“I love Vietnam, its people and culture,” says Prof. Ahn Kyong-hwan
Love for Vietnam Prof. Ahn studied Vietnamese at the Vietnamese faculty of the Korea National University from 1974. After working as executive manager of Hyundai Group in Vietnam during the early 1990s, he realised that language translation was an important channel in which to boost the development of the friendly relationship between the two sides. The RoK and Vietnam established diplomatic ties in 1992, paving the way for business executives to enter and invest in Vietnam. Financiers from the RoK had an increasing demand to learn Vietnamese, and Prof. Ahn was invited to teach Vietnamese in his hometown. “Some of my friends encouraged me to continue doing business at Hyundai, while some others advised me to take up Vietnamese studies and teaching, reasoning the relations between the two countries were developing rapidly and they needed people with a high command of Vietnam like me. I took the second option, focusing on education,” recalled Prof. Ahn. After successfully comple...