[Field Trip] 2022 ROK-Central Europe Future Cooperation Conference and Special Lecture (May 26-June 4, 2022) > Field Trip

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Professor Jae-Seung Lee of Korea University, who is a Jean Monnet Chair Professor, went on a field trip from May 26th to June 4th in 2022. The trip, including the conference hosted by the ROK embassy in the Czech Republic, lasted ten days. The professor visited Germany, the Czech Republic and Romania to discuss the future cooperation of South Korea and Central European countries, especially in the energy sector.

On May 27th, Professor Lee first visited Autocrypt-Europe to discuss Europe’s energy transformation and the future of electric vehicles (EV) with Seokwoo Lee, the CEO and founder of Autocrypt and the vice president. Cyber security was the main topic of the talk, especially the mobility service. The European Union’s cyber security policies and security system for EV chargers. Later on the same day, he participated in the KOTRA Munich meeting to discuss Europe’s renewable energy business and how the situation was changing after the Ukraine war. The future of nuclear energy was another key as the EU is introducing taxonomy. Current Korea’s energy export to the region and its prospects were discussed between the private and public sectors of South Korea.

On May 28th, Professor Lee went to the debriefing session of OECD ITF(International Transport Forum). The agendas discussed during ITF and new technology in mobility areas were debriefed. Discussions on “connectivity” issue in Europe and mobility policies/regulations followed the session.

In the Czech Republic, Professor Lee prepared for the ROK-Central Europe Future Cooperation Conference with H.E. Tae-jin Kim, an ambassador to the Czech Republic, Secretariat Choi, and Professor Sang-yoon Ma from Catholic university on May 29th.

Professor Lee attended several export interviews with Jan Svoboda, a researcher of AMO and Choi from the Korean embassy in the Czech republic. During the first session, Czech’s energy supply after the Ukraine war and prospects of renewable energy in central Europe was thoroughly discussed. In the next session, Jitka Lolubcova from NET4GAS was invited. Current pipeline situations in Europe as well as Europe gas market was the main topic. The future of Europe LNG market and the role of Asian markets, of how Russia would respond to the long-term risks were covered during the meeting.

On May 31st, Professor Lee gave a presentation, “Toward Enhanced ROK-Europe Cooperation on Energy & Supply Chain Security” and had a discussion. The ROK-Central Europe Future Cooperation talk included Korean ambassador H.E. Tae-jin Kim, Jakub Eberle, the head of research in IIR, and Radek Cajka.

The last destination was Romania. On the first day on June, Professor Lee had a meeting with H.E. Kap-soo Rim, a Korean ambassador to Romania. The ROK-Romania’s political and economic relations were briefed. The status of the major universities and research institutions regarding Korean Studies were discussed.

On June 2nd, University of Bucuresti invited Professor Lee for enhancing KOR-Romanian research program and introduced the global Korean studies programs of Korea University. Professor Lee gave a special lecture on “Toward a Enw Stage of Global Korean Studies” to give an overview of CIS and GKS program in Korea University to the honorable audiences including H.E. Kap-soo Rim, Counsellor Shim, Professor Laura Sitaru, Professor Mugurel Dan Zlotea and Professor Diana Yuksel.

The last meeting and special lecture was held in Romania American University (RAU). The dean and vice dean of RAU, Costel Negricea and Tudor Edu along with the head of department in Asia Studies, Serban Gerogescu, H.E. Kap-soo Rim and Counsellor Shim were present during the schedule. The dean and his colleagues introduced RAU and its international exchange programs. In turn, Professor Lee introduced the CIS and GKS program in Korea. The special lecture followed the session, titled “New Geopolitical Challenges and Korea-Europe Cooperation.”

During the trip, Professor Jae-Seung Lee brought the rich knowledge on Europe’s energy situation in rapidly changing geopolitics and confirmed the interests of Central Europe in Korea. The academic exchange with Czech and Romanian universities are hinted. Furthermore, central Europe could be the key player in international security and energy crisis, which demands further attention to the region.