뉴스레터

The 28th day of April, 2012 marked the 60th anniversary of the effectuation of the 'Treaty of Peace with Japan (hereinafter the Treaty of San Francisco).' The Treaty of San Francisco, signed between Japan and the allied nations, restored Japan's sovereignty after its defeat in the war. The 'San Francisco System,' an international order established afterwards in Northeast Asia, has left a lot of challenges in this region by failing to resolve territorial and human rights issues with Korea, China, Russia, the victims of the war caused by Japan.

This is one of the joint conferences with leading organizations overseas hosted by NAHF in an effort to speak for Korea on the historical issues of Northeast Asia and gain wisdom necessary to educate future generations. The International Forum for Peace and Prosperity in Northeast Asia, in its third year, was held in Waterloo, Canada, under the theme 'Sixty Years of the San Francisco System: Continuation, Transformation, and Historical Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific.'

Participated by Experts from the U.S., Japan, Russia, China, Taiwan, Australia, and Canada

This forum consisted of three sessions in which a total of twelve experts from Korea, the U.S., Japan, Russia, China, Taiwan, and Australia participated as speakers. The forum was opened by the keynote speech of NAHF President Chung Jae-jeong emphasizing the importance of historical reconciliation in Northeast Asia and education for future generations. President Chung pointed out that Japan, against the expectation of the Northeast Asian people, was still failing to resolve territorial disputes surrounding Dokdo, Senkaku, and Kuril Islands, and human rights issues such as the issue of sexual slavery Japan. He also mentioned the Korean Wave, a phenomenon in which culture introduced by the West is being introduced back to the West after blooming in the East, as the noteworthy example suggesting that issues in Asia are not necessarily limited within the region but may present vision for all mankind. In the ensuing congratulatory address, Korean Minister to Canada O Song noted that the significance of the Treaty of San Francisco, although Korea was not a signatory, lay in its influence on the establishment of Korea-Japan relations and the challenges it had left for both countries to tackle. Minister Song also emphasized that dialogue through various channels would be important because a considerable number of international disputes had international grounds of claim. And he also noted the possibility of open, non-governmental dialogue that could actually help resolve international disputes.

Session 1, themed 'Border and Territorial Disputes,' was opened by Professor Constantine Sarkisov of Russia, who spoke on '1951: The Lost Opportunity,' stating that not participating in the San Francisco System had been a strategic mistake of the former Soviet Union, that Putin's rise to power again would present a good opportunity for the resolution of territorial disputes, and that it was time for Russia and Japan to reach a new agreement.

Next, Professor Suganuma Unryu (Oberlin University, Japan) spoke on 'Japan-China Border Issue: Senkaku/Diaowi and Ryuku,' expressing his view that the Senkaku issue was a territorial dispute caused by struggles to secure energy sources, and should be resolved along with the issues of Yasukuni shrine, high school history textbook authorization, and post-war reparation. He also pointed out that there had been improvement in China-Japan relations since Hatoyama of the Democratic Party came to power, and the intention of Hatoyama's 'fraternity foreign policy' was to resolve the territorial disputes by forming an East Asian Community.

As the third speaker, Professor Lee Seok-woo (Inha University) spoke on 'The Treaty of San Francisco and the Legal Legacies of Northeast Asia: Korea and Japan,' noting the complex situation facing East Asian countries in which they need to resolve maritime as well as territorial disputes as the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea require them to sort out maritime demarcation. Professor Lee also introduced four approaches under academic discussion to resolving the Dokdo issue.
First, separate sovereignty claims over Dokdo from maritime issues; in this practical scenario, Japan renounces its Dokdo claims as an apologetic gesture for its past wrongdoing, and Korea limits their claims to the waters surrounding Dokdo while sharing fishery and other resources in the EEZ with Japan.
Secondly, understand Japan's position on the Senkaku and Kuril issues and take a local approach to resolving those issues in order to assure Japan that these issues will not be linked to other issues.
Thirdly, review the three policy options (enhancing effective control, bringing the issue to international trial, or conducting bilateral negotiation) that will resolve the Dokdo issue while emphasizing the roles of the U.S.
Fourth, as usually advocated by Japanese scholars, accept Korea's positions (demand for Japan to admit the forced annexation of Korea as its colony and to make an apology) on its sovereignty claims over Dokdo and achieve the diplomatic goals of Japan through cooperation with South Korea in North Korean issues.

As the fourth speaker, Dr. Nong Hong at the National Institute for the South China Sea Studies spoke on 'The San Francisco Peace Treaty and the South China Sea Disputes: Historical Review and Outlook of Dispute Resolution.' He argued that the Treaty of San Francisco had caused territorial disputes over the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, that these issues would need to be handled through the dispute resolution system under the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas, and that action plans to execute the DoC (Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea) of China the ASEAN countries would also be needed.

As the last, 12th speaker, Wada Haruki, an honorary professor of the University of Tokyo, spoke on 'Historical Legacy and Regional Integration.' Professor Wada particularly emphasized the importance of the now-suspended six-party talks, arguing that resolving the complex issue with historical, territorial, and human rights issues all combined together would require an occasion for the representatives of all of the Northeast Asian countries to gather together for discussion.

A Big Accomplishment: Building a Network between Korea and Canada on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Bilateral Diplomatic Ties in 2013

This event was successful on many fronts. First of all, on the planning front, it had been planned in the evaluation meeting of the New York conference in the year before, which helped facilitate the preparation process. Also significant on the front of utilizing the existing network was that Professor Kimie Hara (University of Waterloo), the supervisor of the event, was a speaker of the New York conference hosted by NAHF, who understood and considered the purpose of the event and the NAHF's position. And also significant on the front of disseminating results is that Mark Selden (Cornell University), a discussant of this forum, will be a major editor of a collection of the forum results that will be distributed overseas through Routledge, a publishing house with international reputation.

In addition to the forum, 'Toronto Alpha,' a project sponsored by NAHF, is also underway in Canada. Therefore, it was possible for those involved in Toronto Alpha to create a synergy effect by attending the forum as audiences. Toronto Alpha is a group of history teachers of Canada engaged in activities to address such issues as sexual slavery by Japan. They expressed great interest in, and appreciation to, the forum on the San Francisco System hosted by NAHF.

The most important significance of this forum lies in its confirmation of the importance of Canada as a major partner of Korea in historical and human rights issues. In his luncheon address, Professor David Welch (University of Waterloo) stressed that in light of its own historical experience in which it had not been invited to the Paris Peace Conference even though it had participated in World War I, Canada was in sympathy with Korea, which couldn't participate in the San Francisco Peace Conference that concluded World War II.

2013 will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and Canada. The East Asian Library at the University of Toronto which I visited during this business trip to Canada expressed their full support for hosting academic conferences, and agreed to host an international conference on 'History and Human Rights' during the first half of 2013. I think I can say that this is another big accomplishment of this forum.