We met Kim Jin Kyu, Professor of Russian at Korea University in Seoul, when he was in Moscow in early November at the Second Russkiy Mir Assembly. This wasn’t his first time in Russia. Nearly every year he travels here for international language forums. Kim Jin Kyu’s knowledge of Russian is fluent to the extent that his vocabulary is great enough to inspire feelings of envy in a few Russians.
– As far as I understand, South Koreans began studying Russian rather late in comparison to people in other countries?
– It wasn’t until after the Second World War, or, more precisely, after the Korean War. The first Russian language department was opened in 1954 at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Only 20 years later in 1974, the second such department was opened at Korea University by the former rector and Chinese historian, Professor Kim Jin Nyo.
– What was the motivation behind this project?
– A real academic should always have good intuition. It was really a vision of sorts about what we needed to pay more attention to at the moment. As you can see, the professor wasn’t mistaken. Along with the Russian language department, there were departments opened for Japanese, English and Chinese. These languages are connected with the countries that carry the most influence in the world today.
– In your opinion, is it possible to consider interest in a language, Russian for instance, an indicator of how healthy a country is in an economic, political or spiritual sense?
– There is a connection, of course. When the economy grows, we do see an increase in interest in the language and culture of a given country. Let’s take the study of Russian. Objectively speaking, interest is not very strong. A large number of students in South Korea study English because it guarantees good work later on. That’s the reality. We are trying to increase Koreans’ interest in Russian, but after the crisis of the 1990s, interest has fallen off. Only now is it starting to return.
– How did you arrive at this profession yourself? Was it a childhood interest, or one from your later youth?
– During school, we studied only English. German, French and Japanese were all offered as a second foreign language, but languages like Chinese, Russian and Spanish were virtually unknown to us. I decided to study Russian. At that time I wanted to become a diplomat and therefore chose to study a distant language that was unfamiliar to everyone. I wanted to open a world that still closed to us – the Russian north. That was in 1985.
I graduated from the St. Petersburg State University. Before that, I served in the army and was sent to Russia with state funding to study where a close friend of mine was already studying.
I defended my dissertation on the history of Russian language and ancient Russian literary language – “Lexico-Semantic Peculiarities of the Ancient Russian Translation of Nahl.” If you remember, this was an ancient Russian collection of aphorisms. My academic advisor was Professor Vladimir Kolesov. I’m very proud to have been one of his students. Immediately after defending, I returned home to Korea. At first I taught for seven years at Keimyung University in Taegu. Then I came to Korea University in Seoul.
– When students come to you, do you ask why they’ve chosen Russian?
– Of course!
– How do they most often respond?
– They say that Russian is a language with a lot of potential. While it currently ranks behind English, Russian is spoken not only in Russia, but also in much of the CIS. This is a huge territory for a language to cover. All this allows for realization of their future plans.
– Is the Russia of today much different from how it was ten years ago when you studied there?
– I first arrived in Russia in 1993. I remember the date exactly – August 22. I arrived at Sheremetevo wearing only short sleeves. It was very hot in Korea, but in Moscow it was quite cold. My first impression of the country was of a cold, northern place. But then I found out to my surprise that a lot of people lie in the sun here. Even in St. Petersburg, on the beach by the Peter and Paul Fortress, the lie there, almost everyone naked. With time I understood that Russia is an ordinary country where people live.
– But it seemed like something exotic where people didn’t live?
– I said that because when I was in school, this idea of communism always dominated, as well as an impression of countries that supported communism. Because of this, there was a stereotype that existed. It turned out that Russians are a lot more progressive than Koreans. They are freer to speak and think as they like. Over the last ten years, Russia has changed quite a bit. In terms of its standard of living, things have definitely improved, but in terms of spiritual health, especially for young people, definitely not! Their language, behavior and views on life differ considerably from their predecessors. I was in the symphony recently, and there were primarily older people there. Young Russians don’t go listen to classical concerts.
– You mentioned the bad Russian that young people speak. As a Korean, do you really pay attention to how people speak Russian? Has anything struck you in particular? Can you share any examples?
– Taxi drivers and mechanics use a certain three-letter word in almost every sentence. It’s one I hear a lot of other places as well.
– I know that a textbook was published in South Korea a year ago called Russian Through Anecdotes. The book is overflowing with obscene words and expressions. The author’s view was that it was impossible to understand the Russian reality without that. Do you have a firm grasp of Russian profanity?
– I understand it fairly well, and I have several dictionaries, so I know a few expressions…
– Well enough to use on the spur of the moment?
– I haven’t reached this level yet. I try not to use it aside from professional study as a linguist. But I would never use it! I have a completely different attitude toward foreigners who live in Korea and use Korean profanity. To me it indicates a rather low level of education and intelligence.
– Do you have any favorite Russia poets and writers?
– Yes, Pushkin and Nikolai Rubtsov.
– But Rubtsov is considered a very Russian poet. How do the rhythms and images sound to you?
– First, his fate is very similar to that of Pushkin. He died very early, and he saw his future beforehand. What is harmonious here? In Korea, we really like Tchaikovsky, who is considered a very Russian composer. That means there is something in common, a spirit perhaps.
– Is Russian literature known well in South Korea? Is it sold in the bookstores?
– The classics, mainly. Just as we like the music of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, we also like the literature of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Hardly anyone knows the contemporary authors. Generally, specialists only know them.
– Besides you, is there anyone in your immediate surroundings who speaks Russian?
– My wife does. She is a musician. We met in St. Petersburg. We have two daughters, the oldest is nine, and the other is six. She knows a few expressions already – “thank you,” “hello,” and “goodbye.” That’s enough for now. When my wife and I want to keep something from them, we start speaking Russian.
– Is there any data on how many South Koreans study Russian?
- While I don’t have any precise figures, let’s try to come up with a number. In 1985, there were four departments of Russian language and literature. Now there are nearly 30. At Korea University alone, there are 30 students in each of the four levels who specialize in Russian language studies. There are six professors. What is the result?
– If we mentally construct a curve depicting the rise and fall of interest in Russian, which years show the greatest level of interest?
– I would name two peaks. The first was after the Olympics in Seoul when the Soviet team arrived. For the first time, the Koreans saw the Soviet people as kind-hearted, beautiful and interesting. That was one of the big reasons for the large spike in 1989-1990. The second was in 2002-2003 when Russia once again began to assert itself on the international arena.
