HONOLULU — The University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Center for Korea Studies celebrates its 50th anniversary on Thursday, and the public is invited to attend the event.

What You Need To Know

  • The celebration will include an introduction to the center, a commemoration, a photo exhibit and bento box lunch

  • The highlight of the event will be a workshop with stories of Korean immigrants led by the center’s educators

  • The event is located at the Center for Korean Studies auditorium at 1881 East-West Road

Established in 1972, the Center for Korean Studies is the oldest and largest Korean studies institution outside of Korea, according to the university. The center has over 40 faculty members, who span a variety of expertises, including language, history, literature, music, dance, architecture and law, and offers courses and conducts research related to Korea.  

The elegant building that houses the Center for Korean Studies was built in 1979. The design is based on the Kyŏngbok Palace, which is in Seoul. In particular, it replicates the Kunjŏngjŏn, a Korean palace throne hall, where the king’s coronation and court rituals were held. Inside the building, there are two floors of offices and meeting rooms, a classroom, an auditorium, a library and a collection of art and artifacts. The octagonal pavilion is based on the design of the Hyangwŏnjŏng Pavilion, located in a lotus pond near the throne hall on the Kyŏngbok Palace grounds.

The celebration will include an introduction to the center, a commemoration, a photo exhibit and bento box lunch. The highlight of the event will be a workshop with stories of Korean immigrants led by the center’s educators. 

The history of Korean immigration to Hawaii starts on Jan. 13, 1903, when 102 Koreans first entered Honolulu after traveling on a steamship. Within two years, 7,400 Koreans had immigrated to the islands and many of them worked on the plantations, sending what they earned back home. 

“To me, [the Center for Korean Studies] is especially important in leading the field in the development of Korean studies in the U.S.,” Edward Shultz, a Professor of Asian Studies who is speaking at the workshop, said to Spectrum News in an email. “When the study of Asia was sort of still starting out, the UH had already committed to the study of Korea and established the first center to study Korea in the U.S.”

In 1954, the university offered its first course in Korean language studies. In 1967, more than a dozen professors advocated for the establishment of a Korean studies-focused center.  

The event is located at the Center for Korean Studies auditorium at 1881 East-West Road, and will take place between 12-4 p.m. 

For more information, please visit the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s website. 

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii.