Until recently, Buddhist studies in Korea has relied heavily on the research results of Japanese scholars. Fortunately, great improvements have been made in each discipline (of Buddhist Studies) as a result of determined inquiries into the issue of self-identification. This paper presents a review on the studies of this current condition, and based on this review, further investigates the direction of Buddhist studies for the future. The Korean Association for Buddhist Studies has reviewed the results of research conducted within Korea since 1970, and has determined that after entering the 21st Century, each discipline (of Buddhist Studies)started to seek after research topics that would be distinctively Korean. Academic studies in insight meditation and psychological counseling have increased in recent years. On the other hand, there still are not many scholars specializing in the studies of early Buddhism, Theravāda Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Central-Asian Buddhism, and Japanese Buddhism. Fortunately, research groups in Korea have supported the plans of Humanities Korea, whose goal is to promote Korea’s humanities studies towards an international level. Geumgang University’s Institute of International Buddhist Studies and Dongguk University’s College of Buddhist Studies are in charge of executing the areas of Buddhist studies. In these two universities, they each have around ten scholars specializing in the studies of literature, thought, etc, and their research results are gradually gaining respect among the international academic community. Without making a presumption of the currently superficial aspects of Korean Buddhism, we wish to raise three directions worth striving towards: an emphasis on research methods focusing on literature; more emphasis on studies of Buddhist social activities based on literature in this area; promotion of dialogue between Buddhist scholars and scholars of other religions.
