DKU established cooperative partnerships with Hungarian institutions in various fields including Korean language and Taekwondo.
Last October, DKU’s delegation led by President Hosung Chang visited the Republic of Hungary to promote international cooperation and exchanges in academic and cultural fields.
DKU has been recently putting efforts to expand and diversify its international network to realize its vision of “Global Dankook.” Such endeavors have led to the establishment of partnerships with many renowned educational and cultural institutions in Kazakhstan, a powerhouse in Central Asia. And this time, DKU anchored in Hungary.
The delegation’s vigorous promotion of international cooperation marked its beginning with the Dankook University Korean Language Speech Contest which took place at Eotvos Lorand University on October 28.
After the preliminary stage of the contest, 17 students competed in the finals and 4 of them received awards for their distinguished performance. The various sophisticated speech topics included ‘the cultural interchanges between the two countries’ and ‘the comparison of folk tales of Korea and Hungary.’ The first place award was given to Németh Nikoletta, a second-year Korean language major student at Eotvos Lorand University, for his excellent speech on ‘the similarities between the cultures of Korea and Hungary by comparing both countries’ traditional medicine. In her speech, Ms. Nikoletta drew a comparison between the cultures of the two countries by analyzing the similarities in utilizing medical herb to strengthen the immune system shown in both countries. She supported her argument by making references to ‘Herbarium’, a Hungarian book written in 1578 and ‘Donguibogam: Principles and Practice of Eastern Medicine,’ a Korean book compiled by the royal physician, Heo Jun in 1613.
On the 29th, the delegation signed a bilateral cooperation agreement the Hungarian Taekwondo Association. At the signing ceremony held at the Korean Culture Center in Hungary, both parties agreed to cooperate in promoting cultural exchanges and nurturing talented young players, coaches and staff members. The ceremony also witnessed a Taekwondo demonstration performed by the Hungarian Taekwondo Association.
Moreover, DKU signed a MOU with the University of Pécs, the first university established in Hungary which has a rich history of over 650 years. Dankook University and the University of Pécs agreed to facilitate student mobility across the two universities, starting with exchanging 5 students including 2 engineering major students from 2016.