Hungary remembers 1956 uprising

Csoma Mozes, third from left, a professor in Eotvos Lorand University’s Korean studies department, receives an award from Dankook University President Chang Ho-sung, third from right, for his contribution to academic exchanges between the two education institutions and to cooperation between Korea and Hungary. / Courtesy of the Embassy of Hungary

By Rachel Lee

The Embassy of Hungary held a special seminar to mark the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, at Dankook University’s Jukjeon campus in Gyeonggi Province on on July 21.

From 1945, Hungary was under the Soviet Union’s oppressive control.

The revolt in the Central European country began with a student demonstration and spread nationwide, and the government collapsed.

The seminar, co-hosted by Dankook University and Eotvos Lorand University (ELTE) in Budapest, discussed the significance of Hungary’s transformation in the aftermath of the uprising.

“When the revolution began in Budapest in search of freedom, Hungary had very close ties with North Korea,” Csoma Mozes, a professor in ELTE’s Korean studies department, said at the event.

“About 1,000 North Korean students were in our country back then, and the North Korean government had them back home to protect them from any consequences of the Hungarian Revolution.”

The professor also mentioned special relations with the South, which supplied necessities to Budapest during the uprising. The two countries connected at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and established bilateral relations a year later ― when democracy replaced Hungary’s communist system.

Following his presentation, Dankook University President Chang Ho-sung presented the Hungarian professor with an award for his contribution to academic exchanges between the Korean university and the ELTE and to cooperation between the two nations.