St Petersburg University has been visited by a South Korean delegation headed by Park Yang-woo, the Minister of Culture. Among the guests were Lee Sok-bae, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and Kwon Dong Seok, the Consul General of the Republic of Korea in St Petersburg. 

The meeting was held by: Elena Chernova, Senior Vice-Rector; Associate Professor Inna Tsoy, the Director of the ‘Russia – Republic of Korea Dialogue’ Forum Directorate; and Associate Professor Apollinariia Avrutina, the Director of the Centre for Contemporary Turkish Studies.

Minister Park Yang-woo was shown the current exhibitions located in the corridor of the Twelve Collegia building: Göbekli Tepe; ‘UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Turkey’; and ‘Russian translations of Turkish literature’. The delegation was also shown a display of the works of contemporary Chinese artists in the Exhibition Hall.

Despite the fact that in recent history official diplomatic relations between our countries were established relatively recently – only 30 years ago – by now we have achieved a full understanding.
Park Yang-woo, the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Korea

Lee Sok-bae, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Russia, said that 2020 will see the celebration of the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries. A number of major cultural events will be organised: concerts; exhibitions; and festivals. Mr Lee added that there are plans to open an exhibition of Korean art at the University.

Elena Chernova, Senior Vice-Rector, presented Mr Park Yang-woo with three significant books that had been published at St Petersburg University: ‘Prominent Cultural Figures at St Petersburg University’ published in English; ‘Knowledge Collection. Museums and Collections of St Petersburg State University’; as well as ‘Knowledge Collection. St Petersburg University’s Book Collection’, the most recent work presented at the International Cultural Forum. The guest was also told about the activities of the Diaghilev Museum of Modern Art, and was presented with an album about its collections.

At the end of the visit, the guests looked around the Modern Sculpture Park of St Petersburg University. Of particular interest was the monument to the famous Korean writer Pak Kyongni. It was opened in 2018 with the active assistance of the ‘Dialogue Russia – Republic of Korea’ Forum of Civil Initiatives forum. Nikolay Kropachev, the Rector of St Petersburg University, heads the Russian Coordination Committee of this forum. 

It was proposed to work out a detailed plan for the University's participation in the anniversary events of 2020 and to begin preparing joint festivities next year.