■ Students from HUFS Department of South Slavic Studies publish poetry book
Students from HUFS Department of South Slavic Studies who major in Serbian and participate in Serbian plays have published a poetry book titled Danica. The meaning of “Danica” in Serbian is “morning star, Venus” and the student academic society is also named “Danica.” In addition to majoring in the Department of South Slavic Studies, HUFS students are actively engaged in learning about the history and culture of Yugoslavia region, and creating lasting memories through student activities.

Student Park Kyung-min and 12 other students from the Danica student academic society wrote the poems in Serbian along with translations in Korean. The topics include beginning, love, happiness, success, and life. Student Park Kyung-min noted that the Balkan Peninsula and the Korean Peninsula share a lot in common and that he wanted to spread Serbian literature to Koreans through the poetry book. He would also like to work on strengthening the ties between Korea and Serbia.

■ HUFS College of Education holds an award ceremony for the Idea Contest for Future Language Teachers
On January 16, 2020, HUFS College of Education held an award ceremony the Idea Contest for Future Language Teachers.

A total of 8 teams attended the contest and the winning team consisted of Kim Ji-won and Lim Joo-yeon, both entering class of ’17 from the Dept. of French Education. Their winning idea was for PBL English Class Guidelines with Subject Learning.

In his congratulatory remarks Dean of the College of Education Kim Tae-young said: “From this contest we hope our students learn about class management in the field and the values of cooperation as they prepare to become teachers during the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

■ HUFS President visits ROTC cadets at winter training camp
On January 13, 2020, HUFS President Kim In-cheol, Dean of Student Affairs and Human Resource Development Kim Bong-cheol, ROTC Alumni Association Chief Vice President Yoo Nam-jeh, and ROTC Alumni Association Executive Deputy Director Koo Jong-joo met with HUFS ROTC cadets training at the Army Cadet Military School, located in Geosan, Chungbuk, to offer words of encouragement and also met with Principal Lee Jong-hwa.

President Kim In-cheol said: “If someone asked about where the future of Korea is headed, I would direct them to HUFS. I am very proud of the cadets from our school and I hope you make HUFS proud when you become officers.”

HUFS ROTC cadets enter the Army Cadet Military School in Geosan, Chungbuk, every vacation to attend a training camp and a total of 70 HUFS cadets attended the winter training.

■ Division of Language & Diplomacy (LD) visits Myanmar as part of KOICA program
From January 11-18, 2020, HUFS LD Division visited Myanmar to participate in field activities as part of KOICA’s global cooperation project. The students gained a better understanding of developmental needs in an international setting from the project, not to mention gaining valuable field experience.

For the first field experience, the HUFS students helped dropout teenagers in the food and beverages jobs training program in the Hlaing Tharyar region for the KOICA project. The teenagers were not able to advance their higher education and sought job training in areas such as bakery for better wages. The KOICA project not only aimed to provide job training, but also worked with the Myanmar government to build a sustainable program for future educators. Through the field experience, the HUFS students learned the importance of education for developmental needs of a nation and sustainable factors.

Afterwards, the students visited rural villages in the Hlegu region, which is designated as a Good Neighbors (NGO) project place. Currently, Community Development Projects are carried out in the villages, which are international projects to assist villages in the areas of sanitation, economy, and medicine to improve the overall living standards. The students prepared puppet shows to raise awareness for the children on issues of sexual abuse. In addition, the students showed Korean traditional play activities to share enjoyable times with the children.

Finally, the students visited the King Sejong Institute located within Yangon University to provide Korean lessons for the Myanmarese (or Burmese) students learning Korean at the institute. The topic was on Korean neologisms with a focus on teaching how Koreans use the terms in Korea. The HUFS students reported that they have learned valuable lessons from the field experience on international cooperation for a nation’s development.

■ Graduate School Department of Information Records holds 89th Colloquium
On January 11, 2020, the Graduate School Department of Information Records held the 89th Colloquium (Topic: Data Archive Foundation and Application) at the Seminar Room of the Faculty Office Building (Seoul Campus).

The colloquium was emceed by the Director of Korean Society of Archival, Information and Cultural Studies Lee Jeong-yeon, and Dean of the Department of Information Records Noh Myeong-hwan gave the opening remarks, which was followed by Director of Presidential Archives Choi Jae-hee’s congratulatory remarks. The colloquium focused on presentations and discussions on data archive foundation and application.

■ Institute of Russian Studies holds annual seminar: Outlook on 2020 Russia
On January 10, 2020, the HUFS Institute of Russian Studies held an annual seminar titled Outlook on 2020 Russia as part of its annual Russia Report. The Institute of Russian Studies holds the academic event every year in January. In this year’s event, around 50 experts on Russia and future academics participated.

The Director of the Institute of Russian Studies Pyo Sang-yong gave the opening remarks, followed by National Defense University Professor Lee Hong-seob’s congratulatory remarks and the presenters’ analyses on 2019 Russia and outlooks for 2020 Russia. Professor Jeh Seong-hoon emceed the first part of the seminar, which was followed by presentation and discussions on the topics of domestic politics (Jang Se-ho), economy (Lee Jong-moon), and foreign relations (Jang Deok-joon). The second part of the seminar was emceed by Professor Kim Soo-hwan and presentation and discussions on the topics of military security (Kim Kyu-cheol), Korea-Russia relations (Hyun Seong-soo), and social culture (Ra Seong-do). HK Research Professor Ra Seong-do gave a presentation on the topic of “Looking for Answers from the Past for the Next Decade” and provided insights on why the Russian government designated 2020 as the “Year of Memories and Glories.”

■ Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence invites Latvia’s Speaker of the Saeima for a seminar
On January 8, 2020, HUFS Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence invited Latvia’s Speaker of the Saeima Ināra MŪRNIECE and other Members of Congress for a roundtable meeting at the Lee Deok-Sun Conference Room in the Main Building on the Seoul Campus. The Members of Congress in attendance were Rihards KOLS, Gatis EGLĪTIS, Jānis VUCĀNS, in addition to the Latvian Ambassador in Korea Pēteris VAIVARS and Deputy Ambassador Pēteris PODVINSKIS.

Before the roundtable, HUFS President Kim In-cheol, Dean of International Affairs Oh Jong-jin, Centre Director Kim Shi-hong greeted the visiting group. Roundtable participants Professor Kim Bong-chul and Professor Kang Yoo-duk also joined the greeting.

The topic for the roundtable was “Latvia, European Union and Korea” and Professor Choi Byeong-jin, Dr. Park Moon-jeong, and former Director of Korean Studies at Latvia University Dr. Seo Jin-seok attended the roundtable, as well as students.

Professor Kim Shi-hong emceed the event, and Speaker of the Saeima MŪRNIECE gave a keynote speech. The Latvian Members of Congress and HUFS Professors discussed issues in Latvian politics and economy, in addition to sharing ideas on increase exchanges between the younger generations of both countries.