"Asia: Crisis or Opportunity?"... Korean Association for Asian Studies Winter Conference Held at National Pukyong University

Assessing Asia Amid U.S.-China Competition and Supply Chain Restructuring

The Global China Research Institute at National Pukyong University, led by Director Lee Bogo, co-hosted the '2025 Winter Conference of the Korean Association for Asian Studies' together with the Korean Association for Asian Studies (President Seo Changbae) and the ASEAN Research Institute at Busan University of Foreign Studies (Director Kim Dongyeop).

Attendees of the Korean Association for Asian Studies Winter Conference are taking a commemorative photo. Photo by National Pukyong University

This academic conference was recently held at the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Business Administration Building of Pukyong University under the theme, "Asia: Crisis or Opportunity?" The event examined the current status of Asia and possible responses amid major changes such as the intensification of strategic competition between the United States and China and the restructuring of global supply chains.

The event began with an opening ceremony, followed by a keynote speech by former ASEAN Ambassador Kwon Heeseok, the signing of an academic exchange agreement, and presentations and discussions in three sessions, providing a platform for meaningful exchanges among Asian studies researchers.

In his keynote speech on "ASEAN and Korea," former Ambassador Kwon emphasized that "ASEAN remains Korea's third-largest trading partner and a strategic partner even amid U.S.-China competition," highlighting the direction of the Korean government's "Korea-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP)" initiative.

This year, the Korean Association for Asian Studies introduced an unprecedented format called "Salon de KAAS," which featured 10-minute presentations and 20-minute discussions, fostering a more in-depth, discussion-centered research environment.

President Seo Changbae (Professor of Chinese Studies at National Pukyong University) stated, "To establish an international hub for Asian studies, we are preparing a large-scale international academic conference next year, inviting researchers from various Asian countries," outlining the association's plans to broaden its research scope.

On the same day, the Korean Association for Asian Studies signed an MOU with the Korean Association for Thai Studies (President Kim Bongcheol), further expanding its academic network. Lee Bogo, Director of the Global China Research Institute (Professor at the Division of Global Interdisciplinary Studies, National Pukyong University), proposed "East Asian Youth Studies" as a new direction for Asian research and announced plans to continue developing Asian research agendas and promoting international academic exchange through the upcoming Humanities Korea (HK) 3.0 project.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.