Professor Ahn Kyong-Hwan: Vietnamese Have Strong 'Can-Do' Spirit

The Vietnamese people are a nation that truly deserves independence, freedom, and happiness, because they understand the true value of those ideals, said Professor Ahn Kyong-Hwan.
May 02, 2025 | 10:40
Professor Ahn Kyong-Hwan: Vietnamese Have Strong 'Can-Do' Spirit
Professor Dr. Ahn Kyong-Hwan in front of the statue of President Ho Chi Minh in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Ahn Kyong-Hwan

The Vietnamese people are a nation that truly deserves independence, freedom, and happiness, because they understand the true value of those ideals. I firmly believe that with unity and national solidarity as Vietnam marks this historic milestone, the country will soon rise to become a modern and advanced nation. With its current momentum, guided by the ideology of President Ho Chi Minh and fueled by the collective will of its people, I believe Vietnam can fully achieve its goal of becoming a developed country by 2045.

The year 2025 is a historic one for Vietnam — marking 80 years since the August Revolution, 50 years of national reunification, and the 135th birth anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh. In celebration of these important milestones, we are preparing a ceramic art exhibition in Seoul this July, in collaboration with KOVECA, to commemorate President Ho Chi Minh’s 135th birthday. We also plan to hold a special lecture introducing his life and legacy. This will be an important occasion to bring Vietnam and the figure of Ho Chi Minh closer to the Korean public.

My love for Vietnam began when I was a high school student. At that time, we learned about Vietnam through a few short films and photographs. In 1989, during my first trip to Vietnam, I went searching for Vietnamese language books at a secondhand bookstore in Da Kao Market, Ho Chi Minh City. There, I bought Prison Diary by President Ho Chi Minh and The Tale of Kieu by Nguyen Du. This love for the country and its people has driven me over nearly four decades, regardless of my position, to continue translating Vietnamese literary works — especially poetry and writings by great cultural figures — into Korean. Through this, I hope to further introduce Vietnamese literature and cultural beauty to the Korean public.

The more I learn about Vietnam, the more I want to know. I am currently working on translating "Hich tuong si" by Tran Quoc Tuan from Vietnamese into Korean, and plan to release it to the public in the near future.

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