Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities Names New Director After 23 Years... Kyung Hee University Professor Kim Mincheol

Founding Member at Establishment in 1991
Led Projects Including the Biographical Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators

The Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities is replacing its director for the first time in 23 years and embarking on a new leap forward.

The Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities announced on February 12 that it has elected Kyung Hee University Humanities College Assistant Professor Kim Mincheol as its fourth director. He is a founding member who participated as an incorporator when the institute was established in 1991. Since then, he has served as a senior researcher and head of the research office, and as an editor of the Biographical Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators, a long-cherished project of the institute, laying the theoretical foundation for settling the history of the colonial period.

Director Kim has also built his expertise by moving between academia and public office. From 2005 to 2009, he served as Director-General for Planning and Coordination at the Presidential Committee for the Inspection of Collaborations for Japanese Imperialism, leading truth-finding investigations into past affairs. From 2021 until recently, he served as Head of the Compilation Department at the National Institute of Korean History, overseeing the compilation of historical materials and related research.

This election is a follow-up measure to the resignation of former Director Lim Heonyeong, who had led the institute since 2003. Lim was appointed director of the National Museum of Korean Literature on January 8. In line with the government’s principle prohibiting concurrent posts for heads of public institutions, he stepped down from the directorship he had held for 23 years.

The inauguration and retirement ceremony for the outgoing and incoming directors will be held at 3 p.m. on the 28th at the auditorium of the Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, during the ceremony marking the 35th anniversary of the institute’s founding.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.