About

Leidse Alumnivereniging Koreastudies: “Chingu” is the alumni association for Korean Studies graduates from Leiden University founded in 2018. Chingu offers their members the opportunity to get in contact with other alumni to exchange experiences, but also organizes social events from time to time.

Korean Studies

The Department of Korean Studies at Leiden University is unique to The Netherlands. The Universiy started offering Korean languages classes, taught by professor F. Vos, in 1947 as the first University in West Europe. From 1958 the courses on Korea was broadened and in 1961 Korean Studies became a drs programme during which it held the name “Japanese and Korean Studies”. As of 1995, Korean Studies became a separate programme, of which professor B. Walraven became the Department Head. Now, almost a quarter of a century later, Korean Studies is a quickly growing programme as interest in Korean is rising.

Name

The name Chingu was chosen in order to demonstrate the fact, that besides being classmates, we are all friends. They always say that your student years are the best time of your life, something we can’t really argue with. Those years working, studying and having fun together create a bond that could last a lifetime.

Logo

The beautiful logo for Chingu was designed by Jiske Angenent. The colour comes from the same gradient as the blue colour Leiden University uses.

Association

Chingu is registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel) as Leidse Alumnivereniging Koreastudies: “Chingu” under the number KvK 73135925.

Guidelines

You can find the guidelines of Chingu here. (forthcoming)