Selected Speeches
Dr. Chungserved as the President of SNU from 2002 to 2006. These are selected speeches during his presidency.
Congratulatory Remarks for 2003
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CONGRATULATORY REMARKS
BY Dr. UN-CHAN CHUNG
PRESIDENT, SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
AT THE 2003 “FOUR MAJOR UNIVERSITIES” MEETING
UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO (KOMABA)
7 NOVEMBER 2003
Dear President Sasaki, President Xu, President Dao, Distinguished Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good Morning.
May I begin by expressing my sincere appreciation to President Sasaki, and everyone involved in preparing for this year’s meeting, for a job extremely well done. I am certain that all the hard work you invested in making sure of the preparations for this year’s meeting will be rewarded by a most productive set of discussions over the next couple of days.
I am sure all of you will agree that the fact that we gather here in Tokyo should be seen as concrete evidence of our firm commitment to forge stronger and stronger bonds between our universities, and to expand linkages in between the peoples of our four countries.
China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam are countries that are linked in many ways by history, by cultural affinities, and by their increasing interdependence with one another. Our four economies are important players in the regional and global marketplace, and cooperation between our four countries is critical to the future success of East Asia. Increased interaction in between our countries can only promote deeper mutual understanding and respect for one another.
In this regard, few ties that bind our countries together could be more important than interaction through higher education exchange and collaboration. We have a special responsibility to help light the path where future generations of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese leaders will think and act from a shared understanding of what is in the common interest of all. Without the vision to teach our bright young people about their shared future destiny, I believe we four universities will have failed in one of our most important missions for this new century.
The theme for this year’s meeting, “Looking at East Asia through Other Eyes”, therefore, could not be more appropriate nor more timely.
In order to define a new, shared vision of how we four universities should educate future generations of East Asian leaders, we must first look back into history and also look at ourselves through a better understanding of how others see us.
I am sure that the series of papers to be delivered by our faculty colleagues this afternoon and tomorrow, will help us better understand how others saw us in the past and how they perceive East Asia today. And, through discussions of these papers, I hope we will be able to better illuminate the key lessons we should derive from how others see us, so that we may focus on our strengths and work to reduce our weaknesses as a region.
I need not remind this educated audience that the will to forge a common, shared “East Asian” identity will be critical if we are to be successful in this century.
As you know, our European counterparts are far ahead of us in this respect. Although European peoples already have a very strong sense of their common identity, since the formation of the European Union, there has been a comprehensive effort by the EU to promote an even stronger “European Consciousness” through well funded educational programs such as the ERASMUS and SOCRATES initiatives that seek to promote student exchange and collaborative research amongst EU member states.
I hope that our meetings will in the future evolve into an even closer, more visionary grouping that can match initiatives such as the one I mentioned above. We four universities must be at the forefront of helping our countrymen understand the importance of educating future generations with a shared sense of East Asian identity. We have made a good start. Let us determine to work even harder to ensure that our meeting grows into a very special multilateral institution linking our four universities and countries together, and in the process helping to lay foundations for a new, shared, East Asian identity.
Before I close, please allow me to thank once again President Sasaki and Tokyo University for this wonderful opportunity to visit Tokyo and the Komaba Campus.
Arigato-gozaimashta!
BY Dr. UN-CHAN CHUNG
PRESIDENT, SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
AT THE 2003 “FOUR MAJOR UNIVERSITIES” MEETING
UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO (KOMABA)
7 NOVEMBER 2003
Dear President Sasaki, President Xu, President Dao, Distinguished Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good Morning.
May I begin by expressing my sincere appreciation to President Sasaki, and everyone involved in preparing for this year’s meeting, for a job extremely well done. I am certain that all the hard work you invested in making sure of the preparations for this year’s meeting will be rewarded by a most productive set of discussions over the next couple of days.
I am sure all of you will agree that the fact that we gather here in Tokyo should be seen as concrete evidence of our firm commitment to forge stronger and stronger bonds between our universities, and to expand linkages in between the peoples of our four countries.
China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam are countries that are linked in many ways by history, by cultural affinities, and by their increasing interdependence with one another. Our four economies are important players in the regional and global marketplace, and cooperation between our four countries is critical to the future success of East Asia. Increased interaction in between our countries can only promote deeper mutual understanding and respect for one another.
In this regard, few ties that bind our countries together could be more important than interaction through higher education exchange and collaboration. We have a special responsibility to help light the path where future generations of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese leaders will think and act from a shared understanding of what is in the common interest of all. Without the vision to teach our bright young people about their shared future destiny, I believe we four universities will have failed in one of our most important missions for this new century.
The theme for this year’s meeting, “Looking at East Asia through Other Eyes”, therefore, could not be more appropriate nor more timely.
In order to define a new, shared vision of how we four universities should educate future generations of East Asian leaders, we must first look back into history and also look at ourselves through a better understanding of how others see us.
I am sure that the series of papers to be delivered by our faculty colleagues this afternoon and tomorrow, will help us better understand how others saw us in the past and how they perceive East Asia today. And, through discussions of these papers, I hope we will be able to better illuminate the key lessons we should derive from how others see us, so that we may focus on our strengths and work to reduce our weaknesses as a region.
I need not remind this educated audience that the will to forge a common, shared “East Asian” identity will be critical if we are to be successful in this century.
As you know, our European counterparts are far ahead of us in this respect. Although European peoples already have a very strong sense of their common identity, since the formation of the European Union, there has been a comprehensive effort by the EU to promote an even stronger “European Consciousness” through well funded educational programs such as the ERASMUS and SOCRATES initiatives that seek to promote student exchange and collaborative research amongst EU member states.
I hope that our meetings will in the future evolve into an even closer, more visionary grouping that can match initiatives such as the one I mentioned above. We four universities must be at the forefront of helping our countrymen understand the importance of educating future generations with a shared sense of East Asian identity. We have made a good start. Let us determine to work even harder to ensure that our meeting grows into a very special multilateral institution linking our four universities and countries together, and in the process helping to lay foundations for a new, shared, East Asian identity.
Before I close, please allow me to thank once again President Sasaki and Tokyo University for this wonderful opportunity to visit Tokyo and the Komaba Campus.
Arigato-gozaimashta!