Understanding the System’s Logic
The differences in the Korean academic job market aren’t arbitrary—they reflect deeper institutional practices and priorities. Take, for example, how research is evaluated in history departments. In the U.S., job candidates spend considerable time describing their book projects because books are central to the tenure process. In Korea, the focus is dramatically different. The quantification of research output isn’t just a hiring criterion; it’s fundamental to the entire academic career trajectory, including promotion and tenure.
Consider Yonsei University’s promotion requirements in humanities: a minimum of six peer-reviewed articles, with at least five as main author during the assistant professor period. And “minimum” truly means minimum—most departments set their bars significantly higher. A peer-reviewed article in a top-tier Korean journal can be published in under 60 days, and reviewers typically get just two weeks to evaluate submissions. This pace, which often prioritizes institutional efficiency over individual circumstances, is simply part of Korean academic life.
You’ll be lucky if you employer counts your grand monograph as three, or even two academic papers. In short, it’s simply not worth it. Insisting that you want to focus on your book projects instead of holding a long publication record is mostly academic suicide in Korea. Oh, and in case it wasn’t clear, what I just wrote was indeed my story, my mistake.
Assessing Your Position: Strengths and Weaknesses
- Strengths:
Korean academia continues to value English language capabilities, even in humanities. I understand the absurdity this might cause – people joke about how a Chinese language department would have to force their candidates to give a job talk pretending to teach Chinese to a Korean audience in English. Yes, it’s controversial. I don’t think most humanities department would enjoy having their class enrollment shortened by their new hire teaching in English. But then, the ability to communicate, teach, and publish in English remains a significant advantage when convincing university leadership of your value. Advocate and demonstrate that you have the capability to teach and publish in English.
GET your publications out. Ideally, find journals that have a faster turn around. Yes, these won’t be your ideal journal. My article in the Journal of Economic and Social History of the Orients almost took 3 years to be published (admittedly, I was slow to respond the the reviewer’s revise request). Unfortunately, you can’t afford that speed here (remember – “speed” from the previous section). You job, your life is at peril – it’s time to face the reality, not your ideal. Again, remember that your potential competitors have published 5 articles in the last year, mostly revising their terms papers from grad school. What can you offer? An ideal book proposal, [ideally] accepted by the prestigious dream publisher? Sorry, your publication count starts as “zero.”
- Weaknesses:
Your disadvantages are likely more numerous and significant than you realize:
First, your understanding of Korean academia is probably limited. The experience gained during a master’s program in Korea offers only a narrow glimpse of the system’s complexities. The academic culture you’ll encounter as a faculty member differs substantially from what you experienced as a student. And the hiring committee knows this, so the will have their concerns.
Second, and perhaps more critically, you’re likely an unknown entity in Korean academia. While you’ve been pursuing your Ph.D. in the United States, your potential competitors have been building networks and reputations within Korea. This visibility gap matters enormously given the rapid hiring timeline—you’ll have minimal time to make your case during the formal hiring process.
Practical Steps for Preparation
1. Study the Market
Start by familiarizing yourself with job advertisements on https://hibrain.net. Pay particular attention to how positions are advertised—most Korean job ads are published at the university level rather than by individual departments, so you’ll need to use the search function effectively.
2. Rebuild Your Network
Your presence in the Korean academic community needs to be re-established. Attend conferences, but don’t just attend—offer to present and share your research. Active participation is crucial for visibility.
3. Build Your Publication Record
The standard minimal publication requirement for job candidates in Korea is 3 to 6 articles in the past three years. This might sound impossible—how can anyone produce 2-3 articles annually? Yet your Korean competitors, who understand these expectations intimately, often publish 3-4 or even 5 articles in their first year after graduation. This isn’t because they’re necessarily more productive, but because they understand what hiring committees expect and plan accordingly.
This may seem like a daunting system to navigate, especially coming from a U.S. academic environment. The key is to recognize that success requires more than just adapting to different rules—it requires understanding why these rules exist and how they reflect broader institutional and cultural priorities in Korean academia.
Wonhee Cho 