Hongsok Lee
The Doctoral Program of Inter-Religious Studies (IRS) recently held its regular Dissertation Promotion Club (DPC) session, featuring a presentation by doctoral student Hongsok Lee on the progress of his dissertation titled “Indonesian Muslim Community in South Korea: Religious Identity and Practices.” The session took place on Friday, 13 March 2026, and was attended by his dissertation supervisors, Prof. Dr. Fatimah Husein and Dr. Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras, as well as fellow students who actively contributed feedback and suggestions.
The Dissertation Promotion Club is a regular academic forum organized by the study program to monitor the progress of doctoral students’ research and writing. Through this forum, students can present their ongoing work, receive constructive input from faculty members and peers, and discuss challenges encountered during the dissertation process. The activity reflects the program’s commitment to supporting students so that their dissertation projects can progress effectively. Any difficulties faced by students can be openly discussed in the forum, allowing participants to collectively explore possible solutions.
In his presentation, Hongsok Lee discussed the increasing cultural and religious diversity in South Korea as a result of labor migration. Within this changing social landscape, Muslim migrant communities have emerged as an important religious presence. Among them, migrants from Indonesia represent one of the most active Muslim communities in the country. Indonesian Muslims manage and operate more mosques than any other ethnic Muslim group in South Korea, including Korean Muslims, and regularly organize religious events and community activities.
The research examines how the Indonesian Muslim community maintains its religious identity within a predominantly non-Muslim society and how members negotiate and reconstruct religious practices while facing various challenges. Using the framework of transnationalism, the study explores how Indonesian Muslim migrants maintain simultaneous connections with both their homeland and their host society. Methodologically, the research adopts an ethnographic approach, combining participant observation and in-depth interviews conducted in South Korea and Indonesia. These methods are complemented by desk research, including the analysis of online sources.
The findings indicate that Indonesian Muslim migrants tend to maintain a moderate and flexible religious identity. This flexibility allows them to continue practicing their faith while minimizing potential conflict within the wider society, even under structural constraints such as limited access to halal food and difficulties in attending Friday prayers. One of the key findings of the study highlights the role of yasinan, a communal recitation gathering, as an important catalyst for the growth of the Indonesian Muslim community in South Korea. Beyond its religious function, this practice helps strengthen community cohesion, compensates for limitations in attending Friday prayers, and creates opportunities for interreligious dialogue.
However, the research also notes that despite its potential to represent Muslim groups in South Korea, the Indonesian Muslim community still has limited influence within the broader society. In the country’s evolving religious landscape, where certain Protestant Christian groups have become increasingly conservative, the possibility of discrimination and Islamophobia remains a concern. Through the DPC forum, participants engaged in a constructive discussion about the research findings and provided valuable input for further developing the dissertation. The session demonstrated the importance of collaborative academic spaces in strengthening scholarly work and supporting doctoral students throughout their research journey.