[News] The 2nd Homecoming Day for the Global Future Strategy Executive Program in Vietnam

From July 17 to 19, SNUAC invited alumni of its open lecture program, the “Global Future Strategy Executive Program in Vietnam,” to Seoul for its second annual Homecoming Day. The program is an executive education course established in Vietnam by SNUAC in cooperation with Vietnam National University. Over the past two years, SNUAC has operated four cohorts in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, producing a total of 205 graduates. Sixty-two alumni from the four cohorts attended this year’s event.

Because most participants reside in Vietnam, where they operate their businesses, and because the program’s approximately twenty lectures are delivered locally, SNUAC organizes an annual event inviting alumni to the main campus of Seoul National University. This year’s program comprised a campus tour, a special lecture, a business forum, and a historical excursion to Yeongwol centered on the film The Man Who Lives with the King.

The first day began with welcoming remarks by Prof. Suhong Chae, Director of SNUAC. Following his remarks, participants visited the newly installed donor wall on the second floor of the institute. In June, after contributions from the alumni association of the “Global Future Strategy Executive Program in Vietnam” surpassed KRW 100 million, SNUAC installed a new plaque bearing the association’s name on the donor wall. After taking commemorative photographs in front of the plaque, the participants boarded two buses and began their campus tour.

The first group visited the College of Engineering’s robotics laboratory, which NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang had visited during his trip to Seoul National University. During the approximately thirty-minute tour, participants watched robot demonstrations and attended a presentation on the future development of physical AI. Meanwhile, the second group traveled slowly from the university’s main gate to the New Engineering Building and back, listening to historical accounts and anecdotes associated with various campus landmarks prepared by SNUAC. The two groups then exchanged routes and continued their respective tours.

In the afternoon, participants attended a special lecture. To provide insight into the U.S.–Iran war, which has recently disrupted the global political and economic landscape, SNUAC invited Hyundo Park of Sogang University’s Institute for Euro-MENA Studies to deliver a lecture. This was followed by a business forum in which four emerging Korea-based scholars specializing in Vietnam presented recent developments in the areas of politics, diplomacy, everyday life, and history.

On Saturday, July 18, participants took part in a historical excursion to Yeongwol. Prof. Ho Kim, Deputy Director of SNUAC, served as the guide and offered a detailed account of the Gyeyu Coup and the movement to restore and subsequently depose King Danjong, as depicted in the film The Man Who Lives with the King. He also explained how this sequence of events exerted a significant influence on the political landscape of the middle and late Joseon period.

Upon arriving at the Yeongwol Culture Center, participants toured the center with its director, Dr. Heungyong Eom, a descendant of Heungdo Eom, a figure portrayed in the film. Dr. Eom introduced historical records concerning King Danjong’s life in Yeongwol following the Gyeyu Coup, as well as anecdotes passed down within his family. He also guided the participants on a visit to Cheongnyeongpo.

The Homecoming Day program concluded on Sunday, July 19, with a friendly golf tournament in Yeoju. Alumni from all four cohorts strengthened their ties, discussed potential business opportunities, and offered suggestions concerning recruitment for the fifth and sixth cohorts of the executive program.

The event provided SNUAC with an opportunity to build on the accomplishments of its open lecture program, now entering its third year, and to develop the organizational capacity needed for the successful operation of its fifth and sixth cohorts. SNUAC plans to continue offering the program in Ho Chi Minh City during the first half of each year and in Hanoi during the second half, while holding an annual Homecoming Day in Seoul.