AL-FARABI KAZAKH NATIONAL UNIVERSITY MAKES KOREAN PENINSULA UNITED

The Department of the Far Eastern Studies and the International Center for Korean Studies became participants in the Fourth World Humanities Forum for the Unification of Korea and organized the International Scientific and Practical Conference "The Past and Present of the Koreans of Kazakhstan" dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Koreans' residence in Kazakhstan.

History of Koreans of Kazakhstan began in 1937. In this regard, the Research Group for the Study of Humanitarian Issues on the Unification of Korea at Konguk University in conjunction with Al-Farabi KazNU initiated discussion of the issues of the historical trauma of Koreans, as well as the unification of the Korean peninsula.

The historical traumas of the Koreans were considered as a trauma of colonization, dispersion and division. "The trauma of colonization": on the basis of the Treaty of the Protectorate of 1905, in which "the deprivation of the sovereign power of the Korean empire and colonization by the Japanese government" was fixed, the imperialist state committed an invasion of the Korean peninsula and blocked the flow of "national passion". "The trauma of dispersion" was caused by the situation when people who lost their country, were forced to move to other countries because of the policy of imperialism colonization. Despite the desire to build a single independent country after August 15, 1945, two separate states - South Korea and North Korea - are in a state of "separation trauma". It was the historical trauma of the Koreans that the participants of the World Humanities Forum for the Unification of Korea 2017 discussed. The Forum celebrates the fourth anniversary this year and it was held jointly with Koreans of the CIS, Chinese Koreans, and Japanese Koreans.

On the dialogue platform of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, the conference was attended by more than 70 participants, who discussed the lessons of the past, modern trends and perspectives of the socio-cultural processes of the Koreans.

The research team of the region together with the teaching staff of the Far Eastern Studies Department was represented by the Humanities Research Team for the Unification of Korea at the University of Konguk (South Korea), the Korean Research Center at Ritsumeikan University (Japan), the Joseon Research Center at the University of Choson (China), Research Institute "Korea" of the Chinese Maritime University.

The Forum was supported by the Central Asian section of the Consultative Council for Peaceful and Democratic Unification of Korea, the Association of Koreans of Kazakhstan, the newspaper "Hanker". This event was widely covered by South Korean and domestic media, including the Republican weekly newspaper "Koryo Ilbo", the South Korean weekly newspaper "Hanin Sinmun".

Al-Farabi KazNU unites researchers - ethnic Koreans from the CIS countries, China, Japan and South Korea, once again demonstrating their attitude to the Korean issue, as well as foreign Koreans.