Cultural contacts between Korea and the Islamic world are regarded as an outcome of the commercial relations between ancient China and Arabia through sea-routes, and believed to be initiated as early as the third century H. – middle of the 9th century A.D. Thus, contrary to the previously shared understanding that Islam had been introduced in Korea in 1955 by the Turkish brigade that was part of the UN forces, Islam or its cultural influence had penetrated into Korea long before. This book traces the various aspects of this historical heritage which was supported by close and friendly contacts between Korea and the Islamic cultural area as well as by educational activities of Turkic communities in the pre-modern period in Korea.
This has been a pioneering book in clarifying this process. The author, Prof. Hee Soo LEE, is Professor in the Department of Cultural Anthropology, Hanyang University, Korea, and Director of the University Museum. He devoted years of research to this theme starting with his doctorate studies at Istanbul University towards his thesis titled “The spread of Islamic-Turkic culture to East Asia” written in Turkish. At the invitation of IRCICA, the author translated it into English, resulting in this book titled “The Advent of Islam in Korea (A Historical Account). The author’s research interest on this topic continued since then, culminating in a later publication by IRCICA titled “Korea and the Muslim World. A Historical Account” in 2020.
