HUFS held its 68th anniversary in Aekyung Hall in the International Building on April 19, 2022 (Tuesday) at 10:30 a.m.

The ceremony kicked off with commemorative remarks by Chairperson Kim Jong-Chul of the university foundation and HUFS President Park Jeong-Woon as well as congratulatory remarks by President Yang In-Jib of the HUFS Alumni Association. During the event, the Dongwon Education Award, the Long Service Award, and the Outstanding Faculty and Staff Awards were handed out as well.

The highlight of the event was the HUFS Awards, which honor HUFS alumni who have enhanced the reputation of HUFS. HUFS Awards were presented to Kim Deok-Sool (Japanese, entry class of ’81), Chairperson of UNISTORY Asset Management, in the domestic field and Hwang Han-Joo (Spanish, entry class of ’83), Chairperson of Levain Group, in the overseas field.

Kim Deok-Sool served as CEO of Samhae Commercial, which manufactures Korean seaweed. While helming the company, he integrated seaweed production, product development, and overseas market development into a single business platform, turning the company into globally loved brand. He also built a solid partnership with aquaculture producers and created an annual KRW 600 million in jobs at factory facilities hiring workers with disabilities over the past 11 years, setting the company on the right path of win-win partnerships and sharing. For his significant contribution to the industrial development of the nation, he was awarded the Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit this year. He was chosen to receive the HUFS Award for serving as the alumni president of the HUFS Department of Japanese Language, Literature and Culture, devoting his time to fostering greater bonds among fellow alumni and, thereby increasing the reputation of HUFS.

Hwang Han-Joo, who first established his business in Central and South America, has successfully expanded it into international trade, textile export and import, real estate, and other various fields based on his exceptional global management capacity. Over the past 17 years, he has provided Korean language lessons for free at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, promoting the excellence of the Korean language and culture locally and raising the international standing of the nation and HUFS in the region. In addition, he has invited HUFS students to Guatemala each semester to support their academic interests in the region and chaired the HUFS alumni council in Guatemala and the Americas. Thanks to these many contributions he has made to further advancing the global reputation of HUFS, he was honored with the HUFS Award.