Selected Speeches
Dr. Leeserved as the President of SNU from 2006 to 2010. These are selected speeches during his presidency.
2007 IUS-HSS International Conference (June 1, 2007)
HIT: 9430
Congratulatory Remarks
President Jang-Moo Lee
2007 IUS-HSS International Conference
Hoam Faculty House
June 1, 2007
Good Morning! Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure and honor for me to welcome all of you, on behalf of Seoul National University, to this unique international conference on the role of the European Union (EU) in North Korea. I would like to extend my special welcome and heartfelt gratitude to Honorable former Defense Minister of East Germany Rainer Eppelmann and Ambassador of the EU Commission Brian McDonald. We are also deeply honored by the presence of today's invited speakers: Mr. Stanislas Roussin of SERIC Coree, Professor Cesar Ducruet of Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Professor Sung-Jo Park of the Free University of Berlin. I am also very glad to see our respected Emeritus Professor Se-Won Kim and Professor Dal-Joong Chang at this conference.
I would like to congratulate the Institute for Unification Studies (IUS) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation for co-hosting this very special conference. The IUS at Seoul National University opened last year to contribute academically to the reunification of the two Koreas. Since then, the IUS has enjoyed a reputation of the premier academic institution on North Korea and unification studies nationwide. The Hanns Seidel Foundation is an independent German think tank that has steadily contributed to international cooperation and development. In Korea, it has focused on reconciliation on the Peninsula and preparation for possible cooperation between the South and the North. In this respect, today's IUS-HSS joint conference is particularly meaningful.
This joint conference is immensely significant also for Seoul National University and its efforts at internationalization. The University is currently promoting extensive academic exchange and cooperation with other universities and research institutes around the globe. Through such internationalization, the University will make great strides to its goal for the 21st century. In this sense, the joint conference on the EU and North Korea means so much to us, and I strongly believe that we will all benefit enormously from cooperation.
This conference is especially meaningful because considerable transformations have taken place since North Korea conducted a nuclear test last year and the Six-Party Talk in Beijing concluded the February 13 agreement to resolve the nuclear crisis. As you may have noticed, government officials from the five nations taking part in the Six-Party Talk and the EU thankfully will participate in a roundtable session this very afternoon and discuss the EU's role in the North Korean issue. This will turn the talk into a Six-Party Plus One talk if we include North Korea. Because the EU has made every effort to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to lead North Korea to soft landing, this conference will serve as a great opportunity for sharing the experience of the EU in North Korea and suggesting a better way to solve the problem.
Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Director Myoung-Kyu Park of the IUS and Dr. Bernhard Seliger of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, both of whom prepared this important conference. I sincerely hope that the conference will serve as a valuable opportunity for reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula. Thank you and welcome again.
President Jang-Moo Lee
2007 IUS-HSS International Conference
Hoam Faculty House
June 1, 2007
Good Morning! Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure and honor for me to welcome all of you, on behalf of Seoul National University, to this unique international conference on the role of the European Union (EU) in North Korea. I would like to extend my special welcome and heartfelt gratitude to Honorable former Defense Minister of East Germany Rainer Eppelmann and Ambassador of the EU Commission Brian McDonald. We are also deeply honored by the presence of today's invited speakers: Mr. Stanislas Roussin of SERIC Coree, Professor Cesar Ducruet of Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Professor Sung-Jo Park of the Free University of Berlin. I am also very glad to see our respected Emeritus Professor Se-Won Kim and Professor Dal-Joong Chang at this conference.
I would like to congratulate the Institute for Unification Studies (IUS) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation for co-hosting this very special conference. The IUS at Seoul National University opened last year to contribute academically to the reunification of the two Koreas. Since then, the IUS has enjoyed a reputation of the premier academic institution on North Korea and unification studies nationwide. The Hanns Seidel Foundation is an independent German think tank that has steadily contributed to international cooperation and development. In Korea, it has focused on reconciliation on the Peninsula and preparation for possible cooperation between the South and the North. In this respect, today's IUS-HSS joint conference is particularly meaningful.
This joint conference is immensely significant also for Seoul National University and its efforts at internationalization. The University is currently promoting extensive academic exchange and cooperation with other universities and research institutes around the globe. Through such internationalization, the University will make great strides to its goal for the 21st century. In this sense, the joint conference on the EU and North Korea means so much to us, and I strongly believe that we will all benefit enormously from cooperation.
This conference is especially meaningful because considerable transformations have taken place since North Korea conducted a nuclear test last year and the Six-Party Talk in Beijing concluded the February 13 agreement to resolve the nuclear crisis. As you may have noticed, government officials from the five nations taking part in the Six-Party Talk and the EU thankfully will participate in a roundtable session this very afternoon and discuss the EU's role in the North Korean issue. This will turn the talk into a Six-Party Plus One talk if we include North Korea. Because the EU has made every effort to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to lead North Korea to soft landing, this conference will serve as a great opportunity for sharing the experience of the EU in North Korea and suggesting a better way to solve the problem.
Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Director Myoung-Kyu Park of the IUS and Dr. Bernhard Seliger of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, both of whom prepared this important conference. I sincerely hope that the conference will serve as a valuable opportunity for reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula. Thank you and welcome again.