11 Books under AKS Project to be Launched at JNU on Sep 30

New Delhi, India – Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) will host the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) Project Book Launch on September 30 at its New Delhi campus, bringing together senior leadership from JNU and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to mark the culmination of an AKS-supported scholarly project and the release of multiple new titles in Korean Studies.

Lee Seong-ho, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, and Prof. Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, Vice-Chancellor of JNU, are slated to lead the ceremony alongside project director Prof. Ravikesh. About 50 invitees—including embassy officials, the Korean Association in India, faculty and scholars from the Centre for Korean Studies (CKS) and the Centre for East Asian Studies (CEAS)—are expected.

According to Dr. Kaushal Kumar, Chairperson, Centre for Korean Studies, JNU, the event opens with an interaction between the Ambassador and the JNU Vice-Chancellor at the VC Office. The formal session runs in Room 225, Administrative Block, featuring a welcome by the CKS Chairperson; a Project Conclusion Presentation by Prof. Ravikesh; congratulatory addresses by Prof. Pandit and Ambassador Lee; the book-launch ceremony; and a vote of thanks by Prof. Jitendra Uttam, followed by high tea. An interaction with CKS and CEAS faculty and students will be held in the Committee Hall, Convention Centre.

The launch highlights a slate of publications authored and edited by JNU faculty associated with CKS (School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies) and CEAS (School of International Studies).

The list includes College Korean 1-1 and College Korean 2-1 with accompanying workbook (Goyal, 2023) by Kim Do Young and Ravikesh; Nativised Textbook on Korean Culture (Manak, 2023) by Kim Young Soon, Neerja Samajdar and Kaushal Kumar; Nativised Textbook on Korean Literature (Manak, 2023) by Ravikesh and Satyanshu Srivastava; Emerging Trends in Korean Studies in India: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (Manak, 2024) by Kaushal Kumar and Neerja Samajdar; and Emerging Trends in Korean Studies in South Asia: An Inter-Cultural Perspective (Vol. 2) (Manak, 2024) edited by Satyanshu Srivastava and Sanjay Kr Jha.

Korean Studies in India & South Asia: Literature & Education (Manak, 2024) and Korean Studies in India & South Asia (Manak, 2025), both by Ravikesh; the Hindi title Dwar ki Bahar Murgi (Manak, 2024) by Ravikesh and Naushad Alam; and Korean Studies in India & South Asia: An Inter-Cultural Perspective (Manak, 2024) by Kaushal Kumar also figure in the list of 11 books.

Dignitaries expected include Ms. Hye Won Jung (First Secretary) and Ms. Ko Hojeong (Director, KEC) from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea; Lee Kwang-il, President of the Korean Association in India; and representatives from media, including Sanjeev K Ahuja, CEO of Asian Community News (ACN) Network, and civil society.

From JNU, the invitee list features Prof. Brajesh Kumar Pandey (Rector-I), Prof. D.N. Das (Rector-II), Prof. Ravikesh (Professor & Registrar), CKS faculty Dr. Neerja Samajdar, Dr. Kaushal Kumar, Dr. Satyanshu Srivastava, Santosh Kumar Ranjan, Dr. Manish Kumar Barnwal, Dr. Rahul Raj and Sanjay Kumar Jha; and CEAS faculty Prof. Jitendra Uttam, Prof. Sandip Mishra, Prof. Hriday Narayan and Dr. Sudhakar Vaddi.

The event underscores the rapid institutional growth of Korean Studies in India and JNU’s collaborative links with Korean partners. By bringing together language pedagogy, culture and literature studies, and South Asia-focused research, the AKS project’s outputs aim to strengthen curricula, expand research frontiers and provide locally contextualised learning resources for the next generation of Korean Studies scholars.

The Ambassador’s campus interaction with faculty and students is expected to further deepen academic and cultural ties between India and the Republic of Korea ahead of the new academic cycle.