On January 13, 2021 (Thursday), the Russian Institute (Director Pyo Sang-yong) held an annual seminar, '30 Years of Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Prospects for 2022 Russia,' as part of the publication of the annual report Russia Report. The Russia Report seminar is a regular academic event held by the Russian Institute in January every year, and this seminar was organized especially in time for the historical 30 years of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The academic seminar, which began with the opening speech of Pyo Sang-yong, director of the Russian Institute, consisted of two sessions. At the first meeting, hosted by Professor Je Sung-hoon of the Department of Nor Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, we had time to look at Russia last year in three areas: domestic politics (Jang Se-ho), economy (Park Ji-won), and foreign relations (Lee Joo-yeon, a lecturer at Anyang University). The second meeting was hosted by Professor Kim Soo-hwan of the Department of Nor Studies, and a wide range of discussions were held on military security (Kim Kyu-chul, lecturer at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies), Korea-Russia relations (Kim Jung-ki, visiting researcher at Hanyang University), and social culture (Ra Seung-do HK research professor).
The seminar was held in a Zoom format due to the COVID-19 situation, but more than 60 Russian experts and follow-up generations attended and held active discussions. After each presentation, debaters and attendees shared their opinions, and the seminar participants had a meaningful time to discuss notable phenomena in Russia last year, which marked the 30th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and to look forward to 2022.