• Date: October 23rd, Wednesday, 2026, 14:00 – 15:30
• Location: Room 406, SNUAC (Bldg. 101)

Presenter: Ikran Eum (Dankook Univ.)

This event has been organized with Associate Professor Ikran Eum of Dankook University, who has accumulated extensive research and policy advisory experience on Middle Eastern society and culture and transformations in the Gulf region. Focusing on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, the event will comparatively examine patterns of reception and the current position of the Korean Wave in the Middle East. By exploring how Korean Wave content—including K-pop, television dramas, food, and beauty—is consumed and reinterpreted within the differing sociocultural and policy environments of the three countries, the event seeks to understand the Korean Wave not simply as a popular cultural phenomenon, but as a process of cultural exchange shaped through interaction with local societies. In doing so, it aims to assess both the possibilities and limitations of the Korean Wave in the Middle East in a balanced manner and to provide an opportunity to consider future directions for sustainable cultural exchange and cooperation between Korea and the Middle East.

Professor Ikran Eum is an Associate Professor at the College of Liberal Arts, Dankook University, and a specialist in Middle Eastern studies whose research focuses on Middle Eastern society and culture, Islam, and the Gulf region. She received her PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, where her doctoral dissertation examined the relationship between marriage culture in Cairo, Egypt, and globalization. Her research interests encompass women and gender in the Middle East, Islamic culture, the halal business, and social change in the Gulf region. She is currently participating in a research project of the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange titled “The Reception of the Korean Wave in the Islamic World in Transition: How Far Has Hallyu Come in the Middle East?” She has also served as a policy advisor to institutions including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Refugee Committee of the Ministry of Justice, and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Her publications include A Cultural Journey through the Middle East and Islam and Understanding the Gulf, among numerous other books.