The 27th Annual ASEACCU Faculty and Staff Conference was held at Sogang University in Seoul, Korea from August 20-22, 2019. The theme for this year’s conference is Reconciliation and the Situation in the East Asian Region. During the Opening Ceremonies which was held on the first day of the conference, Rev. Fr. Jong Gou Park, SJ, President of Sogang University delivered the welcome remarks. Rev. Fr. Herminio V. Dagohoy, O.P., the Executive Secretary of ASEACCU and Prof. Isabel Capeloa Gil, President of International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) delivered inspirational messages. The second day of the conference provided participants the wonderful opportunity to understand the history of Korea and where it is headed in terms of technological advancements by visiting the Taepung Observatory and the LG Science Park. On the last day of the conference, Rev. Fr. Munsu Park, SJ, Chairperson of Sogang University, delivered the Keynote Lecture titled Reconciling Human Rights and Democracy: Challenges for the People of East Asia. The academic session followed in the afternoon with lectures delivered by Fr. Dr. Philipus Tule, SVD, Rector of Widya Mandira Catholic University, Prof. Youngshik Bong of Yonsei University, Dr. Asmin Fransiska of Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya, and Ms. Josephine Perez of Ateneo de Manila University. The Closing Ceremonies of the conference was held in the evening with the announcement that St. Paul Institute of Cambodia will be the host of the ASEACCU conference in 2020.

ASEACCU held the first Internationalization Program in the 2019 Conference at Sogang University in South Korea which was attended by heads of internationalization offices of ASEACCU member schools as well as institutional representatives who are tasked to improve the internationalization efforts of their respective institutions. The Welcome Dinner was held on August 19, 2019 which provided participants of the internationalization program the opportunity to meet with and get to know with their foreign counterparts. On August 21, 2019, the second day of the conference, Prof. Peta Sanderson, Pro-Vice Chancellor International, University of Notre Dame, Australia, began the first session with a talk titled Catholic Universities: Identity and Internationalization. Afterwards, Prof. Kuncoro Foe, Rector, University of Widya Mandala Surabaya, Indonesia gave his response to Prof. Sanderson’s talk.  Prof. Karen Santiago, Ph.D., Associate Director, Office of International Relations and Program, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines, discussed the International Framework of a Comprehensive Private Catholic University. This was followed by the talk Sharing on Best Practices and Lessons Learned: Social Enterprise by Mr. Sophal Phon, Director of St. Paul Institute, Cambodia. 

 In the afternoon, the second session began with a sharing by Ms. Danika Cornelia from Daegu Catholic University, Korea, on her experience as a student in a foreign university. This was followed by Mr. Glen Chatelier, Director, Office of International Affairs, Assumption University of Thailand, who discussed Study Abroad Trends: Career Development for Students. Prof. Isabel Capeloa Gil, President of IFCU, was invited to speak on the initiatives of IFCU and how IFCU could be of assistance to Catholic higher learning institutions. The Institutional Networking Session was held later in the afternoon in which the participants signed Letters of Intent with higher learning institutions they wish to collaborate with.