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아시아학 세계총회 개회식 축사<영문>

  • 작성자 : 김진옥
  • 등록일 : 2009.08.12
  • 조회수 : 2855
Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Former Prime Minister Lee Hong-gu, the honorary President,
Mayor Park Seong-hyo of Daejeon city,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased to speak to you on this special occasion of the 6th International Convention of Asia Scholars here in Daejeon. I would like to thank President Song and Secretary-General Stockhof for their kind invitation.

On behalf of the government of the Republic of Korea, I would also like to extend my warmest welcome to all the distinguished scholars of Asia studies, particularly to those foreign guests who have come a long way to take part in this global academic gathering.

Launched back in 1998 with the objective of internationalizing Asia Studies, the International Convention of Asia Scholars, the ICAS, has today grown into the largest biennial Asia studies forum bringing together scholars and researchers from all corners of the world to share and exchange information and ideas on a variety of subjects on Asia.

Through the past five meetings, the ICAS has indeed widened the horizons of academic exchanges on Asian studies both in terms of the subject areas covered as well as the global representation of scholars participating in the forum. Today, as you can feel from the excitement here this evening, the ICAS has evolved into something more than an academic gathering. It has become a cultural event celebrating the diverse cultures of Asian countries through various activities including performances, concerts and film festivals.

This success of the ICAS, in such a short period of 10 years, could not have been possible without the tireless efforts of the scholars, experts, researchers, and the staff members organizing the meetings and in this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate each and every one of you on your endeavors and success.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The word that describes Asia, I believe, is diversity. Indeed, in comparison with other regions, Asia is a continent that represents the most diverse ethnic groups, diverse religions, diverse philosophies and views of the world and diverse culture. While diversity and differences may have at times made integration and cooperation difficult in the past, today we live in an era where that very diversity is being reevaluated, redefined and respected as an important value and strength.

As the world enters a new era and seeks new vision and paradigm to understand and deal with the unknown and non-traditional challenges of our time, we are turning towards Asia for creative solutions and innovative ideas. Indeed, Asia studies have expanded and continue to widen the scope of our thoughts allowing us to explore with new ideas, concepts and visions.

I have been told that over 1,500 participants from over 60 countries have registered for this year's conference. I believe such large-scale gathering is demonstrative of not only the growing interest but also of the increasing importance of this region in the global community. Indeed, as the world's largest and most populous continent, Asia today has emerged as one of the major regions of the world, and its role is becoming increasingly crucial in world affairs.

Against this backdrop, I believe it is most meaningful that Korea is hosting the 6th meeting of the ICAS. I am confident that your presentations and discussions during the next three days will provide an excellent platform for the distinguished participants to "think" about Asia--as stated in this year's theme--about Asia's values and the significance and implications of Asia studies in today's world. I ask all of you to share your wisdom and based on your thoughts on Asia, to explore new and creative ways for building a better future of our region and the world.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The challenges facing the world today cannot be solved through the efforts of any one individual country. Poverty, pandemic diseases, climate change and the financial crisis that we are going through at this very moment are all trans-boundary in nature and calls for the concerted efforts of the global community.

Recognizing this need for international cooperation, the world leaders have come together on various occasions and meetings to discuss ways to jointly overcome the difficulties. Yet, there are limits in finding solutions within existing paradigms and many politicians, scholars, and experts today are turning their attention to Asia for answers.

In fact, you will recall that many economists around the world, fascinated by the rapid development of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore during the 1970s and 1980s, studied these countries to tackle issues of poverty and development.

Analyzing the factors that led these so-called "Four Dragons" to achieve rapid industrialization, they postulated the hypothesis that it was the Confucian ethics and tradition--the Asian value--rooted deeply in the cultures of these countries that made such effective and rapid economic growth possible. The Japanese economic success that preceded the success of the Four Dragons, Japan as Number One, aptly used as the title of the book by Erza Vogel was also attributed to the Confucian ethics by Michio Morishima, one of the prominent econometricians in his pathbreaking monograph, Why Has Japan 'Succeeded'? Western Technology and the Japanese Ethos.

Recently, many signs indicate that the center of the world economy is slowly shifting towards Asia. The fact that the term "G-2" (U.S. and China) is now widely accepted and used as much as "G-8" in the international political economic community is demonstrative of this new trend. Indeed, economists are once again turning to Asia for solutions to the current financial crisis which, dubbed as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, has affected every corner of the world.

While Korea's economy could not escape the world-wide credit tsunami, the Korean Government managed to contain the devastating effects through bold and effective fiscal and monetary policies. As a result, early this year Korea began to show signs of recovery and even registered positive growth in the first quarter and a higher rate of recovery in the second quarter of 2009, the first among the OECD member countries to do so.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As Asian value and Asian ways of thinking is gaining world attention to deal with the global challenges of our time, President Lee Myung-bak proclaimed "Low Carbon, Green Growth" as Korea's new national vision on August 15th last year on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea. The low carbon, green growth is an answer to deal with the global issue of climate change. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, designated the year 2009 as the UN Year of Climate Change and all the nations are alerted to cope with this crucial problem.

One would think that "Low Carbon, Green Growth" is grounded on Asian values that emphasize harmony and coexistence between human beings and nature. Under this new vision, economic growth and environmental sustainability are not mutually exclusive goals.

Specifically, the Korean Government launched the Green New Deal policy early in January this year to put this new vision into policy action. The Green New Deal policy is an amalgam of a long-term policy of expanding growth potential through "green strategy" and a short-term stimulus policy of creating jobs and revitalizing economy through "new deal.

This initiative is a combination of neo-classical, supply-side economic policy with Keynesian, demand-oriented policy prescriptions, the first attempt of its kind in the world.

Once the economy recovers and the employment rate rises, the new deal portion of the policy will be phased out, leaving only green growth as the major economic goal to deal with. Through this strategy, the Korean Government aims to make a revolutionary shift away from the quantitative growth paradigm of the past 50 years towards a new paradigm of qualitative growth.

The successful execution of this Green Growth strategy will enable Korea to catch three birds with one stone. These birds are, so to speak, creating new engines of growth so as to secure a firm foundation towards higher growth, ensuring environmental and climactic sustainability, and finally actively contributing to the process of international negotiations to fight against global warming.

I believe that Green Growth can be a paradigm not only for Korea, but for the international community as a whole. In fact, I have had the opportunity to share this vision with the OECD member countries when chairing the 2009 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting held in Paris in June. I am pleased to inform you that the representing ministers of the OECD members agreed that "green" and "growth" can go hand-in-hand and unanimously adopted the "Declaration on Green Growth."

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Asia is expected to be the new frontier of the 21st century. Understanding this region's politics and economics, its varied culture, the rich environment, its history and its thoughts and beliefs will allow us to better prepare for the future as we move into unchartered territories. In this context, your contributions, as scholars and experts on Asia, are deemed indispensible in helping the world community better understand Asia and its values and in finding solutions and answers towards building a better future of Asia and the world.

In closing, I wish you every success in ICAS 6 as you engage in fruitful discussions on various subject areas of Asia spanning politics, economics, society, religion, history, and culture for the next three days. And for our foreign guests, I most warmly welcome you once again and wish you all the best during your brief stay in Korea.

Thank you.