Lead supervisor:
Dr Elaine Wing Tung Chung 
Other supervisor(s):
- Dr Xuan Wang
Start date: October 2025 (Full time)
Subject Pathway:
Politics, International Relations and Global Language Based Area Studies
Thematic Cluster:
Rights and Governance Cluster
Inflows of foreign languages and their political and diplomatic implications in South Korea
My research investigates the relationship between foreign languages introduced into South Korea and the ways they have shaped both its domestic politics and its international political relations. In particular, I focus on foreign languages brought by missionaries and examine their political significance from a historical perspective. The study also considers major historical events—such as the decline of the Joseon Dynasty at the turn of the twentieth century, Japanese colonial rule, the Korean War, and South Korea’s contemporary political development—to understand how these contexts influenced, and were influenced by, the introduction and circulation of foreign languages.