Newsletter

From last September 19 to September 22, a 3^rd Korea-Russia regular academic conference was jointly held in Vladivostok by Northeast Asian History Foundation and the History, Archeology and Folklore Research Center at the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the title of "Exchanges and cooperation between Korea and Russia for reconciliation of history in East Asia".

As its meaning 'Rule the East' indicates, Vladivostok is the capital city of Russia's eastern coastal state of Primorsky Krai which was handed over from China to Russia through the 1860 Sino-Russian Treaty of Peking. In an effort to secure workforce required to develop its newly acquired far eastern region from Korea, the then Russian government encouraged Koreans to cultivate the coastal land, leading to a Korean village formed around 1869 in Ussuriysk one hour away from Vladivostok. In fact King Gojong even sent a delegation to the coastal state after the Gapsin Coup with an expectation that Russia would bring some hope to the future of the Korean kingdom. Vladivostok Station is the very place where AN Jung-Geun set on his journey for Harbin Station with an assassination plan. In the city which was a central base for Korean people's independence movement in foreign countries, we could still find traces of many years ago in many corners of the city. Vladivostok had been developed so much that we could not believe that it was only 150 years since the beginning of the city. The city was now in the midst of preparing for the APEC summit talks to be held next year.

Discussions on Korea-Russia relations for reconciliation of history in East Asia

There were three sessions in the academic conference held under a title of "Exchanges and cooperation between Korea and Russia for reconciliation of history in East Asia" in which participants sought ways of exchange and cooperation between Korea and Russia for reconciliation of history in East Asia in various areas including history, literature, politics and social culture.

During the first session concerning historical aspects, the deputy director of the Institute of History at the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian academy, Vradji, presented his analysis titled "Images of Russia formed in Korea (based on 19^th century Korean materials)" where he analyzed the sections relating to Korean migrants in Russia contained in the National Maps of Korea. Produced in 1880s, the maps show the Korea-Russia relations during late 19^th century. KIM Young-Soo, a research fellow from Northeast Asian History Foundation, presented his research titled "LEE Beom-Jin, Korean diplomatic minister to Russia, and the Korea-Russia Relations" where he analyzed Minister LEE's life and raised a question that he may not have committed a suicide. Researcher KIM also discussed that while LEE Beom-Jin had been criticized, reassessment about him had begun recently in Korea and materials relating to him were being restored. MOON Joon-Il, a research professor at Gyeongsang National University, discussed on literature, presenting his research titled "A study on ways of cooperation in literature between Korea and Russia for the development of Korea-Russia relationship" where he pointed that both Korea and Russia still do not have a cultural symbol for each other. In political aspects, the Director of the Center for Security in the Far Eastern Region of Russia, Mishin V. Ju., presented his study titled "Separated families, a national tragedy of Korean people: history, problems and solutions" where he examined the tragedy of separated families in the Korean peninsula and further discussed whether the unification of Korea will be achievable without external assistance and what role Russia can play for Korea's unification.

During the 2^nd session, researchers from the Foundation presented their studies one after another on Dokdo and the naming of the East Sea which have become issues recently in Korea. DOH See-Hwan, a research fellow at the Foundation, made his presentation titled "San Francisco Peace Treaty and its Implication to Territorial Disputes in Northeast Asia – focusing on the issue of the sovereign right to Dokdo" where he discussed the third article of the treaty recognizing Korea's independence and verified the complete separation of Dokdo from Japan. Foundation's research fellow YOO Ha-Young presented on a topic titled "Korea-Russia Relations since the Modern Period and Issues relating to the International Laws" in which he discussed cooperation between Korea and Russia through the East Sea. In the final presentation during the second session and in the morning of the second day, the Russian side dealt with the political ideas and systems of South and North Koreas. Professor Tolstokulakov from the Far Eastern State University presented on changes of ideology in North Korea with a topic titled "The Basis of North Korean Thoughts on Foreign Policies", and Professor Ermolaeva E. M. from the same university presented on South Korea's political ideas and system.

In the social and cultural aspects, Professor Koroleva V.A. from the Institute of History at the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian academy presented on a topic titled "The Korean department during years 1934 to 1937 in the Radio Broadcasting Committee of the eastern coastal state of Primorsky Krai" where the presenter discussed Russia's ethnic policies toward Koreans and Chinese during the period from 1920 till 1937 before Stalin forced Koreans to migrate in 1937 under the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. Among other things, the presenter analyzed how a Korean music conductor 'WON Se-Yeon' became a great musician through music programs of the Korean department of the Radio Broadcasting Committee in 1934, and the presenter also explained the female musician's activities until she earn a reputation in the far eastern region as the founder of Korean songs in the Soviet.

Formation of common understanding on historical disputes and territorial matters

In the afternoon session on the last day, a theme titled "Korea and Russia's Understanding of the Rise of China" was dealt with. First in the order, the writer presented on a topic titled "The Rise of China and a New Interpretation from the historical circles of China" where the writer pointed that while the Chinese Tang dynasty became a global empire with 'fusion and inclusion' policies not with 'ruling', present China is in fact so keen to rule despite the country stressing 'Reproduction of the Prosperous Tang Dynasty' aiming to become the strongest power in the world. The writer also pointed that such ambition of China is even reflected in the academic circles of history. On the Russian side, Professor Ryabchenko N. from the Institute of History at the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian academy presented on a topic titled "China's Role in Northeast Asia : Present and Future" where the presenter analyzed the positive role played by China in Northeast Asia with some examples. Interestingly, the Russian side commented that they agreed to the problems in the historical circles of China, but they had restricted their presentations to the positive role played by China because Russia valued a close relationship with China. Through this presentation, participants discussed the role of Russia as a balancer on the history disputes between Korea, China and Japan.

This joint forum by Korea and Russia went further from focusing on the modern diplomatic history between Korea and Russia during the last two years, and dealt with various topics and developed a common ground about history disputes and territorial knowledge. It was another achievement of this conference that Russian materials that had never been introduced in Korea were used in the conference, which is expected to help promote joint studies on Korea-Russia relations in the future. It is our hope that the great Korean conductor WON Se-Yeon's works will be restored through continued researches and the music will be performed by our world-class singer like CHO Su-Mi at Korea-Russia summit talks.