Director's Message

JISEAS, Openness and Solidarity

Jeonbuk National University Institute for Southeast Asian Studies (JISEAS) was launched in December 2018. It is the third university institute that has used the term “Southeast Asian Studies” in South Korea. Eight months later, in August 2019, we have successfully been awarded a 6-year grant titled “Institute Programs in Humanities & Social Sciences” from the National Research Foundation of Korea. The grant was the first milestone that we achieved within a short period.

JISEAS pursues multidisciplinary research by taking advantage of one of the biggest universities in South Korea, Jeonbuk National University, which is home to 17 colleges and 108 departments. As the first multidisciplinary study, we have begun a research project on Southeast Asia’s labor, healthcare, and welfare with our affiliated  academics from various disciplines such as politics, anthropology, and nursing.

On top of area studies on Southeast Asia, JISEAS is wholly dedicated to fostering the next generation of area specialists on Southeast Asia. Our educational approach is innovative and pragmatic. For instance, we participate in operating the East Asian & Multicultural Studies Major as an undergraduate course by cooperating with the Department of Political Science and Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, and annually offering Southeast Asian language education in vacations by cooperating with the Busan University of Foreign Studies.

In addition, we hold the Southeast Asia Briefing Lectures every year and publish the JISEAS Issue Papers, policy reports, and books to contribute to Korean society by raising awareness of Southeast Asia.

Openness and solidarity are JISEAS’s core values and principles. We closely work with the Korean Association of Southeast Asian Studies (KASEAS) to co-host national academic conferences and the Southeast Asia Briefing Lectures. We have also built a nationwide educational network for Southeast Asian language teaching.  

Currently, we have robust and mutually beneficial relationships with the Institute for East Asian Studies at Sogang University, the Korea Institute for ASEAN Studies at Busan University of Foreign Studies, Seoul National University Asia Center,  the Institute of Cross-Cultural Studies at Seoul National University, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University.

We will continuously expand our research network and partnerships with  diverse research institutes to develop Southeast Asian Studies and nurture the next generation of area specialists based on the values of openness and solidarity.

JISEAS sincerely looks forward to your attention, participation, and support of our innovative education and rigorous research on Southeast Asia.