Volgograd State University hosted the 1^st International Scientific and Practical Conference "Russian-Korean Dialogue: Lessons of the Past and Challenges of the Present". It was dedicated to the opening of the regional Research and Educational Center for Korean studies on the basis of Volgograd State University. The participants included representatives from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, the United States and Japan, as well as representatives of state authorities and national cultural associations of the Volgograd region. The conference was held in a mixed format.

Researchers of Korean and Oriental studies, historians, culture experts, philosophers, sociologists, philologists, political experts and economists gathered together at VolSU to discuss the issues of the current and future Russian-Korean studies. One of the key topics was the analysis of the intercultural dialogue experience in the context of globalization and the prospects for the development of socio-economic cooperation between Russia and the Republic of Korea.

Prof. Dr. Alla Kalinina, Rector of Volgograd State University, noted during her welcome speech that the scientific and practical conference is a good start for future academic exchanges. The conference has a significant role in expanding and strengthening interregional and international research and educational cooperation.

The Consul General of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Russian Federation Mr. Pak Ho expressed his gratitude and congratulated Dr. Alla Kalinina on the Center opening.

The Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Nationalities and Cossacks of Volgograd region Mr. Nikolay Moskalenko highlighted that the Center for Korean Studies is important for the whole Volgograd region because of the Korean culture popularity.

In addition to the Center opening, the additional agreement on the development of oriental studies was signed between Volgograd State University and Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

The Head of the Department for the Development of Korean Studies at the Academy of Korean Studies of the Republic of Korea Mr. Lee Kang Han as well Chairman of the Korean Studies Center of the Kazan Federal University, prof. Ko Young Cheol, also congratulated VolSU on the opening of the Center for Korean Studies. prof. Ko Young Cheol expressed his hope that the VolSU Center for Korean Studies will become a platform for Korean studies in the Southern Russia.

Both the scientific and practical conference and the opening of the research and educational Center for Korean Studies operate within the framework of the "Eastern Vector" project which is one of the strategic directions of international cooperation of Volgograd State University.