Royal Asiatic Society Korea

[Lecture] 'How the Green Climate Fund Advances Access to Climate Finance'

Tue, Feb 24 · 7:20 PM KST

서울시공익활동지원센터 Seoul Public Activities Center, 용산베르디움프렌즈 101동 지하1층 (삼각지역 도보3분), Seoul, KR

LECTURE TITLE:
Global Climate Issues: How the Green Climate Fund Advances Access to Climate Finance

SPEAKER: Olena Borysova

DATE: Tuesday. February 24, 2026. 7:20PM (Seoul)

VENUE: Seoul Public Activities Center (SPAC, 서울시공익활동지원센터). ‘다목적홀’

(ADDRESS: Basement Floor, 40 Baekbeomro 99-gil, Yongsan Verdium Friends(용산베르디움프렌즈) #101, Yongsan-gu, Seoul), 2-3 minutes walking from Exit 8 of Samgakji-Station (Line 6 & Line 4)

ADMISSION (Online & In-person): “Open to everyone, free of charge”

• Online Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87470730483?pwd=txUCIfVsgseHWaD1ev9eZpmlGqFbIc.1

SUMMARY:

Drawing on over two decades of experience in climate policy, finance, and institutional capacity building, Olena will provide an insider’s perspective on how the Green Climate Fund — the world’s largest dedicated climate fund — supports developing countries in implementing mitigation and adaptation solutions. She will explain how GCF works with accredited institutions to channel funding, strengthen national systems, and ensure climate investments align with countries’ development priorities and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

A central focus of the lecture will be direct access to climate finance — an approach that enables national and regional institutions in developing countries to access and manage funding directly. Olena will discuss how strengthening institutional capacity, governance systems, and project design capabilities enables countries to take greater ownership of climate action and scale sustainable solutions.

The talk will also highlight the importance of international partnerships and the unique role of the Republic of Korea as host of the GCF Secretariat and a leader in global climate cooperation. Korea’s support for innovation, private sector engagement, and knowledge sharing demonstrates how host countries can contribute to accelerating climate solutions worldwide.

Participants will gain a clearer understanding of global climate finance architecture, the challenges countries face in accessing funding, and how the GCF continues to evolve to make climate finance more accessible, effective, and responsive to global needs.

BIO:

Olena Borysova is a climate finance and sustainable development specialist with over 20 years of experience in climate change, energy and resource efficiency, environmental governance and policy, and institutional capacity building. She currently serves as a Principal in the Investment Services Department at the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in Songdo, Republic of Korea, where she leads efforts to strengthen direct access to climate finance and enhance developing countries’ ability to mobilize and manage climate investments.

Prior to joining the GCF, Olena worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as Principal for Policy and Climate Finance. Earlier in her career, she managed climate and energy programmes in Ukraine, supporting policy development and implementation to improve energy efficiency and environmental performance.

Olena has also contributed to environmental research and higher education as a Fulbright Scholar in the United States and as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bologna, Italy, experiences that further strengthened her international perspective on climate governance and policy.

She holds a PhD in Environmental Geography from Kharkiv National Karazin University (Ukraine) and an MSc in Environmental Pollution and Control from the University of Manchester (United Kingdom).

Olena is currently based in Songdo, South Korea.

[Colloquium] Korean & Japanese Field Research on East & Inner Asia (1939-1945)

Thu, Feb 26 · 6:00 PM KST

Location not specified yet

Seoul Colloquium in Korean Studies
(the Seoul Center of EFEO)

TITLE: 'Korean and Japanese Field Research on the Geography of East and Inner Asia under Colonisation (1939-1945)

SPEAKER: Robert Winstanley-Chesters

The February 2026 session of the “Seoul Colloquium in Korean Studies” organized by the Seoul Center of the EFEO will be held as an in-person event on Thursday February 26th in the Grand Conference Room (Room number 310), of the Asiatic Research Institute, Korea University, beginning at 6:00 pm.

All who wish to participate are asked to register in advance by sending an email to efeoseoul@hotmail.com

DATE: Thursday. February 26, 2024. 6:00PM

VENUE: Grand Conference Room (#310), of the Asiatic Research Institute, Korea University

Take Exit 1 from Korea University subway station, turn right onto the footpath leading up onto the campus. Walk straight up the road past LG Posco Hall, the Business School and Main Library (all on the right hand side). The Asiatic Research Institute (ARI) is the building next after the Main Library (Campus Map)

After 6 PM the front door of the Institute may be locked. If the door is locked, phone to the EFEO Seoul Center (02-921-4526) so that we can let you into the building.

[Image: Professor Tada Fumio and students from Keijo Imperial University engaging in trigonometric fieldwork in Mengjiang/Inner Mongolia in 1939. © Komazawa University collection]

SUMMARY:

The 1930s witnessed extraordinary developments in geographic knowledge production practices in Inner Asia. Rapid technological change and an imperial project meant that the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia was suddenly required to become knowable and quantifiable to the Japanese empire. This presentation considers academic production on Inner Mongolia (known to the Japanese as Mengjiang or Mōkyō) between 1939-1945, and the role played by Korean and Japanese geographers’ fieldwork there. This fieldwork sought not only to understand the area’s geography, but also to make knowable its future agricultural and productive potential. In particular the paper focuses on visits of a collaborative team of Korean and Japanese Geographers, led by Professor Tada Fumio, who made field trips to Inner Mongolia in 1939/1940, and the material remains of these visits including fieldwork notebooks held by Komazawa University, Tokyo and field reports produced by Keijō Imperial University’s Man-Mou/Man-Mong/Continental Research Group. Professor Tada and his researchers undertook trigonometric and slope analysis and other methodologies to analyse the role of climate and soil in the area’s agricultural future. Finally, the presentation considers these exchanges between Korean and Japanese academics and the landscapes themselves through the lens of social and historical geography, and their contribution to imagined visions of Inner and East Asian geographic and social scientific futures.

BIO:

Robert Winstanley-Chesters is currently a Kyujanggak Fellow at SNU’s ICKS. Prior to this Robert Winstanley-Chesters worked as an AKS Teaching and Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, a Lecturer at York St John University, Bath Spa University, University of Leeds, Birkbeck, University of London, as a Research Fellow at Australian National University, and as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge. He obtained a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Leeds in 2008/2013. Author of the monographs ‘Vibrant Matter(s): Fish, Fishing and Community in North Korea and Her Neighbours’ (Springer, 2020) and ‘New Goddess on Mt Paektu: Myth and Transformation in North Korean Landscape’ (Black Halo/Amazon KDP, 2020), he is currently researching the processes and landscapes of geographic knowledge production, fieldwork and theory during the Japanese Imperial and Korean colonial era, which is the subject of a forthcoming co-authored monograph for Amsterdam University Press/Routledge.

[Korean Literature Club] 'Alien Gods' (by Lee Suhyeon; tran by Anton Hur)

Thu, Mar 12 · 7:30 PM KST

North Terrace book-cafe, 종로구 율곡로 10길 12, (12 Yulgokno 10 gil, Jongno-gu), Seoul, KR

Dear Members and Friends,

For the March meeting, we will read and discuss ‘Alien Gods’, authored by Lee Suhyeon and translated by Anton Hur.

The meeting will be led by Jeremy Seligson and held IN-PERSON only.

WHEN_ Thursday. March 12, 2026. 7:30PM (Seoul)

WHERE_B1, North Terrace Cafe (near Anguk Station or Jongno-3 ga Station (Subway Line 1, 3, or 5))

LEADER_Jeremy Seligson

READ_ ‘Alien Gods’, authored by Lee Suheon (translated by Anton Hur)

BOOK PURCHASE: Kyobo https://product.kyobobook.co.kr/detail/S000217944271

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Minsuh, an anthropology student researching shamanistic rituals and the mudangs who perform them, has dismissed the supernatural her whole life. To her, mudangs are performers skilled at pleasing researchers. But as she gets deeper into her research, she’s afflicted with a mysterious shinbyeong— a holy sickness unique to Korea—causing her to start losing her mind. In her desperation, she turns to a “real” mudang, but will she find salvation for her affliction or will she be driven further into her madness?

Alien Gods is part of the Lovecraft Reanimated project, where leading Korean speculative fiction writers reimagine the works of horror master H.P. Lovecraft. While honoring his eerie, grotesque imagery and the blurred boundaries between reality and fantasy, they update his ideas for a global audience.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lee Suhyeon is a speculative fiction writer and translator. She holds a master’s degree in anthropology, with research focused on Korean shamanism—a theme that frequently appears in her fiction. After debuting in 2002 with the Korean Fantasy Award, she has spent the next two decades introducing English-language SF and fantasy to Korean readers, playing a significant role in the genre’s growth in Korea. Her original works include ALIEN GODS, part of the Lovecraft Reanimated series; the modern fantasy WHEN THERE WERE GUARDIAN DEITIES IN SEOUL; and the climate fiction A DESERT OCEAN. She has also contributed stories to several anthologies, exploring speculative worlds through a unique lens.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR:

Anton Hur translated CURSED BUNNY, YOUR UTOPIA, and RED SWORD by Bora Chung, THE UNDERGROUND VILLAGE by Kang Kyeong-ae, and co-translated THE AGE OF DOUBT by Pak Kyongni. He is the author of TOWARD ETERNITY.

VENUE:

The ‘North Terrace Cafe (Basement)’ is located at 12 Yulgok-ro 10-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Go to Anguk Station on the Orange #3 Line. Go out Exit 4 and do an immediate U-turn on the sidewalk. Then take a right in front of the Japanese Cultural Center and walk towards Changdeok-gung, but on the opposite side of the main street (Yulgok-ro) from the palace.

[Cultural Excursion] 'From Anam to Haengdang: Exploring Seoul's Urban Fabric'

Sat, Mar 21 · 1:00 PM KST

Location not specified yet

TITLE:
From Anam to Haengdang: Exploring Seoul’s Urban Fabric

LEADER: Matt VanVolkenburg

DATE: Saturday, March 21, 2026. 1:00pm to 5:00pm

DESTINATION: Anam-dong to Haengdang-dong

COST: KRW 25,000 for Members; KRW 30,000 for Non-members

MEETING POINT: EXIT 1 of Anam Station (안암역, #639, Subway Line 6). At 1:00PM.

REGISTRATION: RSVP by March 19 (Thursday) with payment of the fee via bank transfer. Please register one RSVP at a time.

RSVP: https://forms.gle/CbtjCTL6eAXkAQ7L8

☞Payment to be remitted to the following account:
SHINHAN BANK ACCOUNT # 100-026-383501 (RAS-KB)

*Reservation is not confirmed until payment has been received by RAS Korea in advance of the event.

The area northeast and east of Dongdaemun was first incorporated into the city of Seoul in 1936, and it was during this period that urbanization began, mostly in the low-lying areas and along streams. Places like Gaeunsa Temple and Seonnongdan Altar predated this process, while other sites, like Seongdong train station or the site of the 1940 Chosen Industrial Exposition have come and gone in the meantime. What stands today in this area are a variety of neighbourhoods featuring many different building types, and this walk will focus on exploring as many urban textures as possible.

Beginning at Anam Station, we will take a short walk north to Gaeunsa Temple and Botasa Temple, the latter of which hosts a Goryeo-era seated Bodhisattva statue carved into the hillside. From there we will head south to a museum dedicated to the Seonnongdan Altar, which was dedicated to the worship of the mythical emperors of ancient China who introduced agriculture to the people; it is also related to the origin of the name of Seolleongtang soup. From there we will walk to Jeongneungcheon stream and enjoy the flora and fauna along the stream before passing the site of the former Seongdong train station and walking through a neighbourhood of hanoks dating to the 1930s. From there we pass through an area of hanoks and row housing from the 1960s and 1970s, take in the site of brand new 60-story apartments built near Cheongnyangni Station, and then explore Yongdu-dong, which hosted the 1940 Chosen Industrial Exposition before becoming home to train repair garages prior to its reconstruction as a neighbourhood of villas in the mid-1970s.

After taking a break at Yongdu Park, we will take a short bus ride south and see the remains of the Gyeongseong Suburban Train line, which ran from Dongdaemun to Ttukseom between 1930 and the mid-1960s, walk through an area with housing dating from the 1930s to the present, take in the Wangsimni New Town, walk through a golmok (alleyway) neighbourhood full of murals painted for local children, and pass through the Haengdong Apartments, built when the hillside area was redeveloped in the late 1990s. The walk will end at Haengdang Station (Line 5).

This walking excursion will set off at 1:00 pm from exit 1 of Anam Station (안암역, #639, Subway Line 6). This tour will involve over 6 km of walking on mostly flat terrain (with a break and short bus ride in the middle), so comfortable walking shoes are recommended. Participants may join Matt afterwards for a coffee or an early dinner (not included in the excursion fee) nearby.