Death of Shim Seung-Ja, Korean teacher at Inalco

She was one of the pioneers of Korean language teaching in France, at a time when Korean studies were just beginning to blossom under the leadership of a handful of enthusiasts determined to accompany their few students as far as possible in their knowledge of Korea, a country then unknown to the European public.

A graduate of Ewha University, Seoul, she defended a thesis in 1984, under the direction of René Gsell, entitled "Contribution à l'étude de l'accent en coréen moderne standard", which she obtained with honors at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle. She first taught at Inalco as a répétitrice, before becoming a maîtresse de conférences in 1999.

She was notably the author of several Korean books: a Dictionnaire français-coréen, published by L'Asiathèque (1992), Le coréen tout de suite !, published by Pocket (1999), and a Manuel de coréen, published by L'Asiathèque (1995) co-authored with André Fabre.

During her years at Inalco, she was a member of AKSE (Association for Korean Studies in Europe). Highly committed, she was also a member of the Association of Korean Residents in France, and co-founded the Association of Korean Women in France. She was also president of the association organizing the Korean Film Festival in Paris for several years.

Her former students remember her as an extraordinarily energetic and committed teacher. With this message, we would like to pay tribute to her today. We join in the grief of her loved ones and all those who knew her.