Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea has its roots in the Protestant missionary community, which gathered in Korea in the mid-1880s. Primarily English-speaking, the missionaries launched into their work with gusto. Over the next decade, they began to issue missionary magazines aimed mostly at folks back home to excite donors about Korea's Protestant potential. The missionaries began arriving in the years of great turmoil in East Asia and Korea in particular. The tension over the peninsula between the three regional powers, Qing, Nippon and Russia, had divided Korea's elite. Many parties advocated change, such as the modernization of society in all aspects (government, economy, infrastructure).

When a small group of diplomats and missionaries met in 1900 to form RAS Korea, there was a slight lull in the turmoil, enough of a break that many turned their attention to learning more about Korea and the region. Most missionaries were from the British Empire, so it's unsurprising that they looked to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland as leaders in Asian studies. The main goal of the founding brothers was to spread information about Korea's heritage. They had been told by many that Korea had nothing of note to contribute to the studies of history and culture. Their small society would change the shape of academia worldwide.

The lull in 1900 was short-lived, and within a couple of years, the group quit meeting. The Russo-Japanese War, the 1905 "protection" treaty, and finally, annexation in 1910 effectively stopped extracurricular pursuits. As Korea moved into the new routine of foreign domination, RAS restarted but often trod lightly as the society tried to maintain political neutrality. This all came to an end when foreigners of the Allied nations were arrested and then expelled in the weeks following the declaration of war on Japan by the United States in late 1941.

At the end of the Pacific War, missionaries were allowed back into a truncated Korea, arriving only in the southern part of the now-divided peninsula. As the South became an American satellite and installed the America-promoted Syngman Rhee as president, some, who had been RAS members got together again and restarted the society. Their enthusiasm was short-lived as the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 put a stop to such programs. It wasn't until the late 1950s that RAS was again revived. During the 1950s, '60s and '70s, RAS Korea was in its heyday, and its membership read more than 1,000. During those years, as Korea was developing, the huge S military presence and the even larger affiliated civilian contractors and businesspeople offered an audience for which RAS filled the important purpose of lectures, presentations, cultural excursions and more. RAS was the only English-speaking organization engaging the ex-patriate community in such ways.

Not only was RAS Korea then the world's first and only Korean Studies organization, but the society's journal was, for decades, the only English-language journal publishing research on Korea's rich national heritage. Topics of history, geopolitics, religions, archaeology, anthropology, music and arts have been reported through more than 100 "Transactions" volumes, more than 1,500 lectures and possibly thousands of cultural excursions. RAS Korea was one of the first publishing enterprises to issue dozens of Korean history and culture monographs.

What had been a membership-driven society funded by dues, events and book sales has declined significantly since the early 2000s. Membership numbers are the lowest in 60 years. RAS has increasingly had to rely on donations from organizations that were not necessarily part of RAS Korea. After several years of giving our level best, we have been unable to boost membership to adequate levels for support and have been thwarted in our efforts to find outside support. We've had dozens of suggestions about grants and other funding sources, But we've already tried it all. I joined in the mid-1970s and have benefitted from and happily served RAS Korea. I've been an excursions docent, an editor, a member of the RAS Council, and several years, most recently as vice president and president.

Unfortunately, RAS Korea has reached a point of no return. In November, the RAS Council voted, with heavy hearts and an overwhelming sense of loss, to close the doors and dissolve the legal governing entity of the society. At the same time, we voted to find a new home for the RAS library. We hope to have an announcement about that in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the RAS office, which has been on the sixth floor of the Korea Ecumenical building at Daehag-ro in Seoul since the late 1970s, is now closed. After the holidays, we will vacate the office space.

There is much to celebrate about the 124 years of RAS Korea's work. Now, the entire world knows about Korea. Korean and Asian Studies departments abounded in universities worldwide. Dozens of scholarly societies pursue their deep interest in "all things" Korean.

There is good reason for hope in the future. RAS Korea has risen from the ashes over the past century and a quarter and may yet do so in the future.

Rev. Steven L. Shields FRAS has been the Royal Asiatic Society Korea president since January 2021. He is a columnist for The Korea Times. Visit www.raskb.com for more information about the society.