ABSTRACT
Although the first contacts between Koreans and Arabs go back to the 11th century, the interest in academic studies dealing with Islam and the Arabic language in the Arab world began in 1965. Under the leadership of President Park Chung-hee beginning in the 1960s, Korea began to establish strong relationships with the nonaligned world, particularly Arab countries. At that time, Korea was gaining international fame on both the economic and political levels. As the economy started to grow, Korea found a very big market in the Arab countries for its products. Following the October War in 1973, which brought about an oil crisis, the oil-producing Arab countries became very rich, as well as a huge open market to Korean companies dealing in construction and the production of goods. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the Korean government concentrated on promoting continuous political and economic relationships with all Arab countries.
