Mission
The Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies (YINKS) was founded in 1995 as a university research institute in order to respond to academic and policy needs arising from the rapidly changing internal and external conditions for unification centered on the Korean peninsula.
YINKS has striven to gather together research related to inter-Korean issues and Korean unification from various fields including politics, diplomacy, military security, economics, sociology, cultural studies and healthcare, while at the same time greatly expanding the scope and depth of Korean unification related research.
By 2000, in the midst of rapidly progressing inter-Korean social and cultural exchange and economic cooperation, the institute sought to prepare for greater South-North integration by analyzing related issues from a wide variety of perspectives in order to not only propose practical policy alternatives, but actively pursue academic exchange regarding North Korea.
From basic empirical research related to inter-Korean issues and Korean unification to the development of various projects related to current affairs and the formal analysis and crafting of practical policies aimed at preparing for the process of North-South integration, YINKS continues to promote prolific research and scholarly activities employing a wide range of perspectives.
In 2003 the institute moved to Yonsei University’s secondary library, the Kim Dae-Jung Presidential Library and Museum. Then in March 2004, the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Korean Unification Studies was established and its curriculum connected to the research program of the institute. On the basis of specialized research and education programs, YINKS is committed to transforming the Kim Dae-Jung Presidential Library and Museum from more than simply a place to browse books and view exhibits, into an international center of research on North Korea and Korean unification.
