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The NAHF hosted the 2014 Korea-Kazakhstan Policy Cooperation Forum over a two-day period from the 11th to the 12th of September. This forum is the third joint academic event that has been held since the conclusion of an MOU for academic cooperation with the Turkic Academy in Kazakhstan in 2011.

The grand theme of this year's forum was "Historical and Cultural Link Between Kazakhstan and Korea." The theme for the 11th day was 'Historical and Spiritual Values and Integration: Korea and Kazakhstan' focusing on pre-modern periods. And the theme for the 12th day was 'Exchange and Cooperation between Korea and Kazakhstan: The Eurasian Initiative' focusing on modern periods.

Discussion Needed for the Building of a Network of Central Asian Studies and Eurasian Studies

The results of this year's forum can be summarized into three points. First, it provided the opportunity for a better understanding of the Turkic Academy's objectives and aims. After independence, the government of Kazakhstan established government-affiliated research institutes dedicated to studying the history of the Turkic people and Turkism with the goals of establishing the country's identity and connecting with the former Soviet Block countries in the neighborhood. The Turkic Academy is one of the new research institutes so created. It is strengthening its academic ties with a variety of academic institutions in the Eurasian Continent. And the NAHF is its first partner in Korea. Secondly, this year's forum enabled us to seek practical ways to expand the network with the Central Asian studies community. The speakers from Kazakhstan, while warning against regional supremacy by Russia and China, emphasized that their country was bound up with the two countries through diplomatic and economic partnerships. This suggests that there are differences between the Turkic Academy's perception of Eurasian history and the NAHF's perception of history seeking horizontal reconciliation and cooperation based on 'Post-(Sino)centralism.' Finally, it laid down a more detailed blueprint necessary to keep this project going for a long time. Both institutions now have the challenge of working together to create topics that encompass Central Asia and (North) East Asia and are also externally competitive.

Based on the results of this year's forum, there needs to be the development of specific topics, such as border, identity, mutual exchange in history and culture, history education, and external relations, and the more detailed planning of further studies, before this project's goal of objective and universal joint research on historical issues and conflicts in East Asia can be fully achieved. In relation to this, the NAHF will have to come up with realistic ideas as to how to cooperate with the domestic Central Asian/Eurasian Studies communities that tend to be divided between traditional and modern/contemporary periods. At the same time, finding a link to, while maintaining distinction with, related projects within the NAHF, such as northern history studies, is another challenge. As for external relations, it is necessary to connect with international academic organizations or events, such as the Association for Asian Studies (ASS) and Annual Central Eurasian Studies Conferences, to discuss the systematic building of a global network of Central Asian Studies and Eurasian Studies. I look forward to new cooperation with the Central Asian/Eurasian Studies communities.