A Graduate Student Perspective: Gene Kim, G7, EALC-HEAL, KI Graduate Summer Research Grant, Summer 2025

My research explores the intertwined histories of Korea and Japan on the ocean, where questions of maritime space, everyday livelihood, and sovereignty have long intersected and been negotiated. Fishers from both sides of the sea have fought for access to its resources, and states have followed in their wake to compete with one another in securing this access, across the longue durée of Korea-Japan relations. My research focuses on how this struggle for access manifested itself before, during, and after Japanese empire. By tracing continuities and ruptures across these different historical moments, I seek to illuminate how oceanic and maritime disputes were not only matters of local livelihood but also became entangled with larger questions of empire, diplomacy, and postliberation reconstruction and nation-building. 

The generous funding I received from the Korea Institute made it possible for me to travel to Korea this past summer and dedicate myself fully to archival research and writing. The opportunity to spend extended time in the archives was invaluable. Materials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archives, the National Library, and the National Archives have proven to be particularly valuable. Thanks to the Korea Institute summer research grant, I not only made additional archival discoveries directly relevant to my topic but also completed an additional dissertation chapter that emerged from these new materials. This chapter, which will be the first body chapter of my dissertation, explores the roots of maritime conflict in the late nineteenth century. By delving into the dynamics that brought Japanese fishers to Korean coastal waters during the late Chosŏn period, I examine the competition that subsequently erupted between Japanese and Korean fishers. 

Being located in Seoul thanks to the KI, I also was able to participate in the 18th Worldwide Consortium for Korean Studies Centers, held at Korea University in August. I presented a part of my research and received valuable feedback and questions from the discussants and audience members. The material I presented will be included in a chapter on post-1945 Korea’s changing relationship to the ocean. As I near the final stages of my Ph.D. journey, I have ample cause to reflect on, and be deeply touched by, the generosity of the Korea Institute during my time at Harvard allowing me the research I have completed and the memories made in Korea.