The Institute of Russian Studies (IRS) at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies was originally established as the Institute of the Soviet Union and East European Issues on January 13, 1972, in Seoul. At the time, Cold War ideology dominated the international community and rendered communication and exchange between the Republic of Korea and the Communist bloc virtually impossible. The IRS was the first research center in Korea to collect and analyze periodicals from the Soviet Union, North Korea, and other socialist states. As the only institute in the country dedicated to research on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the IRS quickly secured a leading position in the field. In a country where research on socialism was scarce, the Institute played a pivotal role in shaping the direction of related studies and leading discourse on Communism. Beginning in the early 1990s, the IRS gradually narrowed its focus to in-depth research on the economies, politics, societies, and cultures of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In 1993, the Institute officially changed its name to the Institute of Russian Studies. Due to space limitations, the IRS was relocated in July 1999 to the university’s Global Campus in Yongin.