Korean–Australian Links Strengthened
(L-R) Mr Song In-Sung, Second Secretary, Embassy
of the Republic of Korea; His Excellency Mr Chang-Beom Cho, Ambassador of the Republic of
Korea; Ms Jan Fullerton, Director-General; Ms Amelia McKenzie, Director, Asian Collections;
Mrs Jung-Ok Park, Head, Korean Unit
Photo courtesy Loui Seselja, National Library
The National Library’s Korean collection was recently enriched by a generous donation of books from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Canberra.
The donation was made in December, when the Embassy provided some 200 Korean books and DVDs to be added to the Library’s Korean collection. The Korean language collections of the National Library are the largest in Australia and are used regularly by students and researchers.
The Korean Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Chang-Beom Cho, visited the Library on 17 December to personally present the books to the Director-General, Ms Jan Fullerton. At the presentation ceremony the Ambassador spoke of his wish to strengthen links between Korea and Australia, and the role of books and reading in increasing knowledge and awareness of other cultures. He hoped that the donation would help to foster a greater mutual understanding between the peoples of Korea and Australia.
The books will be catalogued by the Library’s Korean staff and made available through Libraries Australia and the Library catalogue. Both of these databases now display Korean characters as well as romanised forms. The Library welcomes reference enquiries about Korea and its Korean collections. Enquiries should be directed to Mrs Jung-Ok Park, Head, Korean Unit (jopark@nla.gov.au). Amelia McKenzie
Director, Asian Collections