HUFS Special Lecture Series at HUFS Highlights the Importance of Interdisciplinary Competitiveness

Presenting a Vision for Future Talent

Connecting Technology, Culture, and Social Issues

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies announced on the 18th that it held the "2026 HUFS Special Lecture Series."

Director Woohyung Lim of LG AI Research presenting at the 2026 HUFS Special Lecture. Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

The "HUFS Special Lecture Series" is an event sponsored by Deoksool Kim, President of the HUFS Alumni Association, and jointly organized by the HUFS Special Lecture Series Special Steering Committee and the University Job Plus Center. This flagship lecture program integrates the university's traditional strengths in diplomacy, international commerce, and the humanities with key topics of the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, providing current students, alumni, and local youth with opportunities to cultivate both humanities literacy and career competencies.

On June 5, Woohyung Im, Director of LG AI Research, delivered a lecture titled "The Industrial Ecosystem Evolving Through AI: From Agentic to Physical." Director Im, who formerly served as a principal researcher at Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom, and as an AI research fellow at LG Sciencepark, is currently Co-Director of LG AI Research, where he leads business innovation based on AI technology.

In his lecture, Director Im explained how the industrial ecosystem is expanding beyond generative AI to encompass agentic AI and physical AI, emphasizing that language comprehension and critical thinking are essential competencies in the AI era. He also advised that HUFS students, with their strengths in foreign languages and regional studies, can achieve differentiated competitiveness by combining AI technology with humanities literacy.

At the special lecture held on June 9, Hyekyung Kim, Executive Director of Kpop4Planet, and campaigner Dayeon Lee participated as co-speakers, introducing the activities of Kpop4Planet, a global climate action platform.

Executive Director Hyekyung Kim has built expertise in the media and environmental sectors, having worked as a reporter for The Korea Times, a senior communications officer at Greenpeace, and a correspondent for Reporters Without Borders Korea. She was selected as an Obama Foundation Asia-Pacific Leader in 2022. Campaigner Dayeon Lee was named one of the BBC's "100 Women of the Year" in 2023 and included in The Independent's "Climate Leaders 100" in 2024, gaining international recognition as a prominent climate activist.

The two speakers introduced a range of climate action campaigns carried out together with K-pop fans around the world, presenting new career possibilities that combine cultural content, social value, and global citizenship. They especially emphasized that the younger generation can drive social change by connecting their fields of interest with global agendas, which was met with an enthusiastic response from the students.

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies plans to continue inviting experts from various fields through the HUFS Special Lecture Series, providing students with broad career exploration opportunities and expanding programs to nurture globally competitive talent.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.