President's message

Dear AATK Members,

As we conclude the celebration of AATK’s 30th anniversary, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all of you who traveled to Hawaii to participate in and commemorate this milestone event. I hope you have all returned home safely and in good spirits.

I am especially grateful to President Gheewhan Kim of the Korea Foundation and Director Suyon Lee of the Korea Foundation USA; Minister Counselor Byeonggu Kang of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea; and Vice Consul Haneul Yu of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Honolulu for their warm and thoughtful congratulatory remarks.

My sincere thanks also go to Professors Ho-min Sohn and Christina Higgins of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa for their keynote address, to Director Jinyoung Lee for the plenary speech, and to Professor Sun Hee Park for her special presentation. I deeply appreciate their valuable contributions to the program.

My sincere appreciation also goes to all members who contributed to the conference through their presentations, including conference papers, workshops, teaching methods and material sessions, or poster sessions, sharing their expertise across a wide and diverse range of topics.

This year’s conference held particular significance as it took place in Hawaii, where we had the honor of welcoming Professor Ho-min Sohn, founding president of AATK. His presence was a profound source of inspiration. I also wish to thank the ten past presidents, along with former officers and board members, whose enduring leadership has guided and strengthened AATK over the years.

The growth and vitality of AATK over the past three decades have been made possible by the steadfast support and dedication of so many individuals. I hope our organization will continue to thrive as a leading scholarly community, one that not only advances Korean language education in North America but also contributes meaningfully on a global scale.

Finally, I extend my deepest thanks to our current Officers and Board members, and to the faculty and graduate students of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, for their tireless work in making this anniversary conference such a memorable success.

To all our members, thank you once again.

I look forward to seeing you next year at the Ohio State University.

With sincere appreciation,

Mee-Jeong Park
President of AATK

P.S.

(1)  Conference Survey
If you have not yet completed the conference survey, we kindly ask that you take a few minutes to share your feedback: https://go.hawaii.edu/hXr

(2)  30th AATK Slideshow
We are pleased to share a slideshow commemorating the 30th AATK Conference. With the kind permission of Director Jinyoung Lee, “Danny Boy” from Hawaii Love Song was used as the background music. We are sincerely grateful for her generosity.
https://go.hawaii.edu/rX4

(3)  Photo Repository
If you have any photos from the conference, we would be grateful if you could upload them via the link below. Once we have collected a sufficient number, we will curate and share them through the AATK website.

https://go.hawaii.edu/rX9