Newsletter

On March 27, 2012, the 3rd Korea-Vietnam Cooperation Forum between the Northeast Asian History Foundation (NAHF) and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) was held in the VASS located in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam under the theme "Maritime Security and Peace in East Asia: Sharing Historical Experiences and Research Results." This international conference raised the academic profile of the NAHF abroad in that it was hosted by the VAAS itself, not a research institute affiliated with it, and that it presented the NAHF's research capability in "maritime territory of East Asia" as well as "history of East Asia." The conference began with the opening speech by VASS Director Nguyen Xuan Thang. Then NAHF President Chung Jae-jeong gave the keynote speech in which he highlighted the significance of the 3rd Korea-Vietnam Cooperation Forum on the occasion of the '20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and Vietnam' and the '2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit' and asked both organizations for continued mutual exchange and cooperation on many fronts in their shared areas of interest.

Cooperation and Experience-Sharing for Peace and Maritime Security in East Asia

In Session 1 themed "Cooperation and Experience-Sharing for Peace and Maritime Security in East Asia," Dr. Do Tien Sam, the first speaker of the VAAS, gave a speech on "The Sea Demarcation Treaty in the Gulf of Tonking between Vietnam and China" in which he explained that the Gulf of Tongking, which extends along the total length of 763 km over 10 provinces of Vietnam and also adjoins Guangzhou and Hainan of China, had been an important region to both countries for national security as well as economic development, and emphasized that both countries had reached the first specific demarcation treaty in 2000 years of their history through the negotiations that had continued for 27 years.
As the first speaker of the NAHF, I gave a speech on "Rethinking Japan's War Reparations for East Asia" in which I pointed out that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the effectuation of the "Treaty of Peace with Japan" signed on September 8, 1951 after World War II between the countries on the winning side, including the U.S. and the allies, and the loser Japan, and that while the treaty was intended for Japan to take legal responsibility for the war by making war reparations, it was essentially designed to set up the Cold War in East Asia. In particular, regarding the problems with this treaty which excluded Korea, the victim of the Japanese colonial rule by illegal occupation, and failed to address compensation for individual war victims of each country, I presented solutions to bring historical justice as the basis for establishing the peaceful community of East Asia, including: the UN ILC Draft Articles on Diplomatic Protection (2006); the "Joint Statement Declaring the Invalidity of Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty" issued by Korean and Japanese intellectuals in 2010; and the decision by the Constitutional Court of Korea in 2011 regarding the issue of sexual slavery by Japan.

The History and Challenges of East Asia Reviewed in the 20th Year of Diplomatic Ties between Korea and Vietnam

In Session 2 themed "Changes in Policy for Maritime Security in East Asia," Dr. Dang Xuan Thanh gave a speech on "Maritime Policy in East Asia and Response by the Powers" in which, regarding the necessity for maritime security in East Asia where the five powers (the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and India) have their intertwined interests, he pointed out the problem that they had been dependent on the external security system due to the lack of internal ones.
In Session 3 themed "Maritime Security in the ASEAN Region," Dr. Tran Khanh gave a speech on "The ASEAN's Roles in Conflict Prevention in East Asia" in which he pointed out that the increasing disputes in South China Sea where many of the ASEAN member states had overlapping interests posed a threat to the national interests of the ASEAN member states with sovereignty over this region and undermined the ASEAN's environment development and cooperation, and that the agreements reached by the ASEAN to address the problems carried weak legal bounding force, and stressed that the ASEAN should seek amicable solution to address the conflicting interests that were becoming increasingly complex. Meanwhile, Dr. Lee Jong-gook at NAHF gave a speech on "The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)'s Roles in South China Sea" in which he stated that by making efforts to adopt the declaration and the code of conduct on the South China Sea issue through continued dialogue since 1992, the ASEAN nations demonstrated their determination to establish maritime security in the South China Sea region through dialogue. In this regard, he made prediction on China; First of all, China would pursue their own interests while avoiding conflict with the neighboring countries as the short-term strategy but eventually use policy through power in the long run, and secondly China would make the best use of the ARF while acting in their own interests.
Finally, in Session 4, Dr. Chu Duc Dung gave a speech on "The Sensitive Sovereignty Issue in East Asia" in which he pointed out that the prerequisite for peace in Southeast Asia is to resolve the sensitive territorial dispute over the Spratly the Paracel Islands in South China Sea among the countries concerned, but efforts for resolving the dispute through bilateral dialogue have their limitations due to the power imbalance within the region resulting from China's expanding supremacy, for example. And Dr. Bae Jin-soo at NAFH gave a speech on "Empirical Comparison of the Cases of Island Sovereignty Claims in East Asia" in which he presented the similarities and differences between the territorial dispute cases in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia by comparison, and concluded that Southeast Asia is more likely to prevent and resolve disputes through the regional security organizations such as the ASEAN or the ARF than Northeast Asia.

Sharing Research Results on the Similar Experiences and Lessons Learned from the Colonial

Exploitation and Territorial Disputes of Both Countries Resulting from Imperialist Legacy
This cooperation forum held under the theme of "Maritime Security and Peace in East Asia: Sharing Historical Experiences and Research Results" on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and Vietnam was an important opportunity for in-depth discussion and sharing of the results of studies on the similar experiences and lessons learned from the history of both countries, i.e. colonial exploitation, war, and territorial dispute resulting from imperialist legacy. Furthermore, it was agreed that the 4th Korea-Vietnam Cooperation Forum in 2013 would be held in Seoul under the theme of "Exchanges in History and Culture between Korea and Vietnam." I hope that based on the solid foundation of mutual partnership between the NAHF and the VASS laid through this forum, both organizations will further upgrade their continued exchange and cooperation.