VolSU hosted an international scientific and practical conference on Korean studies

Volgograd State University, with the support of Kazan Federal University and the Academy of Korean Studies of the Republic of Korea, hosted the III International Scientific and Practical Conference "Development of Korean Studies in the CIS countries: Past, Present and Future".

The conference was held in a mixed format and was attended by researchers from CIS countries and the Republic of Korea. Students of Volgograd State University presented their scientific papers offline, while non-resident and international participants from Minsk, Almaty, Seoul, Kazan, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, Saratov and Nizhny Novgorod had the opportunity to present the results of their research online. A total of 53 researchers participated, 7 of them participated offline and 17 online, while the rest were active listeners.

The topics of the speakers' presentations covered a wide range of topical issues in Korean studies. During the conference, 24 papers were presented on topics dedicated to urgent problems of research development in the fields of history, diplomacy, education, economics, culture, politics and bilateral Russian-Korean relations.

Dmitry Ilyin, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of Volgograd State University, opened the conference with a welcoming speech on behalf of the university`s administration. In his speech Dmitry Yurievich thanked all the participants, organisers and honoured guests of the event from the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Belarus, and also noted the special significance of this conference for Volgograd State University, expressed his hope to strengthen and expand interregional and international scientific and educational cooperation of VolSU with foreign and Russian universities on oriental studies issues.

Dmitry Ilyin: "The scientific and practical conference and the activities of the scientific and educational centre "Korean Studies" are implemented within the framework of the complex university project of international cooperation "Eastern Vector". This project is one of the strategic directions of international co-operation of Volgograd State University".

"Our conference is predominantly represented by young researchers, which indicates a good research future for domestic Korean studies", — Dmitry Ilyin stated.

Also, the VolSU administration welcomed and congratulated a dear friend and partner from Farabi University German Kim, who celebrated his 70th anniversary this year. German Kim is Kazakhstani historian and Korean studies historian. Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor. Director of the Institute of Asian Studies at Farabi University. Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan. One of the founders of the school of Korean studies in Central Asia.

In 2021, Volgograd State University signed the cooperation agreement in the development of oriental studies with the Institute of Asian Studies of Farabi University.

Professor Ko Yong Chol, Head of the Centre for Korean Studies, congratulated and welcomed the participants and organisers of the event, in particular thanked Alla Kalinina, Rector of VolSU, Dmitry Ilyin, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of Volgograd State University, and Alexey Suslov, Head of the Centre for Korean Studies "Korean Studies" of Volgograd State University, for organising and holding the scientific conference at Volgograd State University, and expressed his hope for further fruitful cooperation between the partner universities in promoting Korean studies in Volgograd region.