With support from the Korea Foundation, the Korean Research Association of Vietnam (KRAV) has been launched as the first state-level organization in Vietnam dedicated to international studies. The association’s inaugural general meeting, held in Hanoi on April 25, 2011, was attended by a number of influential Vietnamese figures and professionals involved with Korean Studies, reflecting their keen interest and expectations for its activities.

The Korean Research Association of Vietnam currently has some 100 members involved in various areas of Korea Studies, representing 20 universities and research institutes across Vietnam. The association recently received the green light for its foundation from the Communist Party of Vietnam and five concerned government agencies in Hanoi, following an 18-month evaluation process that began in 2009. It is the first state-level independent organization dedicated to international studies in Vietnam.

State-level Institution for International Studies

Various international studies organizations for the study of Russia, France, Japan, America, and China, among other countries, already maintain operations in Vietnam and have produced researchers in their respective fields. But no other organization for area studies has been allowed to found an independent research association. In this regard, the permission to establish the KRAV is regarded as an of the desire on the part of the Vietnamese government and Communist Party to encourage more active exchange and mutual cooperation between the two countries.

At the inaugural general meeting, the KRAV organized its board of directors, adopted its constitution, and announced its key priorities and plans for future activities. Mai Ngoc Chu, former dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) of Vietnam National University (VNU) in Hanoi, was elected as the KRAV’s first chairman.

Inaugural Session

Over 100 dignitaries and Korea specialists from all over Vietnam attended the KRAV inaugural session. They included Vo Khanh Vihn, president of the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences; Nguyen Thien Thang, chief of the bureau in charge of NGOs at the Ministry of Interior; and Nguyen Van Kim, USSH vice rector at VNU Hanoi. Ha Chan-ho, Korean ambassador to Vietnam, in his congratulatory remarks, emphasized the significance of KRAV’s founding as an opportunity to deepen the strategic cooperative partnership that the two countries have forged since President Lee Myung-bak’s state visit to Vietnam in 2009.
As a Korea-centered organization comprising Vietnam’s influential figures involved in Vietnam-Korea affairs, the KRAV will concentrate its efforts on introducing Korea in Vietnam by carrying out a variety of Korea-related programs, such as workshops on Korean Studies, publication of Korea-related research materials, and reciprocal visits by key figures of the two countries. As an independent organization under the umbrella of the Vietnamese government, it is expected to play a central role in promoting Korean Studies and boosting bilateral exchange in all areas of mutual interest.

Lee In-hyuck Director, KF Hanoi Office