The theme for the 2025 SNUAC Conference on Asian Studies is “Mega-Asia: A New Perspective on Asia.” The concept of “Mega-Asia” represents an innovative approach to understanding, analyzing, and envisioning the continent. As a concept, “Mega-Asia” reflects the processes and outcomes of the interactions among Asia’s diverse regions, each with distinct spatial and temporal identities, which give rise to new regional orders and phenomena. Methodologically, “Mega-Asia” involves employing a multi-scalar analysis, applying comparative approaches to regional studies, and utilizing a broad spectrum of data for data-driven research. As a way of imagining Asia, “Mega-Asia” aims to provide a shared ideological foundation that fosters collective responses to the challenges faced by Asia’s sub-regions and countries.

Since 2020, the HK+ Mega-Asia Project Research Group at SNUAC, supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea, has been exploring the idea of “Mega-Asia.” This initiative emerged from the need for a broader perspective on the region and the development of a conceptual framework capable of capturing Asia’s complex and evolving realities. Additionally, the experiences of the pandemic and its aftermath highlighted the importance of integrating both global and local perspectives, leading to research of a “glocal” nature—recognizing Asia’s shared characteristics and unique distinctions simultaneously.

Although “Mega-Asia” is a relatively new concept, the perspectives it offers are familiar to scholars of Asian Studies. Therefore, we invite researchers from around the world to join us in Seoul, Korea, in late November to engage in discussions on the “New Asia” of the 21st century—a megaregion evolving into “one space of multiple spaces,” shaped by diverse yet intertwined historical experiences.