Composer Kim Hyung-suk gives special lecture on K-pop at Oxford

Music producer and composer Kim Hyung-suk was invited as one of the global artists to do research at Oxford University.

According to Oxford professor Jieun Kiaer’s research team on Wednesday, Kim will be one of the six global artists selected by the university as part of the Kellogg College Academic Visitor Program, a new program invented this year in recognition of his innovative spirit which led K-pop to push boundaries.

Oxford invites and assists renowned international artists in working on creative and research projects in collaboration with its scholars. Around 10 artists are to join every second half of the year starting this year. Invitees work as Kellogg College academic visitors to interact with local researchers and attend conferences in multiple Oxford colleges.

Kim plans to deliver special lectures on artificial intelligence and K-pop and perform music. He will give a lecture and perform his self-written K-pop songs in front of faculty at Wolfson College in Oxford on Dec. 4. Also, he intends to co-research with professor Kiaer’s research team to promote Hangeul, the Korean writing system, across the globe and integrate AI technology with the Korean Wave.

He gave a special lecture session and a brief concert in July at Sheldonian Theater, Oxford University. Back then, he willingly let the school capitalize on about 1,400 songs he wrote to promote the Korean language. He also released “Ganada Song” made in collaboration with professor Kiaer for Korean language learning. His appearance at Sheldonian Theater made him the first Asian pop music artist to give a lecture at this historical architecture built in the 17th century.


Eun-A Cho achim@donga.com