LECTURES ON COMTEMPORARY KOREA

Dr. Tran Dinh Lam was a guest to take part in discussions about “The lectures on contemporary Korea” funded by the Korea Foundation at the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) on May 24, 2013.

Dr. Tran Dinh Lam was a guest to take part in discussions about “The lectures on contemporary Korea” funded by the Korea Foundation at the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) on May 24, 2013.

The participants include Cha Du Hyeogn, Executive Vice President of the Korea Foundation in Korea (in charge of foreign affairs); Jeong Eunsil, expert of the Korea Foundation in Korea (in charge of Vietnamese affairs); Jee Chang Sun, director of the representative office of the Korea Foundation in Vietnam; Prof. Kwon Kyong-Mi from the Department of Korean Studies, Ehwa University; Dr. Moh Young-Kyu from Sookmyung University.

Representatives of HCMC USSH consist of Dr. Ngo Thi Phuong Lan, Vice Rector of the university; Assoc.Prof.Dr. Hoang Van Viet, former dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies; Assoc.Prof.Dr. Phan Thi Thu Hien, head of the School of Korean Studies together with a number of students and lecturers of the university.

From L to R: Mr. Jee Chang Sun, Dr. Moh Young-Kyu, Prof. Kwon Kyong-Mi, Dr. Cha Du Hyeon and some other Vietnamese speakers.

Hosted by Dr. Ngo Thi Phuong Lan, the program contains lectures and discussions by professors from universities in Korea and Vietnam. The series of lectures were arranged based on dialogues among scholars of the two countries, which proved to be an effective way to help gain knowledge reciprocally.

In the opening speech, Executive Vice President of the Korea Foundation in Korea Cha Du Hyeogn said it was a great honor for the Korea Foundation to hold this series of lectures at HCMC USSH, which is an important training center for Korean studies in the South of Vietnam. Once the Vietnam – Korea friendship becomes deeper, mutual understanding is very essential since it will provide many opportunities for more effective exchanges and collaboration between the two countries.

This is one of the programs launched by the Korea Foundation in Southeast Asia, helping other countries get deeper understanding of Korea. Du Hyeogn wants to make Korea become closer in the relationship with Vietnam as well as gain more knowledge of Vietnam from Vietnamese professors so that people of the two countries can advance mutual understanding. Taking this occasion, he congratulated 5 students who are the winners of the contest “Discovering Korea” and they are going to visit Korea in an exchange program. This program is intended to have further expansion since it brings a chance to make Korea become closer to Vietnam.

Concerning the field of diplomacy and politics, Cha Du Hyeogn had a presentation on “The path to build up trust and maintain peace on the Korean peninsula” from the perspective of South Korea. The presentation focuses on analyzing the division of the Korean peninsula, the relationship and conflicts between the two nations, military threats from North Korea and tension on the peninsula. After Korean War from 1950 to 1960, the North and the South split up their relationship and provoked confrontation with each other. Since the 1970s, South Korea has lifted the embargo against North Korea, seeking to live peacefully together. However, due to the uncooperative attitude of North Korea, both sides have not reached an agreement through dialogues. In 2000 and 2007 two summit conferences were organized, but the policy of a long-lasting peace and building trust are still unfeasible. While South Korea advocates economic development and democracy, North Korea has negative attitudes towards the changes of the modern age, which causes the decline in economic growth and living standard of its people. In 2013, the Kaesong Industrial Park – the only bridge in terms of economic cooperation between the North and the South – has been temporarily suspended.

At present North Korea’s capacity of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) is a threat to not only the Korean peninsula but the whole East Asia also. The government of South Korea has been continuously trying to maintain peace and denuclearization on the Korean peninsula, but has not got expected results. Since her presidential nomination, President Park Geun-Hye has always shown great determination to build up trust on the Korean peninsula with the aim of making it become more peaceful.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Hoang Van Viet, former dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, HCMC USSH, participated in the discussion on this lecture.

Dr. Moh Young-Kyu from the Department of Economics, Sookmyung University, had a presentation on “The developing process of Korean enterprises and business culture in Korea”. Although South Korea had to suffer from harsh conditions such as the breaking out of war after being free from Japanese domination as well as severe damage to industrial infrastructure, the country still achieved impressive economic growth. South Korea’s per capita income did not exceed 79 USD in 1960, but this figure, thanks to the country’s striking development, increased up to 22,700 USD in 2012. Prof. Mo Young Kyu also focused on proposing hypotheses to analyze the factors helping South Korea achieve rapid growth in a short time.

In this field of economics and business, Dr. Tran Dinh Lam, Director of the Center for Vietnamese and Southeast Asian Studies, took part in the discussion with lots of detailed remarks.

Prof. Kwon Kyong-Mi from Ehwa University lectured on “Love and Femininity in Korean modern literature and mass culture” through analyzing the well-known literary work named “A shower of rain”. The lecture put emphasis on analyzing some issues such as the origin of “love”, enjoying the work via motion picture, the social role of the author and discussion between “literature for art’s sake” and “literature for human life’s sake”. The discussion on this lecture had the participation of Assoc.Prof.Dr. Phan Thi Thu Hien, head of the School of Korean Studies, HCMC USSH.

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