Korean temporal literature works is very poor in China. Such a situation is natural when compared to the position of researches on Japanese temporal literature in China. In this respect, 13 pieces of theses on Korean temporal literature reported in the last three years may be deemed as "seeking non-existing common denominators" and it should be prudently considered whether such researches are desirable. In addition, duplicity in seeking common denominators by researches on classical humanities should be prudently considered. Most of the researches on Yeonhaengnok by Chinese researchers were conducted from the viewpoint of "offshore Chinese character studies." This is the time to think about whether they are Korean studies in true meaning. Indeed, it is encouraging that, although most of them consist of the theses on the influence of China to Korean classics and the theses from a viewpoint of offshore Chinese character studies, it has started to insert some theses on Korean classical literature. As a result, a main issue we are facing now in relation to presentation of performances of researches on Korean through CSSCI of China is that researches on Korean classical humanities should be independently conducted avoiding inclusion on the viewpoint of Chinese studies and that researches on Korean temporal literature should be conducted in Chinese humanities society, although it is difficult to seek a common denominator. It is required to try to take discursive superiority over Chinese humanities society by developing advanced academic discourses of researches on Korean temporal literature over Western academic research discourse through construction of foundation for researches with significant expansion of the project to translate the works of Korean temporal literature in China and through researches on the works of Korean temporal literature instead of seeking a common denominator like classical literature. In this regard, a denominator such as "Core Site in East Asia" by Professor Baek Yeong-seo has much influence in China.

There is the issue that KCI-registered journals of Korea are not accepted as performances by the academic evaluation systems of many Chinese universities. Most Chinese universities accept own CSSCI, SSCI, and A&HCI only in humanities and sociology fields and do not accept KCI of Korea. Peking University evaluates the quality of research performances through an external professional audit without any requirement for insertion in registered journals. Likewise, Shandong University accepted "Korean-Chinese humanities" as an authoritative journal until 2016 and accepted one piece of thesis as two pieces of theses inserted in CSSCI, but since 2017 does not accept whole Korean registered journals including "Korean-Chinese humanities." In the case of Ocean University of China, demands were continuously made in relation to a core university project and more than 60% of the citation index in each field of Korean registered journals is accepted as equivalent to CSSCI. Also, according to the journal evaluation system of Ocean University of China, the journal having the first citation index in each area of Korean-registered journals is accepted as grade A of CSSCI, with journals in top 10% accepted as grade B of CSSCI and those in top 30% accepted as grade C of CSSCI. It is highly problematic that enhancement of Korean studies in China is simply evaluated based on how many theses on Korean studies are inserted in CSSCI when considering the unbalance and asymmetry among the areas of theses to be inserted in CSSCI. Also, it may affect a serious influence in the future development of Korean studies in that most researchers give up inserting theses in KCI because many Chinese universities do not accept Korean-registered journals in spite of the high bar for inserting theses in KCI for sustainable academic exchange between Korean-Chinese scholars. Therefore, ongoing endeavors are required for constant improvement of research performance evaluation systems in Korean language departments in universities, although such an improvement would not come so easily. It is directly related to professional promotions for professors of Korean language departments at universities and with the positions in universities in the short run. Ongoing academic exchange between Korea and China and enhancing the position of discourses on Korean studies in China in the long run is highly required.