Young A Jung

Current Research

Fan Parodies and Racial Division 

Monsters in Korean Media and Literature

Selected Publications

Korean Literature and Cultural Studies

“Shadows of Women’s Republic: Symptoms of Totalitarianism in Perfect Society,” in Korean SF Criticism in the Age of Posthuman, Ewha Institute for the Humanities, 2026. 

Book Review of Michelle Cho and Jesook Song, edited, Mediating Gender in Post-Authoritarian South Korea (University of Michigan Press, 2024). International Journal of Communication 20, January 2026. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/26161

"When K-pop Meets Islam: Cultural Appropriation and Fan Engagement" in Korean Pop Culture Beyond Asia: Race and Reception, eds. by David C. Oh and Benjamin M. Han, University of Washington Press, 2024. Korean Pop Culture Beyond Asia

“Trends in the Study of Anglo-American Science Fiction Literature and Their Relevance to the Study of Korean Science Fiction Literature,” Journal of Korean Literary History, Vol.85, Fall 2024, 7-39. 

Korean Kirogi Families: Placemaking, Belonging, and Mothering, Lexington Books, 2024. Korean Kirogi Families

"A Total Management System, Mothering" Korean Studies, Vol. 48, Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawai'i Press, 2024, 198-220. A Total Management System, Mothering

Book Review on Here Comes the Flood: Perspectives of Gender, Sexuality, and Stereotype in the Korean Wave, The Journal of Asian Studies, 82(4), November 2023. Book Review on Here Comes the Flood

"Squid Games, Transcultural Fan Parodies: Black and Queer Adaptations" The Hallyu Project, Post45 Contemporaries, Spring 2023. Squid Games, Transcultural Fan Parodies: Black and Queer Adaptations « Post45

“Mobile Media and Kirogi Mothers: Place Making and the Reimagination of Transnational Korean Family Intimacies” Mobile Media and Kirogi Mothers in Mobile Media and Asian Social Intimacies, ed. Jason Vincent A. Cabanes and Cecilia S. Uy-Tioco, Springer, 2020. Mobile Media and Social Intimacies in Asia

“Technology and Literature Education” The Studies of Korean Language and Literature, Vol.59: 59-84, Seoul, Korea: The Society of Korean Language and Literature, 2017.

“Cultural Transnational Activities: The Consumption of Transnational Media” with Dae Young Kim and Gyu Tag Lee in Transnational Communities in the Smartphone Age: The Korean Community in the Nation’s Capital, ed. Dae Young Kim, Lanham, Boulder, New York, and London: Lexington Books, 2017.

 “Cultural Transnationalism: The Cases of the First-Generation and the Second-Generation of Korean-Americans” in Media and Culture, edited by Namil Ahn and Young A Jung, 309-342. Seoul, Korea: Pureunsasang, 2012.

“The U.S. College Students’ Understanding of Korean Culture through the Reception of Korean Films” in Korean Studies, 36: 85-105, Seoul, Korea: Center for Korean Studies, Korea University, Worin Publishing Co., 2011.

Korean Language Education

“Korean Teachers’ Perceptions of Embedding Pop Culture into Classrooms” in NECTFL Review 88, March 2022 with Sungshim Choi, Hye Young Shin, Sherry Steeley, and Marjorie Hall Haley

"Examining A Lens of Korean Language Teachers," in Academic Exchange Quarterly, winter, 2020 with Sungshim Choi, Sherry Steeley, Hye Young Shin, and Marjorie Hall Haley

“A Study on the State of Korean School Instructors and Measures to Develop their Professionalism in the US, Specifically in WAKS’ Case” in Journal of International Network for Korean Language and Culture, 10-2: 247-74. With Chil-Sung Im, Hyuk Suh, Hye Young Shin and Jin Choi, Seoul: The International Network of Korean Language and Culture, 2013.

Translations

Deo Naeun Sueobeul Wihan Self Study (Self-Study Teacher Research by Anastasia P. Samaras) translated into Korean with Chilseong Im, Hyuk Suh, Hiok Jeon, Hye Young Shin, and Jinhee Choi, Seoul: Woorihakgyo publishing co., 2014.

Eoneo Sueop Gwanchal (Classroom Observation Tasks: A Resource Book for Language Teachers and Trainers by Ruth Wajnryb) translated into Korean with Im, Chilseong, and Choi, Jinhee, Seoul: Bagijeong, 2013.

Fiction

"Sorry, but Not Me", Munyeayoengu (Study on Literary Arts), Munyeyeongu Publishing Co. Seoul, Korea, 2023 Spring

“Soybean Paste or Irrationality”, Munyeayoengu (Study on Literary Arts), Munyeyeongu Publishing Co. Seoul, Korea, 2014 Spring

"Miss Suh, She Can Take Off Again”, Munyeayoengu (Study on Literary Arts), Munyeyeongu Publishing Co. Seoul, Korea, 2009 Winter

Grants and Fellowships

CHSS AAPI Curriculum Development Grant, Summer 2026. 

Center for Humanities, Residential Fellow, Fall 2024. CHR Past Fellows

CHSS Inclusive Excellence Curriculum Enhancement Grant for the development of KORE 455 Korean Diasporas in a Global World course, 2023. 

4-VA@Mason Collaborative Research Grant (2022-2023) project, “Globalization in Reverse: The Diffusion of K-pop in the United States” with Byunghwan Son and Dae Young Kim

The Best Presentation Award, “Implementing Film Projects in Language Classrooms” with Jihye Moon, The Foreign Language Association of Virginia, 2021.

Online Course Development Grant, The Sterns Center, George Mason University, 2021.

Faculty Research and Professional Development Award (FRDA) project, “The Diffusion and Reception of Korean Popular Culture in the United States” with Dae Young Kim and Byunghwan Son, CHSS, GMU 2020-2021.

The Korea Foundation, Support for the Establishment of Professorship, 2019-2024.

4-VA grant for creating shared courses in Korean, 2013-2014.

Global Society of Korea and America Scholarship, 2012. 

Courses Taught

KORE 610 Methods of Korean Literary Studies 

KORE 470 Research in Korean Studies (Mason Apex)

KORE 450 Korean Cultural Studies 

KORE 370 Advanced Korean Writing 

KORE 340 Transformation of Language and Culture in North and South Korea                            

KORE 330 Advanced Korean Language and Culture 

KORE 325 Major North and South Korean Writers 

KORE 321 Korean Proficiency through Visual Culture 

KORE 320 Korean Popular Culture in a Global World (Non-Western)

KORE 311 Modern Korean Literature in Translation (Mason Core Literature)

Education

Ph.D., Cultural Studies at George Mason University

Ph.D., Modern Korean Literature at Korea University

M.A., Modern Korean Literature at Korea University

B.A., Korean Language and Literature at Korea University 

Recent Presentations

2026. “From SF Romance to SF Motherhood: Mothering in the TV Drama When the Star Gossip (2025)” in the “Gender and Justice in Korean Crime Fiction” Conference, PA: Penn State University, April 11. 

2026. “Demon Girls, Shaman Girls, and Singer Girls: Transformations of K-pop Girl Group Images” in the organized panel, “Return of Women Ghosts, Women Monsters, and Women Demons: Dangerous Women in the Late 20th Century and Contemporary Korean Visual Culture,” AAS (Association of Asian Studies) 2026 Conference, Canada: Vancouver, March 12.

2026. “The Transformation of Mobile Communications and Dating Customs in the 1990s,” AAS Pre-Conference, “Nostalgia or Renaissance of Popular Culture in the 1990s,” Canada: Simon Fraser University (Harbour Centre), March 11. 

2025. "Squid Games, Transcultural Fan Desire" Invited Talk, The Institute of Humanities, Daegu Catholic University, November 14.

2025. "Prohibited Desire, Rewriting Histories: Structure of Desire in Bok Geo-il's Searching for the Epitaph," KLA (Korean Literature Association) Annual Conference, "Transtemporal Turn in Korean Literary Studies," Emory University, November 1. 

2025. "Current Status and Challenges of Teaching Korean Literature as Non-Western World Literature in American Universities," Liberal Arts Innovation Center Conference, Mokwon University, October 16. 

2025. "Enhancing Understanding of Korean Culture through Learner-centered Activities," with Dae Yong Kim and Hye Young Shin, The Foreign Languages Association of Virginia (FLAVA) Annual Conference, Norfolk, VA, October 10. 

2025. "Queering Desires and Alternative Narratives" in the Panel, "Monstrous, Queer and Old: The Feminine On Screen," The 12th Korean Screen Culture Conference, University of Leiden, Netherlands, June 30.

2025. "Shadows of Women's Republic: Symptoms of Totalitarianism in Perfect Society" in the Panel, "Revisiting Feminism Movements and Literature in Cold War South Korea amid the Era of Antifeminist Backlash" Association of Asian Studies 2025 Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio, March 14. 

2024. "Killer Mother, Desiring Mother: Focusing on Mothers in Park Wan-seo, Cho Haeil, and Kim Sŏngchong’s Detective Fiction" Popular Narrative and Media Research Association’s Conference, “The Crime Age and the Imagining of Civil Justice” Sunggyunkwan University, December 21. 

2024. "Korean Kirogi Families: Placemaking, Belonging, and Mothering" Penn State Institute for Korean Studies Lecture Series, Invited Book Talk, Penn State University, October 24. Book Talk

2024. "Return of Blood, Excrement, and Body: On Materiality and Physicality of the Body" in the Panel, "Bringing the Body and the Sound to Bear on Text," KLA (Korean Literature Association) Annual Conference, "Act! Performativity of Korean Literature," Ohio State University, October 11. 

2024. “How Muslim K-pop Fans Respond to Cultural Appropriation,” Invited Talk, Kim-Renaud East Asian Humanities Lecture Series, George Washington University, September 6.

2024. "Shadows of Truegenderville, Symptoms of Totalitarianism in Perfect Society: Sexual Politics and Monitoring System" in the Panel, "Dynamic Discourses Generated by Korea's 1960s Science Fiction, Perfect Society" AAS (Association of Asian Studies) in Asia, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, July 10. 

2024. "The Aspects of Korean Fictions' Consumption, Introduction, and Teaching in the US Colleges," Invited Talk, Chonnam University, June 20.

2024. "Killer Mother, Monster Daughter: On the Myth of Maternal Love and Mother-Daughter Relations," in the conference, "Precarious and Ethics of Care: Contemporary Korean Women's Literature and Cinema" Center for Critical Korean Studies Center, University of California, Irvine, June 1. 

2024. "Reception and Appropriation of Media in Early Science Fiction: Mediascape of Cheolsegye" in the conference, "The Spread of Enlightenment and the Convergence of Knowledge" Pusan National University, February 22. 

2024. "Dance for Yourself: Toward an Ethnography of K-pop Dance" in the conference, "K-pop, Cultural Capital, and Beyond" February 16. 

2024. "The Reception and Appropriation of Korean Fiction in the US" in the conference "Global Digital Environment and Multi-centers of Culture" Chonnam University, January 19.

2024. "Teaching Sense of Place in Modern Korean Fiction Class" in the Panel "Defining Emplaced Humanities Methods" MLA (Modern Language Association), Philadelphia, PA, January 5-6. 

2023. "Affective Machines, Affectless Humans: The Posthuman Conditions in Perfect Society and Its Contradictions" in the Panel, "Posthuman Imaginations in 1960-1970s Korean SF" Korean Literature Association, Los Angeles: University of Southern California, November 10.

2023. “Mediascape of The Iron World: Newspapers, Telegrams, and Letters.” in the Chaired Panel, “Transnational Receptions of Jules Verne’s Novel, Les Cinq Cents Millions De La Bégum (1879)” AAS (Association of Asian Studies) in Asia, Kyungpook University, Daegu, South Korea, June 25.

2023. “Dance for Yourself: (Im)Possibility of Pan-ethnic Fan Community.” in the Chaired Panel, “Cultural Production and (Im)Possible Conclusions” CSA (Cultural Studies Association) Conference, Fairfax: VA, George Mason University, June 3.

2023. “K-Wave in the US: Transcultural Contact Zones.” Invited Talk, The Center for Korean Research, New York: Columbia University, April 26. K-Waves (Hallyu) in the U.S.: Invited Talk

In the Media

"'Kpop Demon Hunters' is a top Halloween costume, and Asian kids are loving the representation" (NBC News, October 12, 2025) Kpop Demon Hunters

"K-Pop in America after BTS" (Weverse Magazine, September 2022)

"Inside the Real Kids' Game in 'Squid Game' (NBC, October 7, 2021) Inside the Real Kids' Games in Squid Game

"Korean Studies, Korea's Golden Time" (SBS Special Documentary, March 2019)

"North Korean Language and Culture Course at the U.S. College" (Voice of America, November 2018)