About KUAC

The Korea University ASEAN Center (KUAC) conducts diverse educational programs and research to strengthen Korea-ASEAN cooperation and promote peace and prosperity among ASEAN member states. In particular, KUAC has established and operates the CMK School of ASEAN Studies (CSAS) in partnership with the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation to cultivate next-generation leaders who will lead Korea-ASEAN cooperation across all sectors including politics and security, economy, and socio-cultural fields. Furthermore, KUAC aims to conduct research that effectively promotes reform and development in the ASEAN region, produce relevant policies based on research outcomes, and realize these policies through collaboration with relevant institutions.

Major Research and Program Areas

1. [CSAS] CMK School of ASEAN Studies

• Cultivating ASEAN experts through lectures by leading specialists on ASEAN topics and individual countries, field studies and team projects, hosting ASEAN-related forums and publishing series, and building networks of ASEAN experts.

2. Politics and Security

• Governance improvement. Transparency enhancement. Electoral integrity. Legislative efficiency. Press freedom. Political risk analysis. Reconfiguration of the East Asian order.

3. Economy

• Sustainable growth. Digital economy. Green cities. Green energy. Poverty eradication. Inequality reduction.

4. Society and Culture

• Training ASEAN experts. Capacity building programs for developing countries. Bridging educational gaps. Advancing the status of minorities including women and children. Human rights and environmental education. Academic partnerships with higher education institutions.

Organization

Major Activities

Projects

• "Indo-Pacific Policy Forum." Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Bilateral Industrial Cooperation Project, 2024–25.
• "Strategic Utilization of the Korea-ASEAN Cooperation Fund in Preparation for the Establishment of the Korea-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership." Ministry of Foreign Affairs Research Project, 2023–24.
• "Korea-Maritime Southeast Asia Cooperation Portal Content Production Research Project." Ministry of Foreign Affairs Research Project, 2023–24.
• "Support for Strengthening Korea-ASEAN Cooperation." Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Bilateral Industrial Cooperation Project, 2023.
• "Capacity Building for Instructors at Cambodia's National Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations (NIDIR)." KOICA Training Project, 2022–24.
• "Research Project on New Southern Policy and Gyeonggi Province's Exchange and Cooperation with Southeast Asia." Gyeonggi Provincial Council Policy Project, 2022.
• "Efficient Management of the Korea-Maritime Southeast Asia Cooperation Fund." Ministry of Foreign Affairs Policy Project, 2022.
• "Analysis of Southeast Asian Conflict Resolution Precedents for Inter-Korean Trust Building." Ministry of Unification Policy Project, 2022.
• KOICA Peace-Governance Sector Project Terminal Evaluation, 2021–22.
• "Foreign Aid and Soft Power: Experimental Research in Indonesia." National Research Foundation of Korea General Joint Research Support Project, 2020–23.

Forums

• 2nd CMK ASEAN Forum "Current Issues and Challenges of the ASEAN Community." Ondream Society, November 13, 2024.
• 1st CMK ASEAN Forum "Current Issues and Challenges of Sustainable Development in Southeast Asia." Ondream Society, December 8, 2023.
• 2nd ASEAN Unification Forum. Korea University Asiatic Research Institute, December 9, 2022.
• Korea-ASEAN Forum "Cooperation for Sustainable Korea-ASEAN Partnership" (Co-hosted). Korea University SK Futures Hall, Chey Jong-hyun Hall, November 24, 2022.
• 1st ASEAN Unification Forum. Korea University Political Science and Economics Building, November 11, 2022.

Academic Conferences

• Academic Conference Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Kim Jun-yop's Birth "Current Issues in Vietnamese Politics, Economy, and Socio-Culture in 2022." Korea University Asiatic Research Institute, December 2, 2022.
• Inaugural Academic Conference "Strategies for Reconfiguring the East Asian Order and Strengthening Korea-ASEAN Relations." Korea University Asiatic Research Institute, February 7, 2022.

Expert Colloquia

• "Thai Democracy and the Future of Korea-Thailand Relations." Pita Limjaroenrat, Former Leader of Thailand's Move Forward Party. December 6, 2023.
• "Political Economy of Economic Reform in Vietnam Since Doi Moi." Professor Vu Thanh Tu Anh. November 17, 2022.
• "Korea's Soft Power and Global Pivotal State Through the Myanmar Experience." Ambassador Lee Sang-hwa. October 19, 2022.
• "Vietnam's Economic Situation After the U.S.-China Trade War." Professor Park Beon-soon. September 28, 2022.

Research Activities

• Kim, Joonhyeop, Joon-Mo Kang, and Jae Hyeok Shin. "Discrepant Targets between Bilateral and Multilateral Foreign Aid: Evidence from European Aid to Southeast Asia."
• Lee, Ho-jun, Young Soo Kim, and Jae Hyeok Shin. "Targeting Aid for Votes? The Case of South Korea."
• Shin, Jae Hyeok, Joon-Mo Kang, and Joonyoung Han. "Fear and Authoritarian Stability: Experimental Evidence from Indonesia."
• Han, Joonyoung and Jae Hyeok Shin. "Foreign Aid, Violence, and Electoral Support in Developing Countries: Experimental Evidence from the Philippines."
• Han, Joonyoung and Jae Hyeok Shin. "Social Heterogeneity and International Development Aid: Quantitative Studies of Donor Countries and a Case Study of South Korea."
• Shin, Jae Hyeok and Hee-Kyung Park. 2021. "Indonesia 2020: Democracy and Economy Threatened by Pandemic." Southeast Asian Studies 31(2): 1-38.
• Kim, Joonhyeop and Young Soo Kim. Forthcoming. "When Aid NGOs Embrace the Human Rights-Based Approach: Human Rights Norms, Religiosity, and Civic Culture." International Politics.
• Kim, Joonhyeop and Young Soo Kim. 2021. "Good Samaritans Are Political: Aid NGOs in Support of Human Rights for Sustainable Development." Journal of Contemporary Politics 14(2): 137-170.
• Kil, Jeong-ah and Jung-Hoon Park. 2023. "Islamism and the Multidimensionality of Democratic Support: The Case of Indonesia." Korean Political Science Review 57(4): 191-216. (Recipient of the 2024 Korean Political Science Association Academic Award)
• Shin, Jae Hyeok, Young Soo Kim, and Han Il Chang. 2024. "Foreign Aid, Soft Power, and Domestic Government Legitimacy: Experimental Evidence from South Korean Aid to Indonesia." International Politics 61(2): 343-60.

Major Partner Organizations

• ASEAN-Korea Centre
• Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Jeonbuk National University
• Institute for East Asian Studies, Sogang University
• ASEAN Studies Center, Busan University of Foreign Studies
• ASEAN Research Institute, Dong-A University
• Institute of World Economics and Politics, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences
• National Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations (NIDIR), Cambodia
• ASEAN Foundation
• Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
• United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP)
• Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia (UI FISIP)
• Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University
• Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University