On the sidelines of the 5th International Conference on Korean Studies, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh (Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU) gave an interview to the press about the development of Korean Studies in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
- Could you please introduce the Association for Korean Studies in Southeast Asia?The Association for Korean Studies in Southeast Asia, abbreviated as KoSASA, currently has 10 universities in 7 countries in the Southeast Asian region as members. The University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU is a key member of this Association for many years. According to the assignment, each university of a country will be the president of this Association for 2 years. And this year, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities plays the role of KoSASA president. It can be said that this is a memorable step forward when leading universities in Southeast Asia are orienting the Korean Studies industry in the region and promoting cooperation in research and education. The dedication and devotion of KoSASA member organizations over the past 8 years have promoted the prosperous development of Korean Studies in Southeast Asia. Several important collaborative research projects have been successfully carried out by strategic partners of KoSASA organizations in the fields of research, education, language, politics, economics, humanities, business, revolving around the area of Korean studies. KoSASA has successfully organized four famous conferences of Korean studies in Southeast Asia in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2011 respectively. This conference is the fifth conference of KoSASA organized by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi.
- How do you evaluate the influence of Korean culture on Vietnam?South Korea, once known as one of the poorest agricultural countries in the world, has seriously implemented an economic development strategy since 1962. After less than four decades, the country has achieved economic achievements known to the world as the "Miracle on the Han River". Korean culture has also had a great influence on countries in the region and around the world with the Hallyu wave. In the era of cultural integration, this trend continues to take place and develop strongly. In Vietnam, many Korean cultural products such as movies, music, books and documents on Korean socio-economy were imported quite early. This is an inevitable need for development in the current context of globalization. This helps to enhance understanding of Korean culture with the Vietnamese people, meeting the need to learn and share experiences between the people of the two countries. Over the past 20 years, the cooperative relationship between the two countries has also had good developments, bringing benefits to both countries.
- What difficulties have you encountered in building and developing the Korean Studies major at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi, and what results have you achieved so far, Professor?The University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU is one of the institutions that established the Korean Studies major very early in Vietnam, from 1993 to present. When it was first established, the Korean Studies Department encountered many difficulties in terms of documents, textbooks, and staff, especially the lack of many documents related to the economic, political, cultural, and social development of Korea. But up to now, after nearly 20 years of development, the Department is responsible for teaching over 40 full-time students each year. Up to now, more than 400 students have graduated from this major and worked at many state agencies as well as Korean and Vietnamese enterprises. This is also a major with high entrance exam scores and attracts great attention from society. We are moving towards building Korean Studies into an independent major training from undergraduate to postgraduate levels. Regarding staff, the Korean Studies Department has 7 official lecturers, most of whom studied in Korea. In addition, the Department also invites many part-time lecturers from many universities and research institutes to teach. The KOICA Fund annually sends Korean lecturers to teach at the School. The Korean Embassy in Vietnam and the Korean Fund have helped the Department build a reading room with about 1,000 Korean books and many magazines of all kinds. Every year, many students of the school have received funding from Korean support funds such as the KOICA Fund, the Korean Fund, and the Chung-Soo Fund. Currently, the School has established a Korean Studies and Korean Language Training Center with international certificates. It can be said that this is a great step forward in the development of this field of study at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in particular and Vietnam in general. To continue to develop this field of study, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities advocates constantly expanding cooperation with KRI, UNSW as well as Korean universities; and other countries in the region in research and training on Korea.
- Why does this conference have the theme of "new aspects of Korean studies research cooperation in Southeast Asia", professor?The theme of the conference is to emphasize the issue: in the context of integration and globalization, Korean studies are not only limited to each country but need to be expanded and experiences shared among countries in the Southeast Asian region, especially in cooperation, support, and research sharing among Korean scientists and universities. In fact, over the years, KoSASA members have conducted a number of studies including new trends in research and training of Korean studies in various academic fields. And the 5th Conference will help strengthen and enrich the above foundations to bring Korean studies to a new level. Also starting from the 5th Conference, KoSASA will strive to become a research-oriented association and the KoSASA Conference will become a place to publish research results from research cooperation projects; exchange of visions and future research programs among member universities and individual scholars in the region.
Thank you, professor!
