Robert Fouser leads a walk through central Seoul's Ikseon-dong, June 5, 2022. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

American linguist and writer Robert Fouser's semi-regular visits to Korea have become a high point for the Korean studies academic community. The independent academic, known for his advocacy of traditional architecture preservation, urban history and Korean language pedagogy, tends to visit Korea at least a couple times a year, during which he participates in various events such as lectures, book talks and walking tours, which may be held in either English or Korean.

For this visit, Fouser will be active with Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea, giving one lecture and leading two walking tours.

Fouser's first walking tour, to be held on Saturday, is titled "Four Historic Houses in Hyehwa-dong and Seongbuk-dong."

"Seongbuk-dong is most famous for large houses of the rich and famous, but parts of it closer to the Seoul City Wall still have a number of hanok that reflect the growth of the area in the early 20th century," he said in an online invitation. "In the 1920s, Seoul's population began to grow rapidly, and by the 1930s, growth from Hyehwa-dong inside the wall had spilled over to outside areas nearby. The four houses on our walk were all built in this wave of early 20th-century growth. We will look at each house in detail to learn about the various styles of residential architecture that emerged at this time with a focus on hanok."

The first house visited belonged to former Prime Minister Chang Myon, who was in office between the fall of Syngman Rhee in 1960 and Park Chung-hee's military coup in 1961. The other houses had been lived in by art historian Choi Sunu, novelist Yi Tae-jun and Buddhist monk-poet Han Yong-un.

The tour starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Joining costs 40,000 won or 30,000 won for RAS Korea members.

On Tuesday, Fouser will give a lecture titled "Searching for the Perfect Writing System: Hangeul Reform Proposals in the 20th Century."

"In this lecture, I examine various attempts to reform Hangeul that were attempted during the 20th century," Fouser said in an online invitation. "Reforms focused on three aspects: linear writing, revised graphemes and new typography design."

These attempts were intended to modernize the Korean writing system, Hangeul, touted for its many advantages, including ease of learning and scientific basis. But advocates of change wanted to reform it, bringing it more in line with alphabetic Western languages and also making it more adaptable to new technology, such as typewriters and later computers.

"The reform proposals, in their search for perfection, drew heavily on various, often conflicting, perceptions of Hangeul's position among writing systems of the world," he said.

The lecture starts at 7:30 p.m. Entry costs 10,000 won or 5,000 won for students and is free for RAS Korea members. Attending online via Zoom is also available. Visit raskb.com for more information.

Robert Fouser gives a lecture titled "Why Preserve Hanoks? A Brief History of the Idea Since the 1960s" at central Seoul's Insa-dong KOTE, May 23, 2023. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Fouser's final tour for this visit is titled "Exploring Seoul's Industrial Heritage and High-Tech, Multicultural Present." On June 8, he will lead a walk through Gasan Digital Complex and Daerim-dong.

Gasan Digital Complex was once part of the Guro Industrial Complex, but most of the factories disappeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"Adjacent to the former industrial complex, some areas reveal the factory-town cityscape that developed during the period of rapid industrialization," Fouser said in an online invitation. "These areas now have a high concentration of foreign laborers who work in small factories and service industries throughout Seoul."

The area also houses G Valley Industrial Museum dedicated to the area's history.

The walk will go through nearby Garibong Market, where Fouser will analyze the services provided to the foreign workers living in the area.

He will lead the way through Guro Digital Complex to Daerim-dong, which is home to the largest Chinatown in Seoul.

The tour starts at 1 p.m. Joining costs 40,000 won or 30,000 won for RAS Korea members.

Robert Fouser leads a tour of central Seoul's Bukchon Hanok Village, June 3, 2023. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Fouser first came to Korea in the 1980s to study the Korean language at Seoul National University. He lived in Japan from 1995 to 2008, where he taught foreign language education at Kyoto University and developed the Korean language program at Kagoshima University. From 2008 to 2014, he returned to Seoul to teach Korean as a second/foreign language education at Seoul National University. He is currently an independent scholar based in Providence, Rhode Island.

He is the author of six books in Korean, including "The Spread of Foreign Languages," "Exploring Cities with Robert Fouser," "Thoughts on Learning Foreign Languages and "Why Do Cities Preserve History?" He is also the translator of "Understanding Korean Literature" (1997) by Kim Heung-gyu and a co-author of "Hanok: The Korean House" (2015). He writes regular columns for various media outlets in Korea and serves as deputy editor of Koreana.

Visit raskb.com for more information.