As the new editor in chief, it is my great honor to present the first special issue of the Journal of Korean Studies since the editorial office found its new home at George Washington University. I would like to thank outgoing editor in chief Theodore Hughes for his excellent leadership of the journal (2016–19) and his team at Columbia University. Under his leadership, JKS not only partnered with Duke University Press and enhanced the overall quality of the journal but also initiated new activities such as the journal’s promotion through social media. My plan is to continue to maintain the high standards set by the former editor and his team. In doing so, the primary goal is to publish excellent scholarship across disciplines and introduce new methodological approaches that examine Korea in local, regional, and global contexts. I welcome all scholarship that expands our knowledge of Korea in significant ways.
This special issue was planned and reviewed under the editorship of Theodore Hughes, so it exclusively comprises pieces accepted before my term began. I would like to acknowledge the Center for Korean Research at Columbia University for hosting the workshop that led to the special issue. Also, thanks to Jooyeon Kim for coordinating the review process and working on the special issue throughout the final publication. Guest edited by Hyaeweol Choi (University of Iowa), the October 2020 special issue, “The Sacred and the Secular: Protestant Christianity as Lived Experience in Modern Korea,” brings together six articles that engage in dialogue on the topic of Protestant Christianity in modern Korea from an interdisciplinary approach. By complicating the boundary between the sacred and the secular in the Korean context, it introduces cutting-edge research that investigates the history of Protestantism and sheds new light in multifaceted ways. In addition to the six articles, this issue also includes two book reviews.
—Jisoo Kim
The publication of the Journal of Korean Studies was supported by the 2020 Korean Studies Grant Program of the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2020-P16). We are currently accepting submissions for the spring general issues, as well as proposals for our annual fall special issues.