Newsletter

On December 7, 2010, the Korea-China Academic Conference was held in Seoul. The event, which was co-organized by the Northeast Asian History Foundation and Joongang Daily, was attended by 26 participants including China experts in Korea and Chinese scholars specializing in the Korean Peninsula issues from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University, Fudan University, and other renowned universities and research institutes.

The conference, titled "History and the Future of Korea-China Exchanges", took the objective and academic position with the presence from both the historical and the political areas, striking the balance between the past (historical issues) and the present (practical issues). The gathering for coming up with an accurate diagnosis of the bilateral relations was timely at the time when the relations between the two nations were recently dampened by North Korea's torpedoing of the South's Cheonan naval ship last March and shelling of the Yeonpyeong Island last November. In each section and the closing discussion, the participants were engaged in heated debates, suggesting diverse opinions for addressing the neighbors' conflicts and realizing mutual benefits.

Timely Gathering between Korea and China amid Sour Relations

In the first session, Professor Wei Zhijiang (魏志江) in his presentation titled "Understanding the Song Dynasty's Perception on Goryeo through Goryeodokyung" introduced an essay written by Xu Jing, Goryeodokyung (高麗圖經), which vividly describes the 12th century of the Goryeo Dynasty in various aspects including the politics, high-profile figures, the national system (전장제도), the military, the geography, the economy, religions, the custom, and the culture Professor Wei said that as the Song Dynasty highly evaluated the national system, the social structure, the economy, and the culture of Goryeo, the Goryeo culture should be cherished as the valuable cultural heritage of Asia.

Professor Quan Hexiu (權赫秀) from Lioning University made the presentation on "Research on Records kept by the Ming and Qing Royal Envoys to Joseon". Professor Quan held that the records by the envoys were worth comparison with Yeonhaengrok, a travel journal written by Joseon officials after their trips to Ming or Qing. He added that any other neighboring nations not just in East Asia but also in the whole world did not keep the materials on their mutual relations and perceptions in such a systemic way.

Professor Ge Zhenjia (葛振家) from Peking University introduced Gumnampyohaerok (錦南漂海錄), which is a journal written by Choi Bu (崔溥) after his travel to China in 522. The ship, which contained Choi and other 41 people hit the storm near the Jeju Island and drifted to the Zhejiang Province. Choi kept the records of his days while returning to Joseon through land and sea routes. The journal handled various aspects of the Ming Dynasty in 1448 including gateways, fortresses, politics, laws, waterways, geography, customs, languages, culture, and the relations with Joseon. Much of the information in the journal was barely or not found in other documents. Professor Ge emphasized the importance of the bilateral exchanges between Korea and China, asserting that although the era in which Choi Bu existed has passed, the two nations are still closely related in terms of geography, history and culture.

In the second session on the Korea-China exchanges in the modern/contemporary period, Yoon Dae-won of the Seoul National University said that China certainly provided the Korean Provisional Government and Korea's independence activists in the Chinese territory with economic, military, and diplomatic support. He added, however, that China's support should not be overestimated as a bona fide help. Some Chinese presentations refuted Professor Yoon's position.

Importance of Multi-channels for Mutual Communication

The third session touched on the present issues and the future of Korea-China relations. The both sides were engaged in heated debates on various issues such as the Korea-US alliance and the Strategic partnership between Korea and China, Beijing's North Korea policy after Pyongyang's provocation against Yeonpyeong Island, and China's maintenance of the relationship with Seoul along with alliance with Pyongyang.

Professor Shi Yuanhua (石源華) said that the US killed two birds with one stone though its joint military exercise with South Korea, which threatened Pyongyang and, at the same time, helped to understand Beijing's strategic limitations. He added that many Chinese were worried that South Korea along with the US would isolate Beijing, arguing that Washington provided a source of the problem since it falsely assumed its military drill, threats, and sanctions could control North Korea despite a series of failures.

In response, Professor Lee Hee-ok claimed that there was discrepancy between Korea and China in terms of their perceptions on the South Korea-US alliance. Professor Lee held that when the South Korean government opted for the policies to embrace Pyongyang in the past, Beijing acknowledged the alliance between Seoul and Washington. However, China has begun making issues of the alliance sine its relations with the US turned negative, and the tensions on the Korean Peninsula were heightened.

Professor Lee Jeong-nam said that due to its recent response to North Korea's attack against Yeonpyeong Island, China has been losing the trust from South Koreans, adding that Beijing's support for peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula now sounds empty rhetoric. Professor Song Chengyou counterattacked Lee by asking whether it was reasonable for a nation to exercise violation like the US Professor Song asserted that China took a fair position by not supporting both its ally, the North and its strategic partner, the South. He asked for the keen attention to Beijing's changes regarding its diplomatic directions. This fierce debate demonstrated starkly different positions by both sides in connection with the current issues between the two nations.

The participants came to an agreement that the two nations will be able to promote mutual understandings and exchanges in the history area on the back of geographical and cultural similarity. Nonetheless, they could not see eye to eye on some current sensitive issues. In order to overcome the recent conflicts and develop the relations into a higher level, the two countries should enhance their diplomacy by making use of multi-channels in various areas to bridge the gaps of the perceptions between them. To this end, the highest priority should be given to establishment of multi-channels for bilateral communication.