On January 7, 2026, a delegation of 18 faculty members and students from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), led by Professor Hwang Jae-ho, visited the International College of Zhejiang University.

Chen Weiying, Vice Dean of the International College, extended a warm welcome to the South Korean faculty and students on behalf of the college. She expressed her hope to take this visit as an opportunity to further deepen cooperation between the two universities in the fields of international education and talent cultivation. By expanding multi-level and multi-form exchanges and interactions, she aimed to build a broader learning and exchange platform for Chinese and South Korean youth.

Subsequently, Professor Hwang Jae-ho delivered a speech. He expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the International College for its meticulous arrangements and warm hospitality. Drawing on iconic landmarks like the “Qiushi Grand Lecture Hall” and “Yangming Bridge” encountered during the campus tour, he shared his understanding of and resonance with Wang Yangming's “Philosophy of the Mind.” Combining this with topics on contemporary youth development, he encouraged the South Korean students to approach and understand Chinese culture, broaden their international horizons through cross-cultural communication, and strive to become active participants and bridges in China-South Korea cultural exchanges.

To welcome the South Korean faculty and students, the International Chinese Education Office arranged a series of exchange activities centered around the theme “Discovering ZJU, Understanding China, and Engaging in Youth Dialogue.” These included university introductions, admissions briefings, student presentations, and campus tours, with Korean-speaking staff invited to provide translation support during the presentations. Following the admissions briefing, a South Korean Master's student majoring in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL) shared her learning and living experiences at Zhejiang University, creating a warm and harmonious interactive atmosphere on-site.

Notably, this visit coincided with the state visit of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung to China from January 4 to 7, 2026. Vice Dean Chen remarked: “The International College's concurrent reception of the delegation from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has created a symbolically significant ‘resonance’ in timing. High-level diplomacy and youth exchange, humanistic mutual learning, and educational cooperation echo one another, demonstrating the positive momentum of the continuously deepening China-South Korea relations across multiple dimensions.”

Professor Hwang Jae-ho, the leader of the South Korean delegation, has long focused on and researched China-South Korea relations and is widely recognized in academic circles as a “China Expert”. This visit provided a valuable opportunity to deepen mutual understanding and promote pragmatic exchanges, laying a solid foundation for subsequent cooperation between the two universities. It also injected energy into China-South Korea friendly relations at the youth level, reflecting the unique value and responsibility of higher education institutions in serving the overall framework of national foreign affairs and promoting people-to-people bonds.

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) is a top-tier university in Asia for languages and regional studies. It is one of the most internationalized universities in South Korea and among the earliest to establish Chinese language education, earning it the reputation as the “Cradle of Asian Translators.” Among the visiting students, two had previously participated as youth student representatives in writing a letter to President Xi Jinping, expressing their sincere desire to deeply study China and promote communication between civilizations.