■ India-Pacific Research Team of the Graduate School of International and Area Studies hosts a joint international conference with Japan’s Ritsumeikan University and Taiwan’s National Chengchi University

The India-Pacific Research Team (Lead Researcher Ohn Dae-Won, “Research Team”) of the HUFS Graduate School of International and Area Studies (Director Hong Wan-Seok) and the Australian Foreign Affairs and Security Center hosted an international conference with Ritsumeikan University and the National Chengchi University from March 24 to 25, 2023 (Friday to Saturday). The two-day conference was held in Taipei under the theme “East Asian Security Risks from US-China Competition: Seeking a Minoritarian Solution to the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula Situation.”

The academic event co-hosted by the institutions from the three Northeast Asian nations was a huge success as it was joined by numerous renowned scholars and experts in the field of East Asian and India-Pacific security and international cooperation at home and abroad, including HUFS Professors Ohn Dae-Won, Mason Richey, and Erwin Tan; Professor Park Jae-Jeok of Yonsei University; Professor Lim Eun-Jung of Kongju National University; Former Ambassador Seo Jeong-Ha (former Ambassador to Singapore, now Director of Jeju Peace Institute); Dr. Jagannath P. Panda of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute; and Adjunct Professor Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy of the Free University of Brussels (CEO of the India-Pacific Platform).

■ HUFS Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence hosts an international conference in celebration of the 60th anniversary of KOR-EU diplomatic relations

On March 21, 2023 (Tuesday), the HUFS Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (Director Kim Si-Hong) held an international conference to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Korea-EU diplomatic relations at the Grand Conference Hall on the 11th floor of the Main Building. The conference was entitled “60 Years of EU-Korea Relations, 1963-2023: Looking Back, Looking Forward.”

Sponsored by Hanns Seidel Foundation and EURAXESS, the conference invited distinguished guests from Europe, including the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the EU, former EU Ambassador to Korea Michael Reiterer, Tereza Novotna (Free Univ. of Berlin), Nicola Casarini (IAI and Wilson Center), and Bernhard Seliger (Hanns Seidel Foundation), offering a unique forum of discussion on the new paradigm of Korea-EU relations.

In particular, a book project, joined by 15 Korean and European experts, was officially launched with the goal of publishing a book this December.

Moderating the conference, Director Kim Si-Hong of the HUFS Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence said, “I hope that this book project sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will make a meaningful contribution to our nation that aims to become a global pivot. I am very confident that HUFS will accomplish its role at the center of this endeavor.”

■ HUFS Center for International Area Studies Research HK+ National Strategies Research Project Agency holds an academic conference with the Center for East Asia Research and the Center for Russia Research of the National Chengchi University

On February 21, 2023 (Tuesday), the HUFS Center for International Area Studies Research HK+ National Strategies Research Project Agency (Chief Gang Joon-Young) held an international academic conference at Conference Room #1 of the International Studies Building of the National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan, entitled “A Multifaceted Study on Northern Culture: A Cross-Strait and Cross-Korea Perspective.”

Organized by the HK+ National Strategies Research Project Agency and co-hosted by the Agency and the Center for East Asia Research and the Center for Russia Research of the National Chengchi University, the conference drew scholars and experts from various fields who discussed the current status of cultural policies and exchange among Korea, Russia, Mongolia, and other countries in the Northern region. The participants came up with ways to boost cooperative relations between Northern countries through cultural content.

The keynote speeches were delivered by seven renowned experts and scholars who are leading the efforts to solve the ongoing environmental and ecological crisis.

Currently on the agenda of “In Pursuit of Transnational Cooperation and Communication to Create an Environment for Reunification: Confirming Points of Northern Cultural Tangency and the Establishment of a Cultural Hub,” the Agency is conducting an interdisciplinary study with prominent research institutions and scholars at home and abroad. Through this, it is seeking methods of transnational communication and cooperation for peace and sustainable development on the Korean Peninsula.

■ HUFS Institute of Latin American Studies’ HK+ National Strategies Research Project Agency holds a large international academic conference on “Ecological Civilization and Rights of Nature” together with UN Harmony with Nature

The HUFS Institute of Latin American Studies’ HK+ National Strategies Research Project Agency (Director Shin Jeong-Hwan) held an international conference under the theme “Transition to Ecological Civilization through Rights of Nature and Ecological Economy” for three days from January 16 to 18, 2023 (Monday to Wednesday), at Universidad Central de Chile in support of and in partnership with UN Harmony with Nature, an official program under the UN SDGs.

Sponsored and supported by HUFS, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Research Foundation of Korea, Korea National Institute of Ecology, Universidad Central de Chile, and University of Alcala, Spain, the academic conference was held at Universidad Central de Chile in a hybrid manner. Under the theme “Rights of Nature and Ecological Economy,” the conference gathered 128 scholars, legal experts, government and NGO officers (seven keynote speakers, 106 presenters, and 27 chairpersons) from 14 countries as well as numerous UN Harmony with Nature experts. It served as an excellent occasion to seek alternative measures to respect the rights of nature, build an ecological economy, and thereby realize the sustainable development of humanity and the transition to an ecological civilization.