Trained at the University of Paris 7 and at the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS, Sŏngnam, South Korea), Yannick Bruneton is a professor at the Université Paris Cité at the UFR LCAO, Korean studies section, and cumulative director of studies (DECU) at the EPHE,5th section (religious sciences) on a position " bouddhisme coréen ". He is affiliated with the Korea team of UMR 8173, " Chine, Corée, Japon " (CNRS, EHESS, UPCité).
He is the author of a doctoral thesis defended in 2002, " Les moines géomanciens de Koryŏ - une étude critique des sources ". His research focuses on the medieval history and historiography of Korea centered on the Koryŏ period (10th-14th century) and Korean Buddhism, principally the relationship between Buddhism and the state, as well as epigraphy.
At UPCité and EPHE, he teaches lectures and seminars on ancient and medieval Korean history and premodern written culture in classical Chinese.
His three main publications are : " Les institutions "hors codes" du Koryŏ (918-1392) - Le bouddhisme et la construction de l'État dans la Corée médiévale ", BEFEO n°92 (2007) ; " Comment la répression du religieux a-t-elle accompagné la réforme du régime monarchique de T'aejong ? (...) ", in État, religion et répression en Asie. Chine, Corée, Japon, Vietnam (XIIIe-XXe siècles), Karthala, 2011 ; " The Figure of Baozhi (418-524): A model for the Buddhist Historiography of the Koryŏ Dynasty? ", Journal of Korean Religions, vol. 3 (2012).
He has collaborated on several international programs (two Korean Studies Promotion Service KSPS programs, an ANR program, the EHA project, Encyclopédie des historiographies. Afriques, Amériques, Asies, CESSMA). For ten years, he was director of the Réseau des Études sur la Corée (RESCOR), the first international francophone network in Korean studies (in this context, he co-directed the publication of the first White Paper on Korean Studies in France 2018).
He is the author of the first French translation of Jikji, an anthology of Buddhism from the Chan school, the oldest known work printed in metal letterpress, for which he was awarded the Prix Culturel France-Corée 2022.
His activities aim to develop new fields of research in France : medieval studies on Korea and research on Korean Buddhism.
