Since its establishment in 1954, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has contributed to the promotion of national interest by producing many talented people who are familiar with the realities of each country based on foreign language expertise and providing professional knowledge needed by the national society.

The Center for International Area Studies, as a think tank representing Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, aims to create knowledge through interdisciplinary joint research by researchers in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. It was established in 1993 under the name of the Center for Comprehensive Foreign Studies, and was reorganized as the Center for International Area Studies in 2008 and continues to this day.

The Center for International Area Studies has 14 regional, policy, and strategic research institutes under its umbrella. Through close cooperation with internal and external research organizations, the Center for International Area Studies systematically conducts research on politics, economy, society, culture, law, science, technology, and history in various parts of the world. To summarize the characteristics of the International Center for Area Studies, it can be said to be “a totalization of regional research through interdisciplinary joint research based on humanities-social science.”

The Center for International Area Studies was selected as an HK+ national strategic project by the National Research Foundation of Korea in May 2020. The agenda of the project is “Seeking supranational cooperation and communication: identifying northern cultural contacts and establishing cultural hubs to create an environment for unification.” As you can guess from this agenda, the center pursues ‘a search for a strategy for unification of the Korean Peninsula based on culture’.

The issue of unification of the Korean Peninsula is not only a matter between the South and the North, but also has world-historical significance that inevitably affects all actors in Northeast Asia and Eurasia, from the neighboring powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula to the distant Eurasian continent.
The issue of unification of the Korean Peninsula is not only a matter of the South and the North Korea, but also has a world historical meaning that will inevitably affect all actors in Northeast Asia and Eurasia, from the surrounding powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula to the Eurasian continent in the distance.

The issue of unification of the Korean Peninsula is not only a matter of South Korea and North Korea, but also has world-historical meaning that cannot help but affect all actors in Northeast Asia and Eurasia, from the neighboring powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula to the distant Eurasian continent. In addition, the unification of the Korean Peninsula requires the integration and communication of all members of the Korean Peninsula, including various members such as state actors and non-state actors, and even non-human actors. This is because if the two disparate countries, the two Koreas, which have been divided for a long time, are integrated without proper communication and preparation, it can lead to conflicts and confusion caused by various stakeholders, spreading pain and difficulties instead of blessings.

What should be our attitude to prepare for unification, which has complex and multilayered meanings? How should we face the moment of world-historical transition and the opportunity for progress in the history of civilization through integration and expansion? Where should the social integration for the true convergence of heterogeneous groups be focused?

The National Strategies Research Project Agency has established an agenda based on the recognition of above problems.

The National Strategies Research Project Agency’s presentation of vision is based on the pride of the Korean people themselves. The Korean people have been proud of being a cultural nation and have maintained an attitude of devotion to humanity.

The founding ideology of the Korean people, “humanitarianism” and “Honoring Heaven and Loving the People” are clear symbols of humanism flowing through our history and are based on love for culture and peace. The power of culture has always been a large part of the Korean people, and the Korean people have established themselves as a people of peace and love.

Even under the invasion of Japan, which is a part of the unfortunate history that the Korean people had to endure in the early modern century, the Korean people never gave up for a moment on their peace-loving attitude and their desire for culture.

The ‘3.1 Declaration of Independence’ and Baekbeom’s ‘My Wish’ clearly show what kind of unification Korea should achieve and what direction it should contain. Under this recognition, the National Strategies Research Project Agency pursues three research objectives.