Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC), Kobe University

PCRC is delighted to welcome Professor KIM Hyun Jung from Yosei University in Korea and Assistant Professor SEO Youngmin from Korea National Diplomatic Academy on December 15 being our guest speakers at the 33rd and 34th PCRC/GSICS International Law Seminars. Professor KIM will talk on the Korean ratification of the BBNJ Agreement, and Professor SEO will talk on the changing liberal international order and the future of international law and the role of middle powers, such as Korea and Japan. For details, please click and download the flyer. The seminars are open to the public, with prior notification to the organizer. Their visits to Kobe are made financially possible by Kobe University Strategic International Collaborative Research Grant Type C.

On November 17, an academic seminar on Antarctic governance will be held in Christchurch, New Zealand, as part of the JSPS Core-to-Core program and KAKENHI project on international polar law. Professor Akiho SHIBATA will deliver a keynote speech, and Mr. Jingchao PENG and Ms Fumika Iwama, GSICS Ph.D. students will organize an Early-career Scholars Collaborative Initiative. These sessions will foster international exchange and mutual learning on emerging challenges in Antarctic governance, strengthening PCRC’s collaborative research network and engagement with the next generation of Antarctic scholars.

Medy Dervovic, LL.M., a Ph.D. candidate at Reykjavik University in Iceland and Researcher at the University of Lapland, Finland, presented his on-going research on "Regulating Sulphur Emissions from Ships in the Arctic", as 32nd PCRC/GSICS International Law Seminar. The occasion was an excellent introduction for international students entering October 2026 from France, Iceland, and China, along with Japanese students majoring in international law. A few photos from the seminar.

Director Shibata will again participate, as a co-editor-in-chief of The Yearbook of Polar Law and as a head of an interim secretariat of the Polar Law Symposium, in the 19th Polar Law Symposium hosted by University of Waikato, in Hamilton, New Zealand, November 9-11. Prof. Shibata will lead a large delegation of JSPS Core-to-Core Program participating researchers from Japan including two of GSICS Ph.D. students. The draft program is already available from the "News" section of the webpage (click the link in the image). Among the initiatives, Asso. Professor Maiko Raita of the University of Osaka will lead a seminar on "Climate Change and Antarctic Law?", and Prof. Shibata will lead a seminar on "Antarctic governance challenges: From Hiroshima ATCM and beyond", with Prof. Okubo of Tokai University, Mr. Jingchao Peng and Ms Fumika Iwama, both GSICS Ph.D. students, as panelists. They also plan to convene two seminars at the University of Auckland on Nov.13 and at the University of Canterbury on Nov.17.

From August 8 to 16, Director Shibata participated in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR)'s biennial Open Science Conference (OSC) held in Oslo, Norway, with 1400 registered participants, largest ever! He co-organised one workshop on Shaping Polar Science (Aug.11), reviewed the book "From Sovereignty to Guardianship" (Aug.11), and made research presentation at a parallel session on Antarctic Governance (Aug.12) (see the Program). Director Shibata actively networked with Antarctic researchers from different disciplines and with diverse experiences to promote international research collaboration under the JSPS Core-to-Core Program. The next OSC will be in July to August, 2028 in Sofia, Bulgaria. A brief report with photos.