2025-26 Inha CIS K-Adademic, 2nd Colloquium

• Created 2025.09.23
• PresenterKan Kimura
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The Inha Center for International Studies’ K-Academic Diffusion Research Center held its 5th-year 2nd Colloquium on Wednesday, September 17, at the main conference room of the Jungseok Memorial Library, under the theme “Strategic Alliances for the Global Expansion of Korean Studies: Building a New Platform for Local Government–University Cooperation.” 

 

As a follow-up to the April visit to Kobe, Japan, the colloquium featured a keynote presentation by Professor Kan Kimura (Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University). Professor Kimura assessed the current state and challenges of Korean Studies research in Japan and explored new directions for cooperation between local governments and universities. In particular, the discussion focused on concrete strategies for advancing Korean Studies through collaboration between Incheon–Inha University and Kansai–Kobe University.

 

During the roundtable, Director Jean-Young Lee (Inha University Institute of International Relations), Professor Jaehwan Jeong (Inha University), and Director Sang Yul Kim (The Museum of Korean Emigration History) participated as discussants. The dialogue explored the historical connections between Incheon, as an open port city, and Kobe, as a harbor city, highlighting the potential for cooperation between the two. The participants also addressed the possibility of a future MOU between Inha University and Kobe University and considered concrete measures to promote academic exchange.

 

This colloquium highlighted that local government–university cooperation can positively impact academic exchanges between Korea and Japan. It also underscored the need to establish practical directions for expanding Korean Studies and for building sustainable exchange programs, presenting important follow-up tasks for the future.