Newsletter

Assistance to build foundation of Northeast Asian community

To present mid- and long-term vision for Northeast Asia's reconciliation over historical issues, peace and prosperity, the Office of Policy Planning of the Northeast Asian History Foundation is pursuing three projects: First of all, the Office is supporting long-term, systematic research to establish a Northeast Asian community. The Office commissioned research projects to review and analyze debate points of Korea, China and Japan on a Northeast Asian community and its feasibility. Last year, the following three projects were selected and completed, whose results are expected to be published as the Foundation's book later this year.

·Yi Suk-jong (East Asia Institute), A Study on Perception of East Asia and Policy for East Asian Community of Korea, China and Japan.
·Yi Jin-won (The University of Seoul), Questions of Building the Northeast Asian Community's Identity.
·Yi Nam-ju (SungKongHoe University), Building a Northeast Asian Community and Overcoming Nationalism.

Through domestic and overseas research assistance, the Office is forming academic capacity to bring peace in Northeast Asia and building the case for a peaceful community of Korea, China and Japan. This year, the following three projects have been selected and in progress.

·Son Yeol (Yonsei University), A Soft-power Strategy for an East Asian Community: Identity, Norm and Network.
·Han Yong-seob (Korea National Defense University), Strategies to Establish a Community of Peace by Overcoming East Asian Territory Disputes.
·Jo Cheol-ho (Korea University), Theories and Policies for a Security and Economic Community of Korea, China and Japan in the 21st Century

Reassessment of An Jung-geun's "Vision for East Asian Peace"

Second, in reexamination of An Jung-geun's "Vision for East Asian Peace," the Office has hosted jointly with the An Jung-geun Harbin Society international conferences marking his death. Last year, the Office hosted an international conference marking the 99th anniversary of his death, under the theme of "Northeast Asian Peace and Reexamination of An Jung-geun's Death" in the Foundation's conference room on October 17-18, last year. This year, an international conference commemorating the centenary of An's death will be held on October 26-27 under the theme of "Light of 100 Years: An Jung-geun's Vision for East Asian Peace and the Future of a Northeast Asian Community," with experts from Korea, China and Japan present. And on the upcoming August 15, when a ceremony is held in commemoration of the centenary of An's death in Harbin, China, the Office will also support people's visits to sites in Russia and China of An's liberation movement from Japanese colonial rule, shedding the spotlight on today's significance of An's "Vision for East Asian Peace" and providing participants with opportunity to pursue the vision of peace in the region.

Annual conference of Korean, Chinese and Japanese historians

Third, the Foundation has hosted annual conferences where historians from Korea, China and Japan take part. The first conference was held under the theme of "East Asia from the Perspective of the 'Center and Periphery'" in 2007, the second was held under the theme of "Intellectual Exchanges and Historical Memories in East Asia" in 2008 and the third conference will be held under the theme of "the Identity and Diversity of the 'East Asian World' from historical perspective" on November 6-7, 2009. This conference has been held based on the perception that the resolution of disputes among East Asian countries originating from different historical perspectives requires close cooperation, joint research and constant communication opportunities among researchers of those countries. Although Korean-Japanese and Chinese-Japanese committees of historians have been established in those governments' efforts, no voluntary society consisting of researchers from entire East Asia has not been founded. In this context, the Foundation's continuous activities will contribute to the formation of networks both on government and non-government levels for historical reconciliation.