Jeong Su-il ( ko, 정수일) is a South Korean historian, specializing in
Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
history.
Life
Jeong Su-il was born in
Longjing, Jilin
Longjing (; Chosŏn'gŭl: 룡정; Hangul: 룽징) is a county-level city in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, southeastern Jilin province, China. It lies on the Tumen River opposite the North Korean city Hoeryong.
Its population is approxima ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and migrated to
North Korea in the 1960s. He was trained as a spy, travelled to
Lebanon,
Tunisia,
Papua New Guinea,
Malaysia, and
Philippines, and obtained Lebanese and Filipino nationalities. In 1984, he entered South Korea under the disguise as Filipino researcher Mohammad Kansu, and worked at
Dankook University. He was arrested in 1996 and released in 2000.
Education and Career
Jeong studied Arabic in
Peking University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
and continued his studies in
Cairo University. Later, he became a history professor at Dankook University. Currently, Jeong is the president of Korea Institute of Civilization Exchanges. Jeong had embarked on dozens of journeys along the Silk Road to study the cultural exchange. Major works include ''A History of Trans-Civilizational Exchanges'' (2002) and ''The Cyclopedia of Silk Road'' (2013).
Writings
*왕오천축국전 (학고재, 2004)
*'' History of Exchanges between the Silla Dynasty and the West (of China) in 1992''
*'' The East and the West in the World in 1995''
*'' The Elementary Arabic in 1995''
*'' The Silkroadology in 2001''
*'' The History of Exchanges among the Ancient Civilizations in 2001''
*'' The Study of the History of the Civilizational Exchanges''
*'' The Civilization of Islam in 2002''
*'' Silk Road, the Route of Civilization in 2002''
*'' Walking on the''
*'' The World in Korea (2 volumes) in 2005''
*'' Journey of the Silk Road Civilization in 2006''
*'' The Life and Religion of the Silk Road in 2006''
*''Encyclopaedia of Silk Road in 2013''
Translations
*''Journey The Travels (الرحلة, Rihla)'' of Ibn Battuta in 2001
*''The Eastern Parts of the World Described'' of Odoric de Pordenone
*''An account of travel to the five Indian kingdoms'' (Wang ocheonchukguk jeon) by Hyecho
*''Cathay and the way thither'' of Sir Henry Yule
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeong, Su-il
1934 births
Living people
Historians of Korea
Korean people of Manchukuo
Chinese people of Korean descent
South Korean historians
North Korean spies
North Korean defectors
South Korean emigrants to North Korea
Peking University alumni
Cairo University alumni
People from Yanbian