School of Asian Studies

Publications

• Book

  Son Z.

  The Russian Koreans in the 1920s and 1930s. An Ethnic Community in the Face of Soviet Power

  This book offers the first comprehensive exploration of the history of Soviet Koreans (1920s-1930s), focusing into their experiences in the USSR. It examines the impact of Stalin's foreign and domestic policies on
  Soviet Koreans, their role in the socio-economic development of the Far East, and their contributions to the Red Army, as well as the cultural and educational aspects of their lives. Key themes include the political repression of Soviet Koreans during Stalin’s era and their subsequent rehabilitation in the Russian Federation.

  
  

  Brill, 2025.

• Article

  Kim H. R.

  Жизнь и вклад в науку корейского лингвиста Ким Су Гёна (на англ.)

  Abstract. This article discusses the biography of Kim Sukyung (1918—2000), a prominent South Korean linguist who moved to the North after liberation, and the sig nificance of his research for Korean linguistics. In addition, the influence of Soviet lin guistics on his linguistic research will be examined, and the importance of North and South Korean contributions to Korean linguistics will be noted. Kim Sukyung, who completed his studies in the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Law and Letters, Keijo Imperial University in 1940 during the Japanese colonial period and later studied linguistics as a graduate student at Daoist Imperial University, has been called the lin guistic genius of Joseon. Kim Sukyung is not as well known among Korean scholars as, for example, such linguists and famous students of Ju Si kyung as Choi Hyonbae and Kim Dubong from North and South Korea. These linguists studied the Korean language after the division of North and South Korea and worked to mo dernize the Korean language, improving it to make it easier to use. In this article, we look at North Korean linguistics from the perspective of the linguistics of the Soviet Union, based on rare materials from Russia, and shed light on the life of a linguist who experienced the pain of separation from his family and homeland.

  Koreanology. 2026. No. 2 (15). P. 83-99.

• Book chapter

  Grishina D.

  On the Front Line: Establishment and Activities of the Chosŏn Legation in Tokyo

  The signing of a treaty of amity between a modernized Meiji Japan and the Kingdom of Chosŏn (Jp. Nitchō Shūkō jōyaku; Kr. Kanhwado choyak) on February 26, 1876, became a transformative moment that marked the beginning of a new era of diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula. The treaty itself, being similar to the so-called Ansei treaties (Ansei jōyaku, 1854 Japan-United States Treaty of Peace and Amity, Jp. Nichibei Washin jōyaku and the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce, Jp. Nichibei Shūkō Tsūshō jōyaku) forced on Japan by the United States, was, of course, unequal. However, following the complicated geopolitical situation in the region, the Chosŏn government was pursuing a successful rapprochement with Japan (Larsen 2011, 61–62; Kim and Kim 1967, 17).1 As a result, Article 2 of the treaty provided for the exchange of envoys between Chosŏn and Japan within the next 15 months and the establishment of permanent missions in each country. Providing Chosŏn with an opportunity to perform the practices of modern diplomacy, this article stipulated that its envoys were to communicate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while on Japanese soil (Ch’oe 2010, 33). Yet, Chosŏn did not play this card right away. After 1876, Chosŏn entered into numerous treaties with both Western and Asian countries, but up until 1887, when the legation in Tokyo was set up, it did not establish a permanent diplomatic representation with its treaty partners. While it is easy to deduce that the traditional dependence on China was a key factor preventing Kojong, the king of Chosŏn, from engaging in global diplomacy, the timing of the establishment of the Chosŏn legation in Tokyo suggests the opposite.

  In bk.: HANDBOOK OF JAPAN-KOREA RELATIONS. ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2027. Ch. 1. P. 21-35.

• Working paper

  Ustyuzhanin V., Zinkina J. V., Korotayev A.

  Extended Family Structures Exert a Causal Influence on Fertility

  Research of the impact of kin alloparenting on reproduction mainly focuses on mother’s parents and parents-in-law. The impact on fertility of extended families and the alloparental help with childcare they can provide has received much less attention. Moreover, there is an important lacuna in the existing studies of this problem, as it is mostly approached through correlational studies, while the presence of a causal link remains unclear. Using an instrumental variables approach, we demonstrate that prevalence of extended family structures exert a causal influence on fertility. A one standard-deviation increase in prevalence of extended families is associated with approximately 1.07 additional children per woman. These results highlight that family structure is not only statistically significant but also demographically consequential in shaping fertility outcomes.

  SocArXiv. Soc. SocArXiv, 2025