by Hee-Soo Lee
foreword by Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu
Istanbul, 1997 (in English)
The cultural contacts between Korea and the Islamic world which are regarded as an outcome of the commercial relations between ancient China and Arabia through sea-routes, are believed to be initiated as early as the third Hijra century, middle of the ninth century A.D. Contrary to the previously shared understanding that Islam had been introduced in Korea in 1955 by the Turkish ground troops, Islam itself or Islamic cultural influence had penetrated into Korea long before. In spite of the above facts, the Islamic studies in Korea based on a historical perspective have been neglected till recently.
This book is designed to trace the various aspects of historical heritage supported by warm contacts between Korea and the Islamic cultural zone as well as by Islamic activities of Turkic communities in the pre-modern period in Korea.