The Korean Studies Center at Nazarbayev University successfully hosted the 11th Central Asian Conference on Korean Studies on June 16-17. Organized by the Association of Korean Studies Professors in Central Asia and sponsored by the Korea Foundation, the conference is the most important annual convention for Korean Studies scholars in Central Asia.

This year, more than 70 scholars from 25 universities in 12 cities across seven countries, including South Korea, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, attended. H.E.
Tae-ik Cho, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Kazakhstan, also attended the conference and delivered a congratulatory speech, expressing his expectations for further academic exchanges between Central Asia and Korea. 

The main topic of this year’s conference was “Changing Societies of Central Asia and New Paradigms of Korean Studies,” which pursues discussions about how Korean studies should be approached and what values and meanings it can instill in young people growing up in a world of social networks, artificial intelligence, diversity and upheaval and what implications research on Korean studies can have for changes in Central Asia. The conference was also covered in the South Korean media and was praised for setting the stage for a new decade of Korean Studies in Central Asia. The 12th convention will be held at the Al-farabi Kazakh National University (Almaty) in June 2024.