Korea’s challenges ahead: The Korean Peninsula issues in the worldFollowing the succesfull editions of the 2011-2014 Conferences the Asia Research Initiative (ARI), the Department of International Relations and European Studies (IRES) at Central European University (Budapest, Hungary) and the Faculty of Sociology – Bucharest University (Romania) are pleased to announce the conference „Korea’s challenges ahead: The Korean Peninsula issues in the world.“The event is hosted by University of Bucharest – Faculty of Sociology and Social Work in Bucharest, Romania and will take place on 2-4 September 2015.The event is supported by Korea Foundation and is part of the KF Global E-school in Eurasia, a project aimed at developing a multi-university and multi-platform online real-time curriculum in Korean Studies. Central European University is the first European university to host a Global E-School, which brings together 18 universities in 14 countries in Europe and Asia. As member of the Global E-School in Eurasia Nework University of Bucharest is honored to host the 2015 edition of the conference in September 2015.Possible thematic areas to be covered during the conference include but are not limited at:– Korea’s soft power in Asia and beyond– Korean diaspora and migration in Eurasia– European Union and Korea: New directions of development and new challenges in a changing world– Popular culture goes global: Hallyu’s impact in the world– History, memories and legacy of the Korean peninsula– Critical aspects of contemporary South Korean society– Past and present geopolitical challenges facing the Korean peninsula– Korean Humanities and Arts– Modern Korea: new perspectives on culture, society, and politics– Digital and urban development in Korea: the export of an information society– The Korean development experience and its futureSuggestions for topics other than those indicated above are welcomed.Submission of ProposalsProposals should be submitted via e-mail to conferencekorea2015@gmail.com (as an attachment in MS Word, RTF or PDF format).Please include:1) Name2) Institutional affiliation3) Title/position4) E-mail address5) A one-page CV6) Title of Paper (maximum 20 words)7) Abstract of Paper (maximum 250 words)The abstracts should be submitted via email to: conferencekorea2015@gmail.com.The deadline for submitting the abstract is 1st of March 2015. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their submission by 20th of March. Full draft of the papers (8,000-10,000 words, Word format) should be sumitted by 15 May 2015 in order to circulate among participants.Full details of the program, conference fee, registration and accommodation and arrangements will be available by early May. For all enquiries contact Valentina Marinescu and Ecaterina Balica at vmarinescu9@gmail.com and conferencekorea2015@gmail.com