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In a series uncovering the forgotten, secret chapters of diplomatic history, Kim Jiyoung, the South Korean guest researcher at the Institute for the Research of Communism, explained that in the second half of the 1980s, among Eastern Bloc countries, Hungary had the best reputation in South Korea. Although official diplomatic relations between the two countries—each belonging to opposing political blocs—were only established in 1989, the path leading there was long, involving, among other things, a visit to Seoul by a delegation of Hungarian journalists and the 1988 Seoul Olympics. According to István Szerdahelyi, Hungary’s current ambassador to Seoul, the relief in relations between the two states had already begun in 1956, when the Hungarian nation bravely stood up for its own fate and freedom. Kim Bogook, director of the East Asian Research Institute at the Hungarian National Archives, noted that Pyongyang viewed the growing closeness between South Korea and Hungary with disapproval. A key moment in this accession was the mutual exchange of guest students in 1989–90. One former student—now the Korean translator of Imre Kertész—recalled that he would never forget the Hungarian people’s hospitality.

When we shook the off the shackles of dictatorship in our anti-communist revolutions in Hungary in 1989 and 1990, we were finally able to enter the 21st century as victors. Victors, because we are free and independent. Once more. And we enjoy every moment of it. The freedom of speech, the fresh air of democracy, the elections, the travelling and so on. Freedom and independence are precious treasures for us what we are really proud of and take care about. Because we paid a high price for it. But we did not take note of William Faulkner's blessing in the euphoria of the regime change: "There is no such thing as was-only is."

More than three decades have passed since the fall of communism and the regime change, but it can be declared that communism is not dead, the director of the Institute for the Research of Communism told on an international conference on the victims of communism in Madrid on Thursday.

The Institute for the Research of Communism (Hungary) and the Institute for the Study of Communist Crimes (Albania) signed a cooperation agreement in Budapest. The goal of this initiative is to share research findings related to the crimes of communism and to jointly preserve the memory of dictatorship.

Dr. Bora Park guest research fellow of the Institute elaborated on the current South Korean political situation and also potential cyber threats in the European region. 

At the roundtable discussion of the Institute for the Research of Communism and the XXI Century Institute, Rajmund Fekete, director of the former said that the woke movement is the second act of communism, which has penetrated into almost every aspect of life. In his view, this false ideology was alien in our region, but Donald Trump's victory also showed that people overseas are fed up with this madness. According to Márton Békés, director of the XXI Century Institute, the movement was also partly motivated by business interests and has now been withdrawn. Gábor G. Fodor, Director of Strategy at the XXI Century Institute, pointed out that it was not internal conviction that gave birth to the ideology which severely demolished traditional structures and social frameworks.

An analysis on the current South Korean political scene by Dr. Bora Park, director of the Hybrid Threats Research Centre of INSS, guest researcher of the Institute for the Research of Communism. 

The Institute for the Research of Communism and the South Korean Institute for National Security Strategy signed a bilateral agreement on Thursday. The application for the scholarship program, starting during the course of spring 2025, will be opened for South Korean and Hungarian professionals.

At a seminar in Riga, dedicated to Otto von Habsburg, Rajmund Fekete, director of the Institute for the Research of Communism, highlighted that the tempting tale of communism was easier to believe in the West as in regions that were once part of the „story”. He added that Nazism was thrown at the stinking dump of history yet in the Western world communism – that has more than 100 million victims – is still considered to be a legitimate ideology. Rajmund Fekete emphasized that future generations need to learn about the real nature and operation of the red dictatorship in which very mission the House of Terror Museum has an outstanding role.

1956 is one of the greatest Hungarian celebrations: it was and remains so – said Rajmund Fekete historian, director of the Institute for the Research of Communism in an interview for the Hungarian News Agency on Thursday on the occasion of the anniversary of the ‘56 Revolution and Freedom Fight.

Communism, the communist idea, was based on the most ignoble instincts of the people, said the Director General of the House of Terror Museum and the Institute for the Research of Communism at the award ceremony of the video competition named after the temporary exhibition "It takes a great ideal to produce a great crime!" in Budapest on Monday.

The Central and Eastern European region is unique, because it has experienced both totalitarian dictatorships.

An international conference was held with the participation of the Institute for the Research of Communism at the Hungarian Embassy in Tirana on Friday, where the focus of the discussions was on the dictatorial measures of the Central and Eastern European socialist regimes, historian Rajmund Fekete, director of the Institution, told MTI on Friday by telephone.

Back to the past? Tito Nostalgia in Slovenia was the topic of a lecture by historian Jože Dežman, head of the Commission of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Concealed Mass Graves, at an event organized by the Institute for the Research of Communism. The event was opened by Mária Schmidt, Director General of the House of Terror Museum: "Tito was a tried and tested comrade of the Soviet secret service, who made the world believe that he was at the head of an 'open' state and built up a false nimbus about himself that must be abolished once and for all. Historian Jože Dežman compared the communist dictatorship to the Chernobyl explosion, the effects of which are still being experienced today.

On the occasion of the launch of the book by the distinguished sociologist Paul Hollander, Mária Schmidt, Széchenyi Prize-winning historian and Director General of the House of Terror Museum, said that although the first chapter of the book was written more than fifty years ago, it is still highly relevant today, as Western intellectuals are blind to the crimes of communism and refuse to acknowledge them. Rajmund Fekete, Director of the Institute for the Study of Communism, pointed out that communism has not only not been thrown into the dump of history, but has become a legitimate ideology in the West, therefore it is clear that communism is not dead.