Toward Stronger Mutual Understanding and Cooperation Between Japan and South Korea

The Nippon Foundation established The Asia Research Fund in Seoul, South Korea, in 1995 to foster mutual understanding of East Asian history and culture and to promote regional peace and economic cooperation.

Since its establishment, the Fund has carried out two public-interest programs: a policy research support program focusing on cultural, historical, security, and economic policy issues in East Asia, and an educational and cultural exchange program designed to promote interaction between students and young people in Japan and South Korea.

The policy research support program supports the research of selected research institutes and individual researchers on academic themes deemed important from a policy-making perspective.

The educational and cultural exchange program supports exchanges and cooperative projects primarily among students, young people, and volunteers in East Asia, with a particular and ongoing interest in youth exchange projects in Japan and South Korea.

As of May 2025, the Fund had supported more than 400 policy research projects and over 200 educational and cultural exchange projects. Through these efforts, it has contributed to building a strong foundation for research and exchange aimed at enhancing cooperation and deepening mutual understanding, not only between Japan and South Korea, but throughout East Asia.

The ARF 1^st Japan-Korea Future Vision Forum was held in September 2024 to help cultivate the next generation of leaders who will drive economic development in Japan and South Korea. The forum featured policy discussions aimed at promoting both countries and the global community through cooperation between the two countries.

In June 2025, a forum will be held to commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea. This forum will seek to contribute to both countries’ further development as well as to peace in East Asia and the rest of the world. The forum will provide a venue for dialogue and cooperation among the next generation of specialists in the fields of politics and diplomacy in Japan and South Korea, with the aim of building a platform for the creation of concrete policy measures.