The International Symposium ‘Women, Equality and Slavery in Korea’, organised by the East Asian Studies Department of the Department of Historical Sciences of the University of Malaga, was inaugurated on 22 March. The inauguration, held at the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, was led by the Vice-Rector for Equality, Diversity and Social Action, Ms Isabel Jiménez, the Vice-Dean for Strategic Planning and Coordination of the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, Ms Sara Robles and Mr Antonio J. Doménech, Coordinator of the Degree in East Asian Studies, who highlighted the importance of conducting research and projects with a gender perspective and the suitability of having great experts in the field at our university.

This Symposium included six lectures on gender and slavery in Korea given by renowned researchers in these subjects from the University of Malaga and South Korea, such as Professor Cho Hyun Woo and Professor Jeon Byung Joon, from Incheon National University, Professor Kim Dong Kyu, from Sogang University, and Professor Cheon Kyung Mok, from the Academy of Korean Studies.

The symposium was followed by the opening of the scientific poster exhibition of the ‘East Asian Women’s Thematic Network: Korea, China and Japan’ at the Faculty of Education, which was on display for one month. The theme of the posters revolved around the situation of women in Korea, China, Japan and Mongolia, such as women in religion, the arts or in relation to sexist language, among others. The inauguration of this exhibition included a performance of the play Sopa de Mujer by the company Mu Teatro. The Network is coordinated by Professor Aurelia Martín of the East Asian Studies Department and is made up of leading researchers from different public universities in Spain with research projects in the field, such as the Autonomous University of Madrid, the University of Granada, the University of Valencia and the University of Málaga.

The Symposium has been organised within the framework of the projects ‘Path to equality: Korean Studies Network on inclusiveness’ of the Korean Ministry of Education (AKS-2021-INC-2250002) and ‘ASIA-SLAVES The path to freedom in the Joseon period in Korea: Slavery and abolitionism in the context of East Asia’ of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2020-116910GB-I00) and is funded by the I Plan Propio de Investigación Transferencia y Divulgación and the collaboration of the Chair of Asia.

The conference, which lasted until 23 March, culminated with the play ‘The game of life’ by the company Kareidoscopio, with the participation of students of the Degree in East Asian Studies under the direction of Professor Eun Kyung Kang.