Column
Korean School of Abu Dhabi and
『Understanding Korea through Film』
Korean School is a non-formal school system established by overseas Korean organizations to educate overseas Koreans about Korean language, history and culture. There are Korean Schools in 114 countries around the world. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there are three Korean Schools -- in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Ras Al Khaimah. The Korean School of Abu Dhabi, located in the UAE's capital, opened in 2010. It started with a small number of students, but the number of Korean expatriates has grown rapidly, and as of 2024, the school has more than 200 students from kindergarten to secondary school.
Korean schools usually pay rent for leasing local school buildings. However, the Korean School of Abu Dhabi uses the building of Aishah Bint Abi Baker School (Aishah Girls' High School) on every Saturday free of charge. The reason is that the mother of an Emirati (native UAE) friend of one of the Korean School students is the principal of the local high school. In return, teachers at the Korean School have been running a Korean language understanding club for local high school girls. They also participate in the school's annual National Day festival, running a booth introducing Korea. Beyond serving as an educational institution for the children of expatriates, the Korean School of Abu Dhabi plays a role in spreading Korean culture to the local community. In 2023, the school was chosen for the Academy of Korean Studies’ ‘Understanding Korea Educational Content Development and Activity Support Project,’ which gave it an opportunity to develop a textbook about Korea. The project was titled ‘Understanding Korea through Film.’
The project aimed to enhance the effectiveness of the Understanding Korea Project by creating teaching materials using films. While watching a film, audiences are exposed to both audio and visual contents and acquire knowledge and experiences in a short time. Whereas the existing book-based materials can only provide a short-term knowledge, the film’s characteristics help deepen and broaden understanding of Korea based on vivid audio-visual experiences. The project focused on ‘Korean classic films.’ It was because classic films reflect Korean society, history, and culture better than contemporary films, and they also have high aesthetic values. The project used only films that are available on the YouTube channel of the Korean Film Archive (https://www.youtube.com/@KoreanFilm), a public institution that collects and preserves Korean films. It is not always easy for an overseas instructor to obtain film files or DVDs, so the channel is a great source of educational content because they are subtitled in English and can be viewed anywhere, anytime, and for free.
It was not easy to select films that will be included in the book from the more than 200 films on the KFA's channel. Given the nature of the UAE, which is a monarchy, films with politically sensitive content, such as “Our Distorted Hero” (Park Jong-won, 1992) were excluded. Some films that are rated for all ages were also excluded if they were deemed inappropriate for viewing in Islamic countries. In this way, 10 classic films were selected, starting with the pansori film “Seong Chun-hyang” (Shin Sang-ok, 1961); “Jokbo (Im Kwon-taek, 1978),” which depicts the pain of Koreans who had to change their names into Japanese during Japan’s occupation of Korea; and “Jangnam: (Lee Doo-yong, 1984), which chronicles the development of the Korean IT industry. In the introduction to each chapter, the authors talk about each film's place in Korean cinema history, and explain, along with screenshots, Korean elements contained in the work. Relevant short travel information was added to the last part. The manuscript thus was completed that goes through the major periods of Korean history from the Joseon Dynasty to the 1980s and makes a three-dimensional presentation of Korean society and culture.
UAE is a bilingual country which uses English and Arabic as official languages. Accordingly, the plan was to make the textbook a dual-language book of English and Arabic. The English translation was done by a Korean-British international couple, both teachers at the Korean School, for a small fee, but it was difficult to find the right person for the Arabic translation. It was at that time that I got the news that Professor Kim Soo-wan of Arabic Translation and Interpretation at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies was travelling to the UAE to give a book talk on his latest book, “Cities Beyond Religion” (Sultans Book, 2023). I personally met him at the event, and he introduced a lecturer from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies to me. The English and Arabic manuscripts had been completed, and it was time to design the book. However, since Arabic is written in the opposite direction to Korean, from right to left, it was impossible to work with a common design program. Then I remembered a brochure from the 2023 Sharjah International Book Fair, where Korea was the guest of honor. At that time, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea had produced and distributed dual English-Arabic books, and I thought I could contact who designed the book. I contacted the international exchange officer at the institute, and the same book designer became involved in the ‘Understanding Korea through Film’ project.
As a monarchy, the UAE does not have constitutional freedom of speech and publishing. Therefore, one should obtain a printing license from the Media Council of the Ministry of Culture to publish a book. Before this project, no Korean had any experience in publishing locally, so we didn't know the process. We visited the Ministry of Culture and spoke to an official. He told us that all censorship is done through an e-service, and that we need to submit a PDF of the book with the printing application. We submitted the application online, and a week later, we received the printing license. It was also important to find a reliable print shop. I had noticed that my favorite museum, 421 Art Campus, always produces dual English-Arabic exhibition art brochures. Visiting the print shop listed in the brochures, I found it to be large and trustworthy, so I decided to have the book published there.
After a long and arduous journey, 700 copies of the book were finally completed, and all that remained was to distribute them. We visited international schools such as the Repton School and donated books to major libraries such as the Khalifa Park Library in Abu Dhabi and the House of Wisdom in Sharjah. I also visited the Sejong Institute in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to distribute the books to locals studying Korean, and asked the lecturers there to use them as well. A particularly memorable event was the UAE Korean Film Festival. Shortly after the book was published, the UAE Korean Film Festival was organized by the Korean Cultural Centre. We agreed to distribute the book directly to the audience at the theatre. Many foreigners were happy to receive the book, and I signed their names in Korean and held a small autograph signing ceremony, which was a perfect event for the ‘Understanding Korea through Film’ project.
As the Korean Wave is blowing in the UAE as well, local Arabs' interest in and affinity for Korea is growing. However, until now, only a few books on Korea have been published in Arabic, either as Korean language understanding materials or literary works. The “Understanding Korea through Film” (co-authored by Kim Do-Yeon, Lee Young-sook, Chung Mi-Jung, and Kim Na-Young), which was produced through this project, is the first Arabic-language book that relates to the history, society, and culture of Korea through film. I am grateful to the Academy of Korean Studies for supporting the project, and I hope that this book will help many foreigners understand Korea better and introduce them to the new K-content of ‘classic Korean cinema.’
Korean schools usually pay rent for leasing local school buildings. However, the Korean School of Abu Dhabi uses the building of Aishah Bint Abi Baker School (Aishah Girls' High School) on every Saturday free of charge. The reason is that the mother of an Emirati (native UAE) friend of one of the Korean School students is the principal of the local high school. In return, teachers at the Korean School have been running a Korean language understanding club for local high school girls. They also participate in the school's annual National Day festival, running a booth introducing Korea. Beyond serving as an educational institution for the children of expatriates, the Korean School of Abu Dhabi plays a role in spreading Korean culture to the local community. In 2023, the school was chosen for the Academy of Korean Studies’ ‘Understanding Korea Educational Content Development and Activity Support Project,’ which gave it an opportunity to develop a textbook about Korea. The project was titled ‘Understanding Korea through Film.’
The project aimed to enhance the effectiveness of the Understanding Korea Project by creating teaching materials using films. While watching a film, audiences are exposed to both audio and visual contents and acquire knowledge and experiences in a short time. Whereas the existing book-based materials can only provide a short-term knowledge, the film’s characteristics help deepen and broaden understanding of Korea based on vivid audio-visual experiences. The project focused on ‘Korean classic films.’ It was because classic films reflect Korean society, history, and culture better than contemporary films, and they also have high aesthetic values. The project used only films that are available on the YouTube channel of the Korean Film Archive (https://www.youtube.com/@KoreanFilm), a public institution that collects and preserves Korean films. It is not always easy for an overseas instructor to obtain film files or DVDs, so the channel is a great source of educational content because they are subtitled in English and can be viewed anywhere, anytime, and for free.
It was not easy to select films that will be included in the book from the more than 200 films on the KFA's channel. Given the nature of the UAE, which is a monarchy, films with politically sensitive content, such as “Our Distorted Hero” (Park Jong-won, 1992) were excluded. Some films that are rated for all ages were also excluded if they were deemed inappropriate for viewing in Islamic countries. In this way, 10 classic films were selected, starting with the pansori film “Seong Chun-hyang” (Shin Sang-ok, 1961); “Jokbo (Im Kwon-taek, 1978),” which depicts the pain of Koreans who had to change their names into Japanese during Japan’s occupation of Korea; and “Jangnam: (Lee Doo-yong, 1984), which chronicles the development of the Korean IT industry. In the introduction to each chapter, the authors talk about each film's place in Korean cinema history, and explain, along with screenshots, Korean elements contained in the work. Relevant short travel information was added to the last part. The manuscript thus was completed that goes through the major periods of Korean history from the Joseon Dynasty to the 1980s and makes a three-dimensional presentation of Korean society and culture.
UAE is a bilingual country which uses English and Arabic as official languages. Accordingly, the plan was to make the textbook a dual-language book of English and Arabic. The English translation was done by a Korean-British international couple, both teachers at the Korean School, for a small fee, but it was difficult to find the right person for the Arabic translation. It was at that time that I got the news that Professor Kim Soo-wan of Arabic Translation and Interpretation at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies was travelling to the UAE to give a book talk on his latest book, “Cities Beyond Religion” (Sultans Book, 2023). I personally met him at the event, and he introduced a lecturer from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies to me. The English and Arabic manuscripts had been completed, and it was time to design the book. However, since Arabic is written in the opposite direction to Korean, from right to left, it was impossible to work with a common design program. Then I remembered a brochure from the 2023 Sharjah International Book Fair, where Korea was the guest of honor. At that time, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea had produced and distributed dual English-Arabic books, and I thought I could contact who designed the book. I contacted the international exchange officer at the institute, and the same book designer became involved in the ‘Understanding Korea through Film’ project.
As a monarchy, the UAE does not have constitutional freedom of speech and publishing. Therefore, one should obtain a printing license from the Media Council of the Ministry of Culture to publish a book. Before this project, no Korean had any experience in publishing locally, so we didn't know the process. We visited the Ministry of Culture and spoke to an official. He told us that all censorship is done through an e-service, and that we need to submit a PDF of the book with the printing application. We submitted the application online, and a week later, we received the printing license. It was also important to find a reliable print shop. I had noticed that my favorite museum, 421 Art Campus, always produces dual English-Arabic exhibition art brochures. Visiting the print shop listed in the brochures, I found it to be large and trustworthy, so I decided to have the book published there.
After a long and arduous journey, 700 copies of the book were finally completed, and all that remained was to distribute them. We visited international schools such as the Repton School and donated books to major libraries such as the Khalifa Park Library in Abu Dhabi and the House of Wisdom in Sharjah. I also visited the Sejong Institute in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to distribute the books to locals studying Korean, and asked the lecturers there to use them as well. A particularly memorable event was the UAE Korean Film Festival. Shortly after the book was published, the UAE Korean Film Festival was organized by the Korean Cultural Centre. We agreed to distribute the book directly to the audience at the theatre. Many foreigners were happy to receive the book, and I signed their names in Korean and held a small autograph signing ceremony, which was a perfect event for the ‘Understanding Korea through Film’ project.
As the Korean Wave is blowing in the UAE as well, local Arabs' interest in and affinity for Korea is growing. However, until now, only a few books on Korea have been published in Arabic, either as Korean language understanding materials or literary works. The “Understanding Korea through Film” (co-authored by Kim Do-Yeon, Lee Young-sook, Chung Mi-Jung, and Kim Na-Young), which was produced through this project, is the first Arabic-language book that relates to the history, society, and culture of Korea through film. I am grateful to the Academy of Korean Studies for supporting the project, and I hope that this book will help many foreigners understand Korea better and introduce them to the new K-content of ‘classic Korean cinema.’
