李沛, a HK research professor who received a doctorate in Chinese studies at the National University of Incheon, was honored by the Korean Society of Social History with the Choi Jae-seok Academic Award, a prestigious academic award in the Korean Family and Rural Sociology. 

Dr. Li Pei's thesis, currently serving as a professor of HK research at the China and Chinese Cultural Research Institute at the National Institute of Incheon National University, is titled "Agriculture and Rural Transformation between Korea and China since the 1950s from the perspective of the productionist-de-productionist transition: Focusing on Comparison of Agricultural Policy," and is important as a comparative study of agriculture and rural areas in Korea and China based on field studies. 

This paper argues for the importance of continuity and consistency of existing agricultural administration in the agricultural and rural development process of both Korea and China, starting with the awareness of the issue of joint search for a response to the common crisis of rural extinction between the two countries. The paper also analyzed the practices of various actors as well as policies and practices related to rural areas between Korea and China. 

The paper argues that what is important is not just the recovery of past rural practices or social reconstruction based on new agri-food discourse, but the discovery and practice of consistency that persists or reconstructed in the space of everyday practice. In the review of the excellent doctoral dissertation award, it was evaluated that "it is a rare recent full-fledged rural sociology study and a comparative sociological approach stands out."

This study is significant both academically and practically in that it enables a macroscopic view of the common crisis despite the differences in the systems between Korea and China. It also provides a meaningful starting point for in-depth understanding and communication between Korea and China's agriculture and rural areas.

Dr. Li Fei, who earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics and a master's degree in sociology from Zhejiang University in China, has conducted long-term field studies in rural areas in China since his master's program, and since entering the Incheon National University's Chinese Studies Department, he has also studied in rural areas in Korea and interacted with various scholars from Korea, China, and Japan. Zhejiang University is a prestigious university ranked 4th (2022) in China and 12th (2023) in THE Asian University. 

The Choi Jae-seok Academic Award was established to honor the academic achievements of Yongbong Choi Jae-seok, who has made outstanding achievements in family sociology, rural sociology, and ancient Korean-Japanese relations, and to contribute to fostering the younger students in related fields.