Past Events

HKBU’s lecture by Professor Yoo Il-ho, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance of South Korea

Held by the Hong Kong Baptist University Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology and generously supported by the Eurasia Foundation (from Asia), the lecture series ‘Connecting Europe and Asia: Recasting the Glory’ on early encounters between Europe and Asia is greatly honoured to invite Professor Yoo Il-ho, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance of South Korea to give out the lecture ‘East and West: After the Third Century BCE’ on 17 November 2023. During a career that has straddled political, business, and scholarly fields of endeavour, Professor Yoo has accumulated both a distinguished record of public service and finely honed scholarly accomplishments. This lecture is characterised by its interdisciplinary and international nature that links different fields of human endeavour as well as time and space. This makes it especially relevant to students and specialists majoring in literature, history, and philosophy, while at the same time opening intellectual doors to others, for example, those with backgrounds in the disciplines of business studies, politics, and economics, as well as others interested in European and Asian civilizations.

Professor Yoo began his lecture by taking the Eastern Han dynasty as a case study, citing viewpoints offered by the Yantie lun (Discourses on salt and iron) as a point of entry, and developed arguments that circled around perspectives on the monopolistic practices of government to salt, iron, and wine. Following this, he shifted his focus to the Roman Empire of the Western world and discussed debates there on aspects of economic policy that included laws pertaining to agricultural land and taxation. Having solved these problems, both East and West were able to embark on their journeys of development. Professor Yoo considered that these ‘separate tributaries’ were the starting point for divergence between East Asian and Western countries that has happened since the nineteenth century. Following on from this, he turned his attention directly to East Asia and especially issues of practical realities facing East Asian society. He summarised the governmental tactics of the South Korean government in the past seven years, and using history as a mirror, furnished his audience with a deeper level of reflection and insight.

After the lecture, the Academy held a dinner reception for Professor Yoo, where the South Korean Consul-General in Hong Kong, Mr Yoo Hyungcheol, was one of the guests of honour. At the banquet itself, the scholarly atmosphere was appreciative and intense, and the distinguished guests present opened up an even deeper exploration into the historical and political issues raised by the lecture. Professor Yoo and our guests took the opportunity to establish an even richer array of intellectual interaction and laid a firm foundation for cooperation in scholarly research between China and South Korea.