Newsletter

On May 26, 2017, the Northeast Asian History Foundation’s Institute of Japanese Studies and Fudan University’s department of history jointly hosted an international academic conference titled “The History of Korea-China Joint Resistance in the War Against the Japanese” at the university’s campus in Shanghai, China. The conference was held as part of a three-year project the Foundation launched to prepare for the centenary of the March 1st Movement and the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government (hereinafter referred to as the provisional government) coming up in 2019.

NAHF-Fudan University Joint Conference

After an opening address given by the NAHF President Kim Ho-sup and a welcoming address by Chen Yan (陳雁), the head of Fundan University’s department of history, the conference proceeded into two sessions. Chaired by Professor Emeritus Shin Bok-ryong of Konkuk University, the first session hosted four presentations that were followed by a discussion. The second session chaired by Lee Taik-whi, the former president of the Seoul National University of Education, accommodated a general discussion in which a panel of experts as well as conference attendants were all allowed to participate. With a greater-than-expected attendance from graduate students at Fudan University and scholars from other universities nearby, vibrant discussions took place about the presentations, making the conference a success that lasted for more than four hours. The following provides a brief introduction to what was mainly presented and discussed at the said conference.

With Professor Ma Jianbiao (馬建標) of Fudan University serving as moderator, Professor Han See-joon of Dankook University gave a presentation on “Korea-China Joint Resistance Against Imperial Japan’s Invasions.” Professor Han presented about his investigation into the joint resistance Koreans and the Chinese demonstrated in Manchuria and the northern region of mainland China. Based on the significance the joint resistance carries, he suggested that Korea and China should make joint efforts to collect material and conduct research about it so as to contribute to forming polices aimed at bringing peace in East Asia and the world and to help locate ways to jointly respond to Japan’s distortions of history.

Zhu Qin (朱芹), a researcher at Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, presented about “Recognition of the Korean Provisional Government Amid Korea-China Joint Resistance,” for which Professor Yang Seung-tae of Ewha Womans University served as moderator. Zhu Qin argued that China’s Kuomintang government kept up its attempts to recognize the provisional government while fighting against the Japanese during the first half of the 1940s, but eventually failed because of opposition from the United States. Zhu Qin’s argument was followed by a counterargument Professor Yang offered. Professor Sun Kezhi (孫科志) of Fudan University presented about “Progress in China on Researching the Korean Provisional Government” while Professor Kim Myong-sob of Yonsei University served as moderator. Professor Sun pointed out that although Chinese research on the provisional government mainly began in Shanghai after diplomatic relations became normalized between South Korea and China in 1992, there is still a lack of in-depth studies, publications, and source collections devoted to the subject.

The presentation given by Professor Park Geol-sun of Chungbuk National University was about "The Status of and Challenges for Historic Sites in China Related to the Korean Provisional Government" to which Professor Heo Dong-hyun of Kyung Hee University served as moderator. Through his presentation, Professor Park proposed for restored buildings and museums linked to the provisional government in Shanghai, Hangzhou (杭州), Changsha (長沙), Liuzhou (柳州), and Chongqing (重慶) to be open to the public. He also proposed that sources on the Korean independence movement, which took place over a span of nearly five decades, should be gathered to gain acknowledgement as a world heritage. During the general discussion, NAHF Research Fellow Seo Hyun-ju suggested the need to examine the activities of the provisional government and historic sites related to it from an urban history-based perspective. Lee Jong-chan, who heads the committee for building a memorial for the provisional government, also offered his testimony and commented on suggestions made during the discussion about ways to memorialize the provisional government.

The international academic conference well fulfilled its purpose of presenting, discussing, and exchanging views about the provisional government with Chinese scholars at the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai where the provisional government was first launched. It was a particularly worthwhile occasion for providing the chance to discuss in-depth the significance of studying the Korean independence movement alongside China's resistance against Japan, the potential such studies may have in contributing to world peace, and the challenges lying ahead.

Visits to Major Historic Sites  

After concluding the conference, the participants spent the next few days between the 27th and 29th of May visiting historic sites around Chongqing and Xi'an related to the provisional government and the Korean Liberation Army to survey them and explore prospects for ongoing or future research.

Once the Patriot Yun Bong-gil set off a bomb on April 29, 1932 in Shanghai, the Korean Provisional Government had to leave the city and wander through ten or so locations within mainland China before it was able to settle down in Chongqing in October 1940. The spacious quarters that was once used by the provisional government in Chongqing has been restored and is now functioning as a museum. Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, is where the Korean Liberation Army's second detachment used to be active. The city also carries significance for being the place where agents Kim Joon-yeop and Chang Chun-ha prepared to infiltrate the Korean peninsula with support from the American Office of Strategic Services, which is the predecessor of today's Central Intelligence Agency. For this reason, the participants enjoyed a rare opportunity of being allowed to approach the steep valley and rocky cliff behind the Amitabha Temple (彌陀古寺) at the foot of the Zhongnan Mountains, a place most Korean scholars or visitors have not been able to access, and took advantage of the time there to infer the location where such agents used to receive training and debate about how they used to be trained.

Right after Imperial Japan's surrender, six members of the Korean Liberation Army including Kim Joon-yeop and Chang Chun-ha boarded a C-47 aircraft in Xi'an with an American military delegation and landed at the Yeouido Airport in Seoul on August 18, 1945. However, they were forced to get back on the plane and return to Xi'an the very next day because the Japanese military claimed there had been no instructions on whether they were to be allowed entry.

The Korean independence activists' noble ideals of aiming beyond independence for a unified nation-state and the difficult journey they had to make for those ideals are worth ruminating over against the stringent circumstances the Korean peninsula is now placed under and the challenges such circumstances are imposing. And as the centenary of the March 1st Independence Movement and the provisional government's establishment draws near, we can only hope that the day is also drawing near when Korea, China, and Japan are able to overcome their conflicts involving history and territory and mutually understand one another well enough to work together on bringing peace and prosperity in northeast Asia.