A Chronology of the Academic Exchanges

between Korean and Japanese scholars for Southeast Asian studies:

A tentative note by Je Seong Jeon based on his memory 

 

Stage 1: Personal initiatives based on friendship – an inspiring start!

2003 – It was a momentous year. Dr. Je Seong Jeon, the vice-director for Planning & General Affairs of the KISEAS (Korean Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, which merged into KASEAS (Korean Association of Southeast Asian Studies, in 2020) and Professor Kosuke Mizuno in the CSEAS (Kyoto University Center for Southeast Asian Studies) met in Jakarta to exchange their research experiences and opinions on the Indonesian labor movement. 

2004 - Prof. Mizuno invited Jeon to Kyoto to present at the Core-University Program Conference.

2005 – Dr. Jeon suggested to make an MoU between the CSEAS and the KISEAS. Later, the KISEAS Director (Prof. Jin-Pyo Yoon) and the Vice Director for International Affairs (Dr. Inwon Hwang) made the trip to Kyoto and signed the MoU with CSEAS.

2006 - Prof. Mizuno, Director of the CSEAS, invited Prof. Jeon to Bangkok to present a seminar organized by the CSEAS. Prof. Jeon proposed Mizuno's visit to his university, Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) in Korea.

2008 - KASEAS (Korean Association of Southeast Asian Studies) invited Prof. Mizuno as a keynote speaker in the KASEAS Annual Conference held at JBNU, Korea. Prof. Myung-Seok Oh, President of KASEAS, suggested to hold a joint conference between KASEAS and CSEAS every two years. As the director of CSEAS, Prof. Mizuno agreed that the KASEAS would organize the first conference and the CSEAS would organize the second one.

 

Stage 2: Institutional initiatives

2009 - The KASEAS invited a group of esteemed scholars from Kyoto to Gyeongsang National University, Korea, for the 1st KASEAS-CSEAS Joint Conference in July. The lineup included Prof. Shimizu, Hayami, Okamoto, Koizumi, Mizuno, Abinales from CSEAS, and Prof. Jun Honna from Ritsumeikan University. The theme was "The Interdependence of Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia: Migration, Investment and Cultural Flows".

2011 - The 2nd CSEAS-KASEAS Joint Conference was held at CSEAS, Kyoto University, 28-29 October with a theme, "Green and Life in ASEAN: Coexistence and Sustainability in East Asian Connections." The keynote speakers were Prof. Yoon Hwan Shin and Prof. Takashi Shiraishi. The report about the conference, written by Je Seong Jeon, was published this year in The Southeast Asia Review, the journal of KASEAS. Please refer to the link below for the report.

Link: https://www.kaseas.org/_files/ugd/414473_86a52837e7c2407685c0d812a4e4ed2e.pdf

2013 - The 3rd KASEAS-CSEAS Joint Conference on "Border-crossing and Connectivity of Southeast Asia," 10-11 May at Mokpo National University, Korea.

2015 - KASEAS, as one of the founding institutions of the Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia (SEASIA), sent Korean participants to the 1st SEASIA conference in Kyoto, thanks to the cooperation between Prof. Caroline Hau of CSEAS and Prof. Jang-shik Park, the President of KASEAS.

 

Stage 3: Crisis of exchanges

2016 - The Japan-Korea-Southeast Asia Conference hosted by CSEAS. The KASEAS leadership, pointing out the lack of communication with CSEAS about the change in the schedule, prevented using the name KASEAS for the conference. As a result, Prof. Jeon led eight Korean scholars individually to Kyoto and participated in the conference. In the same year, the KASEAS leadership decided to withdraw from the SEASIA due to the administrative burden.

2017 - Prof Jeon suggested that KASEAS invite the CSEAS scholars to the annual conference in Korea. KASEAS invited 4 CSEAS scholars, including Prof. Kono Yasuyuki, the Director of CSEAS, and Prof. Okamoto Masaaki, to Seoul National University for a panel discussion at the 2017 KASEAS Annual Conference.

 

Stage 4: Revitalizing exchanges

2019 - Prof. Okamoto Masaaki invited Prof. Jeon as a roundtable speaker on the role of Southeast Asian studies institutions in an international conference, ICDeSA (International Conference of Democratization in Southeast Asia) 2019, in Serang, Indonesia. Prof. Jeon asked to sign an MoU between his JISEAS (Jeonbuk National University Institute for Southeast Asian Studies) and CSEAS. Yoko Hayami agreed and signed it at the conference as the new director of CSEAS.

The same year, Prof. Mizuno invited Prof. Jeon, Director of JISEAS, to Jakarta as a keynote speaker on Korea-Indonesia relations for the international conference organized by SIL UI (School of Environmental Science at the University of Indonesia). Director Jeon met with Director Hayami again, introduced the leadership change and institutional reform of KASEAS, and then proposed a revitalization plan for cooperation through JISEAS. Director Hayami accepted the plan and suggested her idea of holding the conference annually and focusing on the exchange of the younger generation. Both agreed.

2020 - CSEAS planned to invite 8 Korean scholars selected by JISEAS to Kyoto in May for the 2020 CSEAS-KASEAS Annual Joint Conference. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was held via Zoom on 20 November. The theme was "Connectivity and Transformation in Southeast Asia." It was the first virtual conference in CSEAS's history.

In the same year, JISEAS applied to join the SEASIA, which reviewed and accepted JISEAS as a new member and the only one from Korea.

2021— In November, KASEAS hosted the 2021 KASEAS-CSEAS Annual Joint Conference on "A Multifaceted Crisis in Southeast Asia: Challenges and Responses" virtually with the support of JISEAS.

 

Stage 5: Development of exchanges

2023 - Prof. Fumiharu Mieno, the new Director of CSEAS, hosted the CSEAS-KASEAS Joint Conference on "Engaging Southeast Asian Studies in an Age of Uncertainties" at Kyoto University on 26-27 May. Prof. Jeon, the newly elected President of KASEAS, delivered his keynote speech on "The Asian Solidarity Movement of Korean Civil Society: Observations of 30 Years of Development".

The conference report written by Prof. Kisho Tsuchiya was published in the CSEAS newsletter. https://newsletter.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/nl-81/tsuchiya/

The report in Korean, written by Prof. Jeon, was also published in The Southeast Review in the same year.

https://www.kaseas.org/_files/ugd/0b8104_7de08045ec8b44b7be61b8255edd8146.pdf

In the meeting during the conference, Director Fumiharu Mieno suggested inviting the JSSEAS (Japan Society for Southeast Asian Studies) to the conference, which President Jeon readily accepted.

2024—The KASEAS, cooperating with various institutions in Korea, including JISEAS, invited 9 Japanese scholars from the CSEAS as well as the JSSEAS to the Korea-Japan Conference of Southeast Asian Studies 2024 on “Searching for Southeast Asian Powers and Wisdom in the Turmoil World” on 31 August at Pukyong National University, Busan, Korea. However, Typhoon Shanshan hit Japan, and the conference was held as a hybrid event.

Prof. Kazufumi Nagatsu, the Chairperson of JSSEAS, gave his keynote speech on “Sea Cucumber Matters: A Genealogy and Significance of the Studies on Southeast Asian Maritime Worlds in Japan.” He said the conference was the first event co-organized with a foreign institution in JSSEAS’ history.