By Lee Kap-soo

Ambassador of Kazakhstan Nurgali Arystanov gave a special lecture for students of the Central Asia Department of the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) on Dec. 13.

The Kazakh diplomat spoke of the positive dynamics of the political dialogue, especially noting regular meetings between the leadership of the two countries, including between Presidents Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Yoon Suk-yeol, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Korea Park Jin as well as between the Chairman of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Erlan Koshanov and the Speaker of the National Assembly of Korea Kim Jin-pyo.

In addition, Ambassador Nurgali Arystanov spoke about the successes of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, emphasizing individual joint projects with companies such as KIA, Hyundai, Samsung Electronics, Doosan Enerbility, KNOC, Lotte, etc. He underlined the prospects for cooperation in the fields of medicine, energy, and educational exchanges.

It should be noted that the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, which specializes in training international relations specialists for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea, has been teaching the Kazakh language for the past 20 years. The founder and current head of the Department of Central Asia, Professor Son Young Hoon, who calls himself by the Kazakh name Kudaibergen, emphasized in his speech: “Kazakhstan and Korea are traditionally united by sincere friendship and mutual understanding based on the similarity of cultures and traditions.”

Students took an active part in the lecture, asking relevant questions, including in the Kazakh language. It should be noted that most students studying the state language of our country have already attended the language internships in Kazakhstan.