Opening of the Conference on Korea and Korean Studies from an Asian Perspective

This morning, November 25, 2008, the 9th Asia-Pacific Conference on Korean Studies, titled “Korea and Korean Studies from an Asian Perspective,” opened at the Hanoi Trade Union Hotel.

The conference was jointly organized by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU and the Central Institute for Korean Studies. About 200 domestic delegates and nearly 100 delegates are famous scholars from universities and research centers in 14 countries including: Korea, the United States, France, Japan, China, Russia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India... The conference welcomed many distinguished guests such as: Mr. Im Hong-Jae - Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Vietnam, Dr. Lee Seo-Hyeng - Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Korean Studies, Mr. Paik Nak-Whan - Chairman of the Korea - Vietnam Foundation, Prof. Dr. Bang Tien Long - Deputy Minister of Education and Training, Prof. Dr. Vu Minh Giang - Vice President of VNU.

Since World War II, Korea has maintained a high economic growth rate, rapid industrialization and is considered one of the "four Asian tigers". The emergence and strong spread of the "Korean wave" phenomenon in many countries around the world in recent decades has contributed to making Korea's image more prominent in the world. Therefore, Korean studies quickly became a developing field of study, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. The world highly appreciates the effectiveness of Korea's educational development strategies, thanks to which Korea has created high-quality human resources for economic development. In addition, the strategy of promoting Korea's image through culture has brought extremely positive impacts on building cooperative relationships between Korea and its partner countries. Solving the mutual relationship between economy and culture well: developing the economy on the basis of national culture, taking culture as the basis for development is considered a very unique direction of Korea.

[img class="caption" src="images/stories/2008/11/25/img_7210.jpg" border="0" alt="Mr. Im Hong-Jae - Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Vietnam" title="Mr. Im Hong-Jae - Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Vietnam" width="240" height="161" align="left" ]

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Im Hong-Jae - Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Vietnam gave a promising assessment of the current development of Korean Studies in Vietnam. The establishment of basic foundations of understanding Korean Studies and Korean language to introduce Korea in the past 10 years in Vietnam has played a very important role in promoting dynamic exchanges in many fields between the two countries. He also expected that the delegates would share new information on the development situation and plans to expand Korean Studies in the future. This is of great significance in changing the face of Korean Studies, building a comprehensive image of Korea in the eyes of the world.

[img class="caption" src="images/stories/2008/11/25/img_7201.jpg" border="0" alt="Prof. Dr. Bang Tien Long - Permanent Deputy Minister of Education and Training" title="Prof. Dr. Bang Tien Long - Permanent Deputy Minister of Education and Training" width="240" height="160" align="right" ]

On the Vietnamese side, Prof. Dr. Bang Tien Long - Deputy Minister of Education and Training - affirmed the Ministry's policy of focusing on building and developing a series of training majors on the countries and cultures of countries around the world, including Korea. Up to now, Vietnam has 10 universities that offer training on Korea, of which 6 universities offer training in Korean language and culture, 4 universities offer Korean studies as a major including economics, politics, culture, education... Korea. Of which, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities is the leading unit in training and researching Korean studies in the fields of society and people. He also said that "This conference is a valuable opportunity for Vietnamese researchers to meet with experts in the Asia-Pacific region to exchange experiences in research and teaching Korean studies in order to further develop Korean studies in Vietnam".

This afternoon and tomorrow, November 26, 2008, delegates will discuss in 5 subcommittees:

- Panel 1: Korean culture in Asian culture

- Panel 2: Asian culture in Korean culture

- Panel 3: Korea and Asia in history: conflicts and experiences of cooperation

- Panel 4: Korea and Asia in the 21st century: problems and prospects

- Panel 5: Achievements and prospects of Korean studies in Asia.

The closing session of the workshop will begin at 3:30 p.m. on November 26, 2008 with a summary of each subcommittee.

This is a conference held every two years and rotates in countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The 8th conference in 2006 was held in India.