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Historical Society of Korea-Japan Relations<

Korea-Japan relations has long been ignored despite its intimate ties to the realities of Korean history. Most of the research on the history of Korea-Japan relations has been initiated by Japanese scholars in order to justify Japanese colonial historiography. Given that the field developed from intentions to distort history, it is riddled with many problems. Korea also faces the challenge of reorganizing its history within the context of East Asian history, and furthermore, within the context of world history. Against such a backdrop, research on the history of Korea's external relations--the foundation for the study of Korean history--has certainly been inadequate. The field has been considered a "special" historical field and neglected; therefore, the corpus of Korean history is not yet whole. Foreign affairs are an extension and international expression of domestic affairs. As such, research on either of these areas should not be compromised at the expense of the other.

The Historical Society of Korea-Japan Relations is an academic research organization founded in July 1997 to tackle the shortcomings of the field. It has been 17 years since, but the issues that inspired the Society's founding are still relevant. Some 250 members of the Society are achieving great feats in their respective areas of research, pursuing the common goal of establishing an accurate history of Korea-Japan relations by conducting research on the histories of these two nations. It is with pride that we can say the Society has solidified its standing as a leading academic organization in the history of Korea-Japan relations.

The Society also strives to fulfill its social responsibility as an academic research body. The Society takes an academic approach and offers rational commentary, response measures, and alternatives to relevant researchers and the general public when issues of contention (i.e. Dokdo and Japanese history textbooks) between Korea and Japan erupt.

June 2009 conference for analyzing the Japanese government-approved history textbook

In fulfilling its social responsibility as an academic research organization, the Society holds a monthly lecture meeting (three topics per meeting) and publishes an academic journal entitled Study of the History of Korea-Japan Relations (three issues per year), registered at the Korea Research Foundation. Every year, the Society also holds two domestic and international academic conferences that are open to scholars and the general public. The conferences serve as venues for sharing information and insight concerning current and pending issues in Korea-Japan relations. The results and findings of the conferences are compiled and published.

As of March 2009, the Society has held 118 lecture meetings and published 31 issues of its academic journal. Other publications by the Society include Historical Research on Korea-Japan Relations: Retrospective and Prospects (2002), Korea and Japan in Joseon Wangjo Sillok [Annals of the Joseon Dynasty] (2003), 2000 Years of the History of Korea-Japan Relations: Visible History, Invisible History (2006), and Distortion and Truth in Japanese History Books (2008).

In 2009, the Society is holding two lecture meetings (every other Saturday) every month. The meetings, open to researchers as well as the general public, enable the exchange and sharing of research findings and other pertinent information. Two conferences--one in the first half of the year and one in the second half--are planned for 2009. On June 20, with the support of the Northeast Asian History Foundation, the Society will host an academic conference for analyzing the history textbook approved in April 2009 by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. The main theme of this conference is "The Many Facets of the Japanese Textbook Issue in a Transitional Era: Case Study of the Government-Approved Japanese History Textbook of 2009." Then in November, the Society will join forces with the Ulsan Metropolitan Government and organize an academic conference on the key issues in Korea-Japan relations. The results and findings will be published in the Society's journal as well as in book form.