Re: Queer Korea

This page chronicles the unfolding of the Queer Korea debacle (2021-23)—the various problematic scholarly practices and deep-seated colonial/racialized power dynamics that surfaced during the publication and translation of the edited volume Queer Korea. We curate various documents of communication—expressions of intent, messages of requests, denials, and even ridicules and threats—between and among various stakeholders, including editors, authors, translators, and, most importantly, Korean queer activists. We believe the documents speak for themselves; however, given the dense and excessive volume of documents, we also provide key summaries for each document to enhance readability.

We emphasize that the fundamental issue in the Queer Korea debacle was not mere mistakes, ignorance, or a lack of communication during the problematized research, editing, and translation processes, as some asserted. Instead, it was the pervasive abuse of academic power rooted in imperial US academia in its relation to postcolonial Korea—white academics exploiting marginalized Korean subjects to advance their professional careers, US-based professors monopolizing the legitimate knowledge of “Korea” while gatekeeping, gaslighting, and silencing dissenting voices, and senior scholars in positions of power pulling strings and exerting abusive power over precarious graduate students, junior scholars, and activists. Hence, the Queer Korea debacle must not be seen as an exceptional case; it was a moment of revelation of the very mundane face of Korean studies in US academia.

We are deeply indebted to the Queer Research Ethics Council, a Twitter-based anonymous group, who initially addressed the issue and archived, translated, and publicized some of the key documents, which are chronicled here. Most importantly, we owe gratitude to the courageous Korean queer activists who tirelessly spoke up instead of giving up.

DateLink
02/2020
· Publication of Queer Korea (Duke University Press)
06/2021













· Korean Activist Shiwoo’s Email to the Queer Korea Contributors 

· Korean scholar and activist Shiwoo shared details about Tim Gitzen’s violation of research ethics, including citing Shiwoo’s name, affiliation, and personal information without their consent. 

· Shiwoo criticized both editor Todd Henry and Duke University Press for their negligence and denying responsibilities, pointing out that it reflects structural racism in Western academia and the hierarchical knowledge production process.

· Shiwoo asked them to publicly apologize to victims and to take prompt action to protect them. Shiwoo also asked other contributors to stand in solidarity with the victims.
06/2021















· Contributor P’s Request to remove their chapter (Emails by Volume Editor Todd Henry, Duke University Press Editor Kenneth Wissoker, and Contributor P).

· Following Shiwoo’s and fellow activist Nam Woong’s emails, Todd Henry asked other contributors not to directly communicate with the victims.

· He mentioned that the victims “have gone way too far and will be soon in legal trouble” in the email. 

· Contributor P asked both Duke University Press Editor Ken Wissoker and Volume Editor Todd Henry to remove their chapter from the book, but both Ken Wissoker and Todd Henry ignored Contributor P’s request. 

· The Korean translation of Contributor P’s chapter was also published without P’s permission.
02/2023













· Publication of the Korean Edition (Sanbooks).

· Todd Henry, wrote in the introduction to the Korean translation:
“While working on the Korean translation of Queer Korea, I came to a painful realization that one author did not follow the ethical standards upheld by other authors in the book. As the editor who assembled the book manuscript, I worked closely with all parties to correct this oversight and do everything I could to mitigate the harm it caused. My efforts greatly influenced Duke University Press to remove the chapter from the book and republish it. The revisions made in this translated copy, while maintaining sensitivity to issues of inequality and uneven power dynamics in geopolitical research, reflect adherence to rapidly rising standards of ethics that allows all readers to enjoy high quality scholarship on queerness in the Korean peninsula.” 
02/2023











· Korean activist Nam Woong’s statement (English translation by QREC)

· Shortly after the publication of Queer Korea’s Korean edition, Nam Woong wrote his account, detailing not only his experience as a victim of Tim Gitzen’s unethical research practices but also the inadequate and irresponsible responses of Volume Editor Todd Henry and Duke University Press Editor Ken Wissoker.

· By highlighting the issues in the research, editing, translation, and publishing processes of the book, Nam Woong stated that “even a queer research book can become a completely non-queer achievement if it is complicit in problematic structures and privileges.”
03/2023














· Editor Todd Henry’s 1st statement Todd Henry posted his statement on Facebook, condemning TIm Gitzen’s unethical research practices.

· He stated that he made various efforts to address the issue and used his editorial power to minimize future violations of the victims’ privacy in communication with the University of Minnesota and Duke University Press. 

· However, he did not mention the victims’ criticisms of the structural power imbalance in the research and publication processes as well as its knowledge production on non-Western subjects in Western academia.

· Further, he did not acknowledge Contributor P’s request to remove their chapter. He also stated that his “limited Korean language skills were also a barrier to communication” with the Korean victims.
04/2023










· QREC (Queer Research Ethics Council) – Context and Call to Action

· QREC, an anonymous group of researchers, created a Twitter account and published a translation of Nam Woong’s essay in English.

· They argued that the Queer Korea incident exposes the mechanisms of colonial and racist practices in ethnographic knowledge production by Anglo-American scholars in and of Korea.

· They also urged other researchers to reflect on Nam’s essay and call for action to effect change.
04/2023













· Author Timothy Gitzen’s statement

· Tim Gitzen released his first statement on his website. He stated that he believed he had obtained verbal consent and, following accusations from the victims, he did his best to handle the situation by contacting the IRB office at the University of Minnesota and his dissertation advisor, David Valentine, and submitting the revised version of his dissertation. 

· He claimed to have been completely transparent with Duke University Press and Todd Henry throughout the publication and retraction process.

· He also mentioned that the reason he had not made any public statement about the incident until that date was because he was worried about drawing attention to the identities of the Korean victims.
05/2023













· Unpublished Statement: Scholars in Solidarity with Queer Activists in Korea (in Korean)A statement in solidarity with queer Korean activists was drafted in Korean by a group of concerned Korean studies scholars and circulated informally to gather signatures of support while being translated into English.

· However, the Korean statement draft was leaked to Todd Henry, raising significant safety concerns for the junior scholars involved in drafting, circulating, and signing the statement.

· Due to these safety concerns, they decided not to release it officially and retracted it. Consequently, the statement, along with the signatures of about 50 supporters, was neither released publicly nor translated into English.
05/2023
· Editor Todd Henry’s 2nd statement
06/2023

· Email Exchanges between Nam Woong and David Valentine (Gitzen’s advisor at U of Minnesota) 
09/2023


















· Korean Translators’ statement

· Korean translators of Queer Korea, mostly graduate students and early career queer scholars in Korea, released a statement.

· Throughout the translation process, the Korean translators were not adequately informed about Tim Gitzen’s research ethics violation by any of the authors, editors, or publishers. 

· The translators wanted to include a “translators’ note” in the Korean edition to address and discuss ethical issues in the publication and translation process. Although they drafted the note and submitted it to the Korean publisher (Sanbooks), it was denied, citing concerns that naming the victims in the author’s note could potentially cause further harm and result in additional lawsuits and compensation issues.

· The translators expressed that they stand in solidarity with the victims in raising the issue of research ethics violations and hope to discuss the broader ethical issues in queer and Korean studies together.
10/2023












· Publication of Timothy Gitzen’s book (Banal Security: Queer Korea in the Time of Viruses, Helsinki University Press)

· When QREC raised a question about ethical issues in the book publication on Twitter, Helsinki University Press responded, stating that they are “committed to ensuring the highest standards of publication ethics. All our publications undergo a rigorous peer review process and follow ethical research practices.”

· The published book’s Acknowledgement or Introduction does not mention anything about the fact that the author’s entire dissertation has been accused of and revised due to ethical concerns.
 

Social Media Accounts:

Further readings: