Admission to the MA program East Asian Economy and Society (EcoS) is open now.

Click here for more information.

"Disputed Territories: China, Japan, and the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands"

Monday, May 13 2013, 6:00pm
Japanese Studies Department, Seminarroom 1 (JAP 1)
University Campus, Court 2, Entrance 2.4

This lecture looks at the evolution of the “Senkaku/Diaoyu problem” in the frame of Japan-China and US-Japan relations, considering the conflicting readings of the historical record, the relevant principles of international law, academic, media and civic constructions of the dispute, the US stake, the Okinawan stake, and the various formula that have been proposed to resolve it.

Gavan McCormack is emeritus professor in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.

Click here for the announcement.

"Diplomats - What do they do?"

Thursday, April 18 2013, 6:30pm
Japanese Studies Department, Seminarroom 1 (JAP 1)
University Campus, Court 2, Entrance 2.4

In the lecture H.E. Ambassador Iwatani will share experiences from his 40-year career in the field in order to explain what the job of a diplomat entails. The experiences are naturally limited to the realm of Japanese diplomacy but he believes that the essence of his experience is applicable to diplomats of any other country including Austria.

Click here for the announcement.

Prof. Frank contributed an article to The Asia-Pacific Journal on April 8th, 2013, on engaging North Korea economically.

Full article

This conference volume captures and analyzes the role of Korea and East Asia in a changing economic and security environment. (editors: Heung Ching Kim, Sung-Hoon Park, and Rudiger Frank).

East Asia has obviously become a focal point of international politics as well as one of the major engines of the world economy. In cultural terms the East Asian region is experiencing its own renaissance. Due to the geographically and culturally central position of Korea and the two different systems that have been established on the peninsula, looking at Korea is among the best ways to understand the East Asian region and its economic, political and social developments.

Conference Site

Mon, October 15th

Three graduates of the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna presented themselves and their experiences on the job market to the audience. After a brief introduction, they elaborated on fears and expectations prior to their job entry as well as experiences of finding a job. Students of all study programs of our Department showed great interest and actively took part in the discussion. Please see the announcement for further information. Click here for the report.

As discussed at the Info Meeting on last Monday, there is the possibility of substituting one of the seminars of modules 2 and 3. Please find more information within the attached pdf.

October 1, 2012, 18:00 at Seminarraum "OAW"

In this meeting the vision, targets and structure of the MA program "East Asian Economy and Society" will be presented to our new students. After the meeting, the students representatives invites everybody to the EcoS Round Table, starting around 19:00 at Gangl. Let us know if you are coming on our Facebook-event page.

On 13 September 2012, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) organized a round table discussion on the sustainable future of Asia which will feature prominent development policymakers and practitioners from the region. In a recent report, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has undertaken an important analysis of the future prospects for Asian growth in its report entitled “Asia 2050, realizing the Asian century”. However, the achievement of this scenario could be threatened by the so-called “middle-income trap”, whereby middle-income economies find themselves unable to compete with either low-wage economies or highly skilled advanced ones, arresting the pace of sustainable growth in the long-run. In cooperation with the ADB, the UNIDO round table discussion provided a unique platform to address these issues and to map out a route for sustained development for Asia. Click below for the program and flyer.

Flyer

Program

EcoS students from Austria, France, Germany and Poland and who are between 20 and 30 years old are now eligible to apply for the  “Exchange Program for Regional Integration in East-Asia and Europe (EPRIE)”. EPRIE 2012 deals with the regional integration of East-Asia and Europe, by using the examples of Japan, South Korea, Germany, Poland and France. The 12-day seminar aims for a better understanding of historical and transnational interrelations in the two regions by analyzing them and by promoting collaboration. 20 participants get the chance to obtain profound knowledge of the topic, to develop inter-cultural competency and to socialize with the other international attendants. During the 12-day seminar, the participants will travel to Warschau, Berlin and Strassburg. The host organizations will bear all the costs (free board and lodging, no travel costs) expect the arrival and departure expenses to/from the seminar. For more information click here.

The World Economic Forum on East Asia: Burmese Lessons for North Korea?

The 21st World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from May 30 to June 1, 2012. As a member of its Global Agenda Council on Korea, I participated with the expectation that whenever issues like security or human rights were addressed, the focus would inevitably be on North Korea. I was wrong. Nevertheless, I found that the issues discussed prominently at the WEF Bangkok meeting had a strong relevance for the Korean peninsula. Click here to read the full article.

North Korea after Kim Jong Il: The Risks of Improvisation

Kim Jong Il’s death was announced less than three weeks ago. But the world is surprisingly quickly getting used to the new leadership in North Korea, as if there were no concerns left at all. To provide a counterweight to this amazingly complacent mood, and the many speculations about a stable North Korean future (including my own), I’d like to play devil’s advocate and ponder a relatively pessimistic scenario based on my reading of some developments that should be watched carefully. Click here to read the full article.

"Mapping Religions in Vienna" aims at providing a complete survey of the religious landscape in Vienna at the beginning of the 21st century. The research project is led by Hans Gerald Hödl, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Vienna, in collaboration with various partner institutions. The collected information also includes rich data on a large number of East Asian religions based in Vienna.
 
Dr. Lukas Pokorny is closely involved in the project, co-editing a first book publication with V&R unipress.

ORF
Project Website

The Department of East Asian Studies of the University of Vienna is proud to host the 26th Biannual Conference of the Association for Korean Studies in Europe (AKSE) from 06-09 July, 2013 at the Renaissance Hotel Imperial Riding School in Vienna, Austria.

Conference Website

Prof. Frank has been elected as Vice President of the Asian Politics and History Association (APHA). The Asian Politics and History Association is an apolitical, non-profit academic society organized by scholars of Asian studies and sponsored by the Clarewood Institute (USA). Established in September 2011 in Hong Kong, AHPA currently has members from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, China, Japan, South Korea, United States, and the European Union. APHA and Clarewood will support the Journal of Asian Politics & History, an academic journal to be published twice a year. Prof. Frank is a founding member of the Editorial Board of the journal. For more information, click here.

Prof. Frank explains why the North Korean dictatorship has been this sustainable and calls the attention to current developments within the society. Click here for the article.

Cao Đài - A Profile
Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Đọ (Cao Đài) is one of the six officially recognized religions in today’s Vietnam. Since its inception in 1926, Cao Đài has played a decisive role in Vietnamese society. The doctrine is based on the idea of unifying major religious traditions including Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Christianity, Islam and others under the banner of a new monotheistic belief.
For the first time, a delegation of Cao Đài dignitaries will visit Austria and introduce the history and the main doctrinal tenets of this remarkable movement.
The seminar has been jointly organized by the Department of Religious Studies and the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna. Click here for the announcement in English and German.

WHERE: Seminarraum I, Universitätscampus, Hof 1
WHEN: 26 Mar 2012, 18:00-19:30
MODERATION: Dr. Lukas Pokorny, University of Aberdeen
LANGUAGE: English
REGISTRATION: l.pokorny@abdn.ac.uk

We are proud to announce that the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society in cooperation with Steinkellner China Services received an Innovation Cheque in the amount of € 5,000 tendered by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). This program awards an innovative research project which links Austrian Small and Medium Enterprises with Universities to overcome barriers for long-term research cooperation. "I look forward to this project with outstanding researchers from EcoS and the value they will create for our clients!", says Mr Manfred Steinkellner, CEO of Steinkellner China Services. Rudiger Frank, Professor of East Asian Economy and Society added: "This is a great opportunity for our graduate and PhD students to combine the knowledge they acquire in our program with the application in a competitive real-world environment."

Steinkellner China Services

Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)

The Party as the Kingmaker: The Death of Kim Jong-Il and its Consequences for North Korea

Kim Jong Il is no more. The state news agency KCNA reported that he died on his train on Saturday, December 17, 2011. He was on his way to offer another round of on-the-spot field guidance, working himself to death for his beloved people. This is the official version that we have actually seen under preparation for quite a while, including in works of art that we discussed in a recently published book. Click here to read the full article.

Since the death of North Korea's Kim Jong-il a number of questions has arisen instantly. What is the future of the country? Will his son Kim Jong-un continue his father's politics? What about the nuclear program? How will North Korea's neighbours South Korea, Japan and China react? Prof. Rudiger Frank gives answers to these and more questions on TV, radio and newspapers.

MO, 5 November, 18:15 at Room "Koreanologie" 

The project "Praxis-Link East Asia" of the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society aims to raise the employability of our students, give practical recommendations and deliver realistic expectations on the job market. For that purpose we invite East Asian Studies graduates with substantial professional background and high profile professionels working in East Asia to share their personal experience on entering the job market. Click here for the announcement (German).

TUE, November 22nd

The project "Praxis-Link East Asia" of the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society aims to raise the employability of our students, give practical recommendations and deliver realistic expectations on the job market. For that purpose we invite East Asian Studies graduates with substantial professional background to share their personal experience on entering the job market. Click here for the report (German).

November 8th, 2011 

The project "Praxis-Link East Asia" of the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society aims to raise the employability of our students, give practical recommendations and deliver realistic expectations on the job market. For that purpose we invite East Asian Studies graduates with substantial professional background to share their personal experience on entering the job market. Click here for the report (German).

US President Barack Obama declared North Korea a threat to the US and South Korea and warned it to disarm or face isolation. The stern words came as the South Korean president arrived in Washington to an unusually warm welcome. (...) Lee’s visit also comes as opposition has grown to South Korean plans to build a controversial naval base on Jeju Island. Given the close ties between Seoul and Washington, it is “very obvious” that the US navy will use this base, Rudiger Frank, an expert on North Korea and professor at the University of Vienna, told RT. He explained that it might be used as a part of missile defense shield against long-range ballistic missiles which might come from North Korea or further up north. And it also should help the South Korean navy project its power in the region.

Russia Today Television
YouTube

September 15-16, 2011

EastAsiaNet is a network of leading European research schools with a well-developed social-science focus on East Asia. It takes up issues that surpass the capacity of single institutions in training and in research. Ultimately, it contributes high-level expertise to a European perspective on Euro-Asia relations. The 8th EastAsia Research Workshop was hosted by the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna. Click here for the program and abstracts.

Despite North Korea stating it is ready to restart the talks on nuclear problem with no conditions from its side, there may be conditions from the US and South Korea, Rudiger Frank told RT.

Russia Today Television
YouTube
 

"The Libyan story seems to be over, at least for now. We do not exactly know who is going to rule that country next and with what consequences. There is room for experience-based pessimism, but only time will tell. So it is now worth looking closer at another of the anti-dictatorship uprisings in the region. What is the meaning of Syria for North Korea?" Click here to read Prof. Frank's full analysis.

Professor Rudiger Frank, Chair of East Asian Economy and Society at the University of Vienna, has in June 2011 joined the World Economic Forum/Global Agenda Council on Korea. In addition to regular consultations by video-conference this includes participation in the annual Summits on the Global Agenda in Abu Dhabi and the Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian (China). more

North Korea has again shelled waters near the maritime border with South Korea. Local residents say three shells have been fired in the Yellow Sea area on Wednesday following the earlier exchange of fire between the two countries (http://rt.com/news/koreas-shelling-pyongyang-nuclear/). Click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Starting from October 2011, the graduate program on East Asian Economy and Society (EcoS) will be fully converted to English. The approved and legally binding update of the changed curriculum can be found here in German. Please click here for the English translation.

"One of the things I have, for years, been having difficulties to understand is the discussion of (staple) food diversion. It is of course an important political issue if we consider that donors like to give their resources for a specified purpose and discontinue donating if it cannot be proven that everything went as promised. Fair enough." (...) more

On May 3rd 2011 entrepreneur Dr. Achatz hosted a business dinner for selected students of the Master program East Asian Economy and Society at the vinothèque Vinophilia. It was part of a series of events meant to enforce exchange between professionals from various backgrounds and students of East Asian Economy and Society. Click here for more information.

This was already the third event in the new international conference series on "Korea and East Asia" that is organized by the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society at the Department  of East Asian Studies at University of Vienna -  this time in cooperation with the renowned Korea University and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP). Click here for more information.

Prof. Rüdiger Frank discusses the probable interpretation by the North Korean leadership to recent bombing of Libya. Click here to read the full article.

Prof. Rüdiger Frank discusses what to make of a recent leaked photo of what have deemed the first North Korean painting depicting Kim Jong Un. Click here to read the full article.

Claudia Schmidhofer: Fakt und Fantasie. Das Japanbild in deutschsprachigen Reiseberichten 1854-1900, in Rüdiger Frank and Lukas Pokorny (Eds.): Vienna Studies on East Asia Vol I; In der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jh. gewann Japan, die einstige terra incognita, eine ungeahnte Popularität als Reiseziel, wovon ein umfangreiches Schrifttum Berufs- und Vergnügungsreisender zeugt. Dieser heute weitgehend dem Vergessen preisgegebene Literaturkorpus bietet nicht nur Einblicke in die Diskrepanz zwischen europäischem Wunschbild und fernöstlicher Wirklichkeit, poetischem Ideal und prosaischer Realität, sondern auch erstaunliche Aufschlüsse über die Traditionslinien gegenwärtiger westlicher Japan-Stereotype. Purchase at amazon.

Prof. Rüdiger Frank gives answers on the current security crisis on the Korean peninsula and interpretes the motives of North Korea's actions. Click here to read the full interview.

Prof. Rüdiger Frank examines what we can glean from the outcomes of the recent Third Delegate's Meeting of the Worker's Party of Korea about the power succession in North Korea. Click here to read the full article. 

The chair of ‘East Asian Economy and Society’ has since October 2010 installed ‘Climate Change, Environment and Energy in East Asia’ as a key topic within our program. Given the need for intense research on global warming countermeasures, environmental degradation and energy politics in East Asia, we support contributions that imply a social science approach in one of these fields. more

According to Rudiger Frank, Professor of East Asian Economy and Society at Vienna University, it’s unlikely that Jong-un will be announced at the meeting. Rather, Frank says, he will be elevated to some kind of post within the Central Committee and be given a chance to develop a record of his own. After that, at the 2012 party congress, he might be announced as the next leader (www.rt.com). Click here to watch the interview on YouTube.