“Koreans do not understand Southeast Asia properly but believe that Southeast Asians like and trust Korea. On the other hand, Southeast Asians do not trust much in Korea but their mass popularity of Korea is increasing.” Such ironic situation could be a result of a lack of mutual understanding, misunderstanding, and prejudice between Koreans and Southeast Asians. This should be the top priority that the “New Southern Policy,” which considers Southeast Asia as a future partner, should be corrected. This study explored the possibility of ASEAN studies as a path through the popular prejudice embedded in the term “Southeast Asia”, which hinders Koreans' true understanding of Southeast Asia and obstruct institutional expansion of Southeast Asian studies in Korea. From an academic perspective, ASEAN has been perceived as a regional organization and, ASEAN studies have been limited to institutional approach. However, given that geographical clearness encompassing 10 regional countries and that emerging regional identity since the launch of the ASEAN Community in 2015, ASEAN could be approached as a subject of area studies. From a realistic perspective, various data analyses show that Koreans perceive the term 'ASEAN' more positively than the term 'Southeast Asia'. This tells the possibility of ‘ASEAN’ as a path through the prejudice inherent in the term ‘Southeast Asia’ based on the logic that “language could affect a person’s perception and understanding of the subject.” This could also help promote the institutional foundation of Southeast Asian-related studies and education at Korean universities, which consistently advocated by Korean academia of Southeast Asian studies.