This morning, August 29, 2012, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities organized the Workshop “Korean Studies: New Aspects of Cooperation in Southeast Asia”.This is the 5th annual conference of the Association for Korean Studies in Southeast Asia (KoSASA), of which the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU) is a core member. The conference is sponsored by the Korea Foundation, the Korea Research Institute (AKS) and the Korea Research Institute - University of New South Wales (KRI). Attending the conference were Dr. Le Dinh Tien (Deputy Minister of Science and Technology of Vietnam), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Kim Son (Vice President of VNU), Dr. Woosang Kim (Chairman of the Korea Foundation), Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh (Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities) and nearly 80 domestic and international scientists from leading universities and research institutes in Korea, Australia and countries in the Southeast Asian region such as: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, etc.
In his opening remarks, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh emphasized the strong trend of cooperation between countries in the era of globalization and international integration. As a dynamic region with great development potential, Southeast Asian countries have soon established economic, cultural and political relations with Korea. In that context, Korean studies in Southeast Asia have produced influential research, making important contributions to academic cooperation between countries.
As one of the leading centers for research, training and international cooperation in Vietnam, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU) has played a pioneering role in research and training in Korean Studies in recent years, especially focusing on research and learning from the effective development model of Korea - a country with cultural characteristics quite similar to Southeast Asian countries in general. Since 2005, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and Southeast Asian universities have established a relationship with KRI to develop Korean Studies as well as develop a Korean Studies research network in Southeast Asia through international conferences and transnational research projects. Since 2007, the two sides have conducted research to evaluate the role of governments in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia in domestic economic development in international comparison with Korea - a successful economic development model in East Asia. Phase 2 (2011-2012) of this research has been and is continuing to be carried out by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and KRI, focusing on comparative research between Southeast Asian countries and Korea in three areas: economic growth and public sector restructuring; e-government improvement, culture and cultural industry. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh said that the research results of the above project will be announced at this conference. He also said that this is a valuable opportunity to exchange development experiences between Southeast Asian countries and Korea, not only in the field of Korean studies but also in many other fields such as: economics, politics, culture, anthropology, etc.
Since its establishment, KoSASA has been very successful in organizing 4 international conferences on the topic: Korean Studies in Southeast Asia. During the period of 2010-2012, KoSASA member universities conducted a number of studies covering new trends in Korean Studies research and training from different academic approaches. This conference aims to further enhance the cooperation of key units and KoSASA members by sharing and exploring more diverse and in-depth directions for the development of Korean Studies in Southeast Asia in the next stage.
Assessing the development of Korean studies in Vietnam, Dr. Le Dinh Tien (Deputy Minister of Science and Technology) said: "Research on Korean studies in Vietnam has made important developments and the policy of expanding research and training programs on Korean studies in Vietnam has received good response from society". Currently, Vietnam has 10 universities and 01 research institute that conducts research and training on Korea, of which 6 schools focus on research and training on Korean language and culture, 4 schools and 1 research institute and train Korean studies as a separate field of study with knowledge of economics, politics, culture, education... of Korea. Among them, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU is one of the leading units in Korean studies research and training, where Korean language training is considered an indispensable language tool in the process of training experts in the fields of Korean social life and people. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Kim Son (Vice President of VNU) commented: This is a comprehensive conference on Korean studies - a good opportunity for Korean researchers in Vietnam to meet with experts in the region, exchange experiences in research and teaching Korean studies to further develop Korean studies in Vietnam.
In the meeting tomorrow, August 30, many research results on Korean studies will be announced in 4 subcommittees: Korean education and research in Southeast Asia; Language teaching and linguistics; Political economy and public sector reform; Culture, industrialization and humanities. In addition, there will be a special discussion related to “National development and experience sharing” with 3 sub-themes: export policy, national innovation policy, policy for small and medium enterprises.
