The Foundation held an academic conference on Friday, the 5th, in its main conference hall under the theme “The Formation of the Northeast Asian Treaty Order and the Changing Perceptions.”
This year marks the 130th anniversary of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, concluded after the First Sino-Japanese War, the 120th anniversary of the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War, and the 120th anniversary of the Eulsa Treaty, which deprived the Korean Empire of its diplomatic rights.

The conference examined from multiple perspectives how the historic treaties that reshaped the order of Northeast Asia were received and adapted to by each country, and how the perceptions of the people living within that order evolved, through both international law and historical analyses.

From the perspective of international law, the formation of the modern treaty order in Northeast Asia and its impact on the Korean Empire were critically reviewed. From the historical perspective, the discussion focused on how Korea, China, and Japan perceived these treaties.

President Jihang Park of the Foundation, stated, “This academic conference aims to shed multidimensional light on the turbulent era of Northeast Asia’s modern order, by examining both the framework of international treaties and the perceptions of the people who lived within them. I hope this will provide important insights for finding our way forward amid today’s rapidly changing international order.”