Newsletter

This year of 2014 marks the 120th year since the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), the 110th year since the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), and the 100th year since World War I (1914-1918). And the month of October is particularly significant because it includes the date (Oct 26) when, 115 years ago at Harbin Station in China, patriot Ahn Jung-geun assassinated Ito Hirobhumu, the mastermind behind Japan's aggression against Korea. This month of October inspires us to think once again about peace and prosperity in East Asia while reminding ourselves of the Theory of Oriental Peace advocated by Ahn Jung-guen.

Japan making an extreme rightward shift vs. China showing increased interest in the 'comfort women' issue

In East Asia today, conflicts over historical and territorial issues among Korea, China, and Japan are intensifying further. The conflict between Korea and China is due to the issue with historical perception, sparked by China's controversial historical projects such as the Northeast Project, the Great Wall Project, and the Qing History Project. The deepening rift between Korea and Japan is due to the issues of 'comfort women,' Dokdo, and textbooks that distort history. Additionally, there is an increasingly sharp conflict between China and Japan over the issues of aggression, historical perception, and territorial dispute.

While there has been an increase in the exchange of people and goods and remarkable improvement in the exchange of art and culture among the three countries, the national sentiment of each of these countries toward the others keeps getting worse because of the conflicts over territory and the distortion of history. If territory/security was the main subject of their conflict with Japan (e.g. Diaoyu Dao or known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands), China has been increasingly highlighting the historical issue lately, disclosing the atrocities committed by the militarist Japan, such as the forcing of women into military sexual slavery. In 2013, the Chinese government included research about 'comfort women' in national research projects for the first time. In February 2014, an international conference on the resolution of the 'comfort women' issue was held at Shanghai Normal University, the first event of its kind ever held in China. This conference broadened the horizons of research in 'comfort women' by presenting the existing research findings and newly found materials, including the research finding that Chinese 'comfort women' had numbered up to 300,000 and the documents proving that the Japanese army had operated 'comfort stations.'

Recently, on September 18, 2014, a movie about 'comfort women,' titled The Eyes of Dawn (黎明之眼), was released in China. Written and directed by Lui Siu Lung (呂小龍), a famous actor from Hong Kong, this film is based on a true story about a Chinese woman who was forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese army in Songshan,(松山), Yunnan Province (雲南省) during the time of China's resistance war against Japanese aggression. The movie dealt with the trauma and pain experienced by not only the 'comfort women' themselves but also the three generations of their descendants. The movie started filming on the 13th day of December in 2013, the Nanjing Massacre memorial day, and was released to coincide with the memorial day of the September 18 Incident (Manchurian Incident).

As illustrated above, the 'comfort women' issue has been attracting intense attraction lately from the Chinese people, government, and academia. It comes to my attention that they are making efforts to wildly publicize this issue to the public as well as find related materials. This shows that the Chinese academia has found common ground, and is actively responding and working together, with Korea with respect to the 'comfort women' issue on which primarily Korea has been raising voices.

Korea is trying to bring the records of 'comfort women' into the 'memory of the world.' China is also making various efforts to have the records related to 'comfort women' inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. The victims of the Japanese military sexual slavery are not limited to Korea or China, but scattered over many countries and regions, including the Philippines and Indonesia. Inscribing the records about these victims or related to 'comfort women' on the Memory of the World Register will make the 'comfort women' issue alive in the 'memory of the world' instead of making it remain simply as personal trauma and sufferings of the past. Significantly, it will also restore the lost 'human dignity' and the universal value of respecting women's human rights. We should take it as a lesson to ensure that the same tragedy will never happen anywhere ever again.

The Expected Roles of the Northeast Asian History Foundation amid Historical Conflict

Expectations are high for the Northeast Asian History Foundation at a time like this. The resolution of historical conflicts facing Korea, China, and Japan requires the spread of the correct perception of history first. Efforts need to be made to spread the healthy perception of history through extensive and in-depth research on history, conversation to share perception, and extensive communication with the public. In addition, constant networking with academic societies, research institutes, NGOs, and other related organizations at home and abroad is needed to share perception. It is also necessary to widely distribute the English publications to university libraries and related organizations all over the world so as to gain international readers.

It is the challenge facing 21st-century Northeast Asia to resolve the conflict surrounding the history of Korea, China, and Japan, and build an East Asian community of reconciliation and trust. I expect that the Northeast Asian History Foundation will be the driving force behind laying the foundation for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia through the resolution of historical conflict, and sincere connection and communication.