The Kookmin University (President Jung Seung-ryul) Thursday Special Lecture, which opened in 1994, celebrated its 30th anniversary and held a special event on the afternoon of November 28 (Thursday) at the Academic Conference Hall on the first floor of the Main Building. Kookmin University's Thursday Special Lecture, which was the first university in Korea to offer regular courses with weekly lectures by external speakers for the longest period of time, has seen about 650 people take the podium over the past 30 years, including the late President Roh Moo-hyun, the late Cardinal Kim Su-hwan, writer Yu Shin-il, director Park Chan-wook, National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun, and U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert.

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Thursday Special Lecture, the university invited a special guest, film director Kim Yong-hoon, who is an alumnus of the College of Performing Arts, and actor Yang Kyung-won, who is an alumnus of the College of Architecture, to join them for a special time together under the theme of “Talk Concert in Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Thursday Special Lecture.”

Director Kim Yong-hoon received international attention for his outstanding directing skills in his first film, Beasts Who Wants to Hold a Straw, which won the Jury Prize at the 49th International Film Festival Rotterdam. The success of the Netflix original series “Mask Girl” that followed was praised by fans at home and abroad, presenting new possibilities for Korean content. Kim shared his challenges and struggles to achieve his dream of becoming a film director. He told the students, “It is important to not lose yourself for a long time and to not lose the basics.”

Actor Yang Kyung-won has a unique presence in various works across theater, drama, and film. After graduating from the Department of Architecture at Kookmin University, she walked a path unrelated to acting, but was fascinated by acting and boldly took on a new challenge. After leaving a strong impression on the public with her delightful character “Pyo Chi-soo” in “Crash Landing on You,” she solidified her position as an actress with her unique acting in “The Judge from Hell” and “Welcome to Samdalri.” In this lecture, he shared his challenges and process of becoming an actor, as well as his daily stories of continuing to learn every moment as an actor, under the theme of “How I Became an Actor,” and received great empathy.

Chae Jin-gi, a student of the Department of Business Administration who participated in the special lecture, said, “I was impressed by the stories of both of them who took on new challenges to pursue their dreams, breaking away from their existing careers,” and “I was able to gain great passion and inspiration from the lecture.”