[Poznan=Seung-Han LEE] From July 13th to 15th, In Poznan(Poland), Adam Mickiewicz University and Poznan King Sejong Institute held the 1st Asian Congress. The 6th International Conference on Korean Humanities and Social Sciences was held as the main session of the Asian Congress. At the Congress, meaningful achievements of Korean poetry and Korean translation were revealed. The theme of the presentation was expanded for the first time ever, and the Congress also gave a view on Korean traditional music and automobile industry.
The Asian Congress, held at Adam Mickiewicz University, was set up to promote research on language, literature, arts and social sciences in Asian countries. In addition, it is included in the purpose of the promotion of Asian countries related to Poland and Middle East Europe. To this end, the Organizing Committee of Asian Congress have integrated International Conference on Korean Humanities and Social Sciences and International Conference on Indonesia(Language, Literature, and Culture) into the Asian Congress. Also The International Conference on Vietnamese, Japan, China and other Asia(Language, Literature, and Culture) was first established.
At this Asian Congress, 62 people presented the theme in five sessions including Korea, Indonesia, China, Japan and Poland. King Sejong Institute said more than 300 people visited the conference during the three days of the Congress.
In keynote speech on the first day of the Asian Congress, Professor Qinglin(School of Foreign Languages, Northwest University of Political Science&Law) announced ‘Current Situation, Challenges and Countermeasures of MLTI Education in China.’ also Professor Henryk Jankowski(Chair of Asian Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland) announced ‘How dead is Altaic hypothesis?’ and Professor Jong-seong PARK(Korea National Open University) announced ‘A Comparative Study on Gods of the Kuksa Seonghwang, Kangneung in Korea and the Toju Tombs of Yiju.’
The full-scale presentation began on the second day. Among them, there was a high interest in the International Conference on Korean Humanities and Social Sciences, which celebrated its 6th anniversary. In particular, the presentations of scholars studying Korean studies abroad were impressive. Merve KAHRIMAN(University of Istanbul, Turkey) announced a study comparing Korean novels during the Korean War and Turkish novels during liberation war. Anna BOWIAK(PhD, Adam Mickiewicz University) announced ‘An Analysis of the Error of the Korean Language Learners in Poland’ and Emilia WOJTASIK(PhD, Adam Mickiewicz University) explained ‘A comparison of sworn/judiciary translator/interpreter system in Poland and South Korea.’
Professor Jeong Myung-kyo(Yonsei University) has attracted attention by announced the results of a reinterpretation of Kim So-wol's ‘Azalea Flower.’ In his presentation, Professor Jung cited Kim So-wol’s ‘Azalea Flower’ as the “start of Korean modern poetry” in his presentation. Professor Jeong's announcement was praised. The evaluation came out “If the contents of the study are further materialized and formulated, it is necessary to rewrite the middle and high school Korean language textbook.” In addition, Professor Oh Hyung-yeop(Korea University) and Woo Kyung-seop(Inha University) and others have also published research results on various fields such as history, literature, and society. Ph.D. researchers at the Graduate School of Korean Literature also presented and discussed the fields they were studying. At the conference, ‘The fusion of Western music and Korean music’ was discussed, and ‘the possibility of cooperation between Korea and Poland in the automobile industry centered on eco-friendly cars’ was sought.
On the last day, professor at the Adam Mickiewicz University, a world-renowned linguist, Jerezy BACZEROWSKI, gave a keynote speech on the subject of ‘Theoretical Understanding of Korean Nouns.’
There were many evaluations that the Asian Congress was generally successful. professor Jong-seong PARK(Korea National Open University) said “The previous conferences had problems with a number of very local themes or the presentations were formal and limited. On the other hand, this time, it was meaningful not only to expand the topic but also to introduce many results that can be put out by actual academic achievement. I hope that this Asian Congress will help the whole of Asian-related studies, including Korean Studies, to develop in Poland in the future".
“Korea and Poland are expanding exchanges and cooperation in fields such as academics and economics, and many students in Poland want to have the opportunity to learn about Korea. In line with this, interdisciplinary approaches to solving both research and employment are attracting attention in Korean research. This International Conference on Korean Humanities and Social sciences is meaningful in that it was a place to gauge not only in-depth knowledge of Korean but also insight into various economic fields.” said Aleksandra Matulewska, Head of the Organizing Committee of the Asian Congress.
Matulewska also said “This time, we held an Asian Congress to discuss Korean studies as well as various Asian countries. It seems to have achieved successful results by expanding the field of economy, industry and art, as well as humanities and social sciences. We plan to expand the topic and participants by strengthening cooperation with local universities in Korea and other Asian countries next year. Through this, we plan to make efforts to secure better visibility in the field.”
