Newsletter

In cooperation with the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the Foundation hosted the first joint academic conference under the theme of “Formation of countries transcending time and space: comparison of Korea and Vietnam” at its grand conference room on June 21^st. The Foundation has been laying the groundwork for academic cooperation since signing a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences in 2017. Both Korea and Vietnam have had a long history despite the pressure of foreign powers and there are a lot of positive reviews that their academic cooperation based on sympathy will serve as a steppingstone to enhance mutual understanding. The Foundation interviewed Dinh Quang Hai, director of the Institute of History, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, to find out his introduction into the institute and outlook for upcoming exchanges.

Dinh Quang Hai

Director of Institute of History, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences

After graduating from the department of Vietnam contemporary and pre-modern history at Hanoi National University, Dinh Quang Hai obtained his doctoral degree in history at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences. Having begun his career as a researcher of the Institute of History, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, in 1985, he had stints as chief researcher and deputy director there and is now leading the institute.

In addition, he is in charge of editing Vietnam’s journal of history and is the dean of the history department at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. He authored “Vietnam 1975-1990: Achievements and Experiences (joint work);” “Cultural Formation and Development of Vietnam’s Working Class: Several Theoretical and Practical Problems;” “Restoration and Development Process of Modern Vietnam’s Traditional Craftwork;” “The Fall of Saigon and Enemy from Within – Vietnam War and United Front Tactics” (joint work) and many others.

Q

As a key think tank for policy advice to the Vietnamese government, the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences is known to be carrying out academic cooperation and joint research through a variety of networks at home and abroad. Please let us know some more about the academy’s Institute of History.

A

The Institute of History was established at the Viet Bac base on Dec. 2 1953, based on literary, geographical, and historical study groups. Back then, Vietnam was fighting France most fiercely. Its major role is to study various aspects of world history including economy, politics, culture, society, diplomacy, and defense as well as Vietnamese history. It is also our task to delve into historical facts objectively and scientifically and discover useful disciplines and experiences and historical values worth inheriting. We assess important economic and social development projects from the perspective of critical thinking and offer our opinions while providing consulting services concerning economic and social issues. In addition to research, we also endeavor to nurture professional personnel through master’s and doctoral courses of history, thereby contributing to the provision of qualified human resources for the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and various government and municipal agencies across the country.

Q

Sixty-five years have passed since the foundation of the institute. Given the institute’s long history, there would surely have been lots of achievements in history research. What are some of the institute’s most notable achievements?

A

The Institute of History has carried out research in diverse fields while announcing and publishing highly valuable research results. Research projects conducted so far include studies on the Age of Hung Vuong, Vietnam’s culture and civilization intended to bring to light Vietnam’s cultural characteristics, political, economic, and social issues in history, and history on the national liberation struggle. Authoring Vietnam’s synoptic history is one of the institute’s most important tasks. Since 2003, the institute has encouraged scholars to write Vietnam’s synoptic history from time immemorial to 2000, and published it in 2014. “Vietnam’s General History (Lịch sử Việt Nam phổ thông)” and “History of Education (Lịch sử giáo dục),” published in 2017, were the institute’s premier achievements. We also authored reference books for researchers by collecting, reviewing, and translating historical data. They include a 12-volume series entitled “Reference Data for Vietnam’s Modern Revolution (Tài liệu tham khảo cách mạng cận đại việt nam),” “Vietnam’s Historic Events (Việt Nam những sự kiện lịch sử),” and “World Annals (Biên niên lịch sử thế giới).”

Q

Let’s change the topic and talk about Korea and Vietnam’s history. The two countries have something in common in history in many respects, probably because of geopolitical similarities. Especially in relationships with China, they have a lot in common. What do you think are Korea’s and Vietnam’s most striking differences and notable similarities?

A

Korea and Vietnam seem to resemble each other but also differ a lot. The biggest difference between the two countries, I think, is that Vietnam is a multiracial nation comprised of 54 ethnic groups, whereas Korea is a racially homogenous nation. Yet they have a lot of similarities in political and historical terms. What’s most outstanding is their relationships with China, as was just mentioned. Both Vietnam and Korea were under China’s rule. Vietnam has been subject to many invasions, to such an extent as to call its history “that of war fighting aggressions.” Vietnam, in particular, fell prey to invasions and dominations by China’s feudal forces for 1,000 years. Aside from feudal times like the Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, in the modern era as where, there was a border war in the period of Deng Xiaoping; even now, Vietnam is beset with China’s intimidation and unreasonable demands in relation to its sovereignty dispute in the East Sea. It’s no exaggeration to say that the relationship between Vietnam and China has always been in a state of tension. However, even though it went to war after being invaded, Vietnam always regained its national independence. And after victory, Vietnam dealt with Chinese prisoners humanely under a spirit of reconciliation and sent envoys to China to pay tribute. Vietnam can proudly say that it continued to carry out external policy struggling to avoid clashes based on a spirit of reconciliation.

Q

Colonial history leaves lots of suffering. More than 70 years after its national liberation, Korea has issues entailing wars of words concerning its colonial history even now. Vietnam has been under the colonial rule of France, the U.S., and Japan longer than Korea, and so it would not have been easy to settle its colonial past. Let us know how you did it.

A

Vietnam was also under Japan’s rule for about five years. Back then, Japan committed lots of unimaginable atrocities in Vietnam. The most salient example is that Japan stole lots of rice and food from Vietnam to solve the poverty problem of its own people even through food was scarce at the time. As a result, 2 million Vietnamese died of hunger. As the government founded by Japan collapsed, Japanese in Vietnam left, but pro-Japanese collaborators in Vietnam remained. But the Vietnamese government didn’t punish these collaborators. Showing its greatest clemency, the then government allowed them to return to their ordinary lives. Those who expressed intentions to serve the country were allowed to do so while others wishing not to do so were permitted to lead ordinary and normal lives. The same went for pro-American and pro-French collaborators before the pro-Japanese Vietnamese. Of course, some of them who had done too much evil were punished, but that was only some of them. The newly independent Vietnamese government welcomed most anti-Vietnamese people and enabled them to lead their normal lives like ordinary citizens. Still, there are some people having a consciousness against the Vietnamese government, but they are very few. Vietnam is a multiracial nation comprised of 54 ethnic groups. That’s why the Vietnamese government, including the late premier Ho Chi Minh, is striving to achieve national unity. Vietnamese are multiracial but we call them one group of people altogether. Vietnam has developed the country while underscoring this ethnicity. We think that those who had worked in the American and French colonial governments are basically Vietnamese people. We are trying to understand that they were not aware that what they did was unpatriotic. They might have acted on their own patriotism in their own ways. This is expressed in Vietnam like this: “Hitting those who run away is necessary but there is no need to hit returnees.”

Q

That may be the expression to articulate Vietnam’s “tolerance” most concisely and easily. It makes us think a lot. Now it’s time to look at relations between Korea and Vietnam. Korea’s Moon Jae-in administration picked Vietnam as the core cooperation partner in its “New Southern Policy.” There are positive expectations that this will prompt their bilateral exchanges to see a big boost. What is your opinion about this?

A

Personally, I positively evaluate the fact that President Moon Jae-in regards Vietnam as an important partner. Vietnam takes its position at an important location in Southeast Asia geopolitically and strategically. This means that Vietnam is playing an important role in geography and military matters, and Vietnam, in fact, has a far-reaching influence on Southeast Asian nations. Also, it is notable that Vietnam’s status in the international community keeps rising. Vietnam was chosen as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in 2019 and expects to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2020. In addition, Vietnam is playing an important part in its East Sea dispute. There would be many different reasons President Moon Jae-in picked Vietnam as its core cooperation partner. You could call Korea Vietnam’s best partner, especially in the field of economic and trade cooperation. Korea has solidified its No. 2 place in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam. One can see this from the fact that a good number of Korean enterprises invested in Vietnam and are performing activities successfully. Vietnam and Korea also have beefed up their exchanges in cultural and social aspects. You can see how close their relations are, given that numerous Vietnamese laborers work in Korea at present and about 420,000 women hailing from Vietnam live in Korea after marrying Korean males. I think they are playing an important bridge role in revitalizing Korea-Vietnam relations no matter where and how they are working.

Q

I fully agree with you. That the Institute of History at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and the Northeast Asian History Foundation conduct research into the two countries’ history and culture and broaden their understanding will contribute to cementing their friendship. The latest academic conference prompted the beginning of direct exchanges between the two think tanks, so there will be more opportunities to understand their history and culture more deeply. What tasks does the Institute of History want to perform with the Foundation in the future? Please explain about your plan briefly.

A

Vietnam’s Institute of History hopes to press ahead with diverse cooperative ties with the Northeast Asian History Foundation. Let me sum up these in five types. First, we will push for research into private exchanges between Korea and Vietnam in ancient and medieval times. This will be preceded by studies on diplomatic envoys sent to China, trade activities by merchants of the two countries and other activities. Second, there will be research into fighting and unification processes for the sake of national liberation in Vietnam and Korea. At the center of the research will be national liberation, unification, and Korean troops’ participation in the Vietnam War, and we will also deal with Japan’s rule, national reconciliation, and the normalization of ties. Third, we have plans to write and publish books concerning Vietnam’s and Korea’s history in Vietnamese and Korean. These books, which will deal with the two countries’ history briefly and sufficiently, will be offered as historical data to Vietnamese women marrying Korean males, their husbands, and Korean entrepreneurs active in Vietnam. It is hoped that this will contribute to deepening diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Korea. Fourth, we have high hopes to exchange and share data, magazines, and books between the institute and the Foundation. Lastly, we plan to hold an international academic conference in Hanoi in late 2019. Hopefully, research and exchanges to be conducted in many ways will help heighten interest and understanding in the two countries.