Jaroslav Bařinka: Reflections on Czechoslovak-Korean Cold-War Encounters

LECTURER: Vladimir Hlasny
DATE: Tuesday, October 12, 2021. 7:30PM (Seoul)
VENUE: Zoom

Summary:
Jaroslav Bařinka, the leading Czech scholar of Korean Studies, founding figure of Korean Studies in Czechoslovakia, and among the longest-serving Czech diplomats operating in both Koreas, died at the age of 89 years on 3 October 2020. Bařinka had made invaluable contributions introducing Korean traditional culture, archeology and literature to non-Korean audiences based on his extensive travels in the Koreas, Japan and China spanning half a century. He served as an interpreter and Second Secretary at the Czechoslovak embassy in Pyongyang starting in 1955 and as late as 1976. He was the first civilian Czech to visit ROK back in 1970, returning there during the 1988 Olympics and in 1991 as Czechoslovakia’s – and in 1993 Czechia’s – first chargé d’affaires to Seoul. He was notorious for his meticulous note-taking, sharp eyes and a sound technical mind. To the moment of his death he could talk at length about metallurgical deposits across Czechia and North Korea, the extraction process, and their chemical properties – or about Confucian writings and architecture.

This lecture recounts Bařinka’s experiences from his long career in Korean scholarship, interpretation and diplomacy, with the aim to shed light on Czechoslovak–Korean political relations, scholarly and cultural exchange, and physical encounters from the 1950s to the 2000s. It is based on fifteen long conversations with Bařinka between October 2014 and August 2019 initiated with the objective to trace the beginnings of the Korean Studies in Czechoslovakia.

Bio:
Vladimir Hlasny is an economic affairs officer with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in Beirut. Prior to joining ESCWA, he served for 13 years as an associate professor of Economics at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. He presently conducts research in labor and welfare economics, particularly in relation to Asia and the Middle East. In History, he has undertaken several studies on the subject of Czechoslovak–Korean relations during the Cold War. His research has been published in general-interest journals including the World Bank Economic Review, Journal of Economic Surveys, Social Science Quarterly and the Korea Journal. He holds a doctorate in Economics from Michigan State University, and is an avid gardener and beekeeper.

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