뉴스레터

Thanks to the invitation of the Korean Language Department of Ludong University, which is located in Yentai, Shandong, and the Center for the Chinese and Korean Cultural Exchanges of the City of Weihai, from June 2^nd to 6^th, I had honor and pleasure to visit China and give lectures to the students of the Korean Language Department and to have an excursion to Fahua Temple in Shidao.

Yentai and Weihai are located very close to Korea, taking only one-hour flight from Incheon Airport. This area has a similar climate to that of Korea, and people there are said to have a similar temperament to Koreans. With big Korean companies such as Samsung, LG and Daewoo establishing branches there and with its geographical proximity to Korea, local people have a lot of interest in and interactions with Korea. According to Prof. Ren Xiaoli of the Korean Language Department at Ludong University, who invited me, Qingdao is quite different from these two cities, for it has many small and medium-sized Korean businesses.

In Yentai, Ludong and Yentai Universities have a Korean language department, and Weihai has Korean Institute, a large-scale college specialized in Korean studies, on the Weihai campus of Shandong University. This indicates that the region is very active in Korean studies and in exchange with Korea. On my first day of visit, I encountered a poster of the "Occupation Korean Test (OK-Test)" on the wall of the College of Foreign Languages building, and it also seems to me to show the importance of the Korean language in these cities.

To Achieve Co-prosperity and Peace for the Future

On June 2^nd, the day of my arrival, I gave a lecture on "An Examination on the Modern and Contemporary Relations between Korea and China and Projection for the Future." Despite the hot weather, the classroom was filled with 150 students. During the post-lecture Q&A session with Chinese students, I could see many students very fluent in Korean. I was told that the Korean language program is quite popular because the Korean-language majors tend to have more job opportunities. These students are likely to work at a Korean company or a company dealing with Koreans, or get a job that concerns Korea. Thus, we need to take interest in them and give our utmost support to have them contribute to building better relations between Korea and China.

On June 5^th, by the courtesy of the Center of Chinese and Korean Cultural Exchange, I visited Fahua Temple in Chishan, Shidao, which is located in the east end of Shandong Province. This temple is famous for having been the main base of Jang Bogo's, a Sillan general and envoy very well-known to us. In addition to the memorabilia of Jang Bogo, those of the Japanese Buddhist priest Ennin and the bronze of Chinese Chishan Damingshen are displayed in the temple, which has been developed as a mega-size tourist site. The site's gigantic scale shows the eager efforts of the local Chinese government to develop tourist attractions and its tourism industry. The place is apparently well known to Chinese, for it has far more Chinese tourists than Korean tourists.

During the visit, I had a meeting with Dr. Cheng Weimin, Deputy Secretary General of the Center for Chinese and Korean Cultural Exchange and its research fellow, Dr. Li Zetao, and with Dr. Wang Jian, Deputy Secretary General and researcher of the Association of Social Sciences of the City of Weihai. We had deep and fruitful discussion on the relationship of China and Korea. They knew about Korea far better than what we thought they would, and we shared the idea that the Chinese-Korean relationship is crucial for the stability and prosperity of Northeast Asia.

Next year welcomes the 20^th anniversary of the norminalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and China. Upon the approach of this meaningful anniversary, both countries have tremendous responsibility to strengthen their cooperation and understanding toward each other and to work together for co-prosperity and peace for the future.