Jeong Su-il


Jeong Su-il is a South Korean historian, specializing in Silk Road history.

Life

Jeong Su-il was born in Longjing, Jilin, China, 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 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 and The Cyclopedia of Silk Road.

Writings