뉴스레터

Editor's Note: The NAHF is a co-organizer (together with the International NGO History Forum for Peace in East Asia and Kyung Hee University) of the 5th International NGOs Conference on History and Peace scheduled to be held at Kyung Hee University from July 22 to 25, 2013. On this occasion, the NAHF interviewed Samuel Lee, Director of the International NGO History Forum for Peace in East Asia who also oversees the organizing of this conference. He talked about the conference's objectives, history, and features and how the government and NGOs should do their parts. The interview was conducted by Seol Won-tae, a senior administrator at the NAHF Office of Public Relations & Education.

Seol Won-tae
Senior Administrator
at NAHF

Q Seol Won-tae Please give us a general introduction to the 5th International NGOs Conference on History and Peace scheduled to be held at Kyung Hee University at the end of this July.

A Samuel Lee As you said, the 5th International NGOs Conference on History and Peace will be held at Kyung Hee University from July 22 to 27, 2013, and its theme is to explore "the roles that global civil society should play in building peace in Northeast Asia." It will bring together those who represent the NGOs in South Korea and other East Asian countries that have worked toward historical reconciliation and a peace community, and give them an opportunity to discuss ideas and strategies and share their experiences and examples, in an effort to lay down a framework for cooperation and solidarity.

‘History NGOs' are non-governmental civil-society organizations whose mission is to resolve historical conflicts, misunderstanding, or contradictions through rational dialogue and peaceful means and create peaceful relations and order. South Korea's History NGOs Forum, a co-host of this conference, is an association of about 30 NGOs committed to such mission. Historical conflicts among Korea, China, and Japan have persisted for a long time in East Asia, and the problems that arose from the tragic history of war, aggression, and colonial rule in our region are far from being solved. Worse, there are still potential factors that could give rise to fresh conflicts and disputes.

The reality facing us is anxiety, tension, and fear of war constantly hanging over East Asia. There are countless historical issues that remain unresolved in ROK-Japan relations, Sino-Japan relations or inter-Korean relations. Under the circumstances, building a community of peace and cooperation in East Asia may be impossible without resolving them first. Of course, resolving the historical issues is the primary challenge and responsibility of the government. But as history shows, it wasn't only the government that rose to the challenge. In many countries, citizens and NGOs took the initiative in laying a foundation first for the government to build on later. Learning from these experiences, we were convinced that citizens could do something for themselves that would contribute to historical reconciliation and conflict resolution. Based on this conviction, we organized the History NGOs Forum as early as seven years ago, and have hosted the annual international conferences since.

Q Seol Won-tae How is the 5th conference different from the previous ones?

A Samuel Lee Since the first International NGOs Conference on History and Peace was held in September 2007 with about 2,000 participants from 23 countries, four conferences and two coordinating committee meetings have been held. The conferences had been annual events up until the third one in 2009. Since then, the conferences and the coordinating committee meetings have been held every other year.

The main focus of the past four conferences up until 2011 was on theoretical discussion about the cause of historical conflicts or the possible means and direction of historical reconciliation. The conferences also focused on sharing the experiences and examples of grass-roots movement in many countries. Experts from Germany, France, and Poland were also invited to speak about how their countries had resolved conflicts and disputes over history textbooks.

This year, when the 5th International NGOs Conference will be held, we find ourselves at a time of crisis with the confrontation and tension in East Asia caused by historical conflicts growing more intense than ever. In particular, Japan's Abe administration and its rightward shift are causing conflicts and military tensions that threaten security and peace in East Asia. In addition to the ongoing territorial disputes over Dokdo or the Senkaku (known in Chinese as Diaoyudao) Islands, Japanese nationalism is being revived as the cabinet members of Japan visit Yasukuni Shrine, where the WWII war criminals are buried, and make controversial remarks that deny Japan's history of aggression. Unless the Japanese government changes their perception of history and makes an apology for the women forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military and subjected to abuse and humiliation, there will be always conflict and hostility in ROK-Japan relations or Sino-Japan relations, and Northeast Asia will have a long way to go before establishing a community of peace and security.

As the historical conflicts intensify and translate into political and diplomatic conflicts, an academic- and theoretical-oriented conference will not be sufficient this year. For this reason, we have decided to shift the focus of the conference and explore more practical ideas. Thus, the focus of discussion in this year's conference will be on the roles that conscientious intellectuals, religious leaders, and civil society leaders need to play in enabling history NGOs to resolve such conflicts and contradictions in East Asia. Another primary subject of discussion will be how to strengthen solidarity with history NGOs in Japan, China and other countries in East Asia.

Q Seol Won-tae In response to the tensions that rose over the past few months in Northeast Asia, intellectuals in this region made an noteworthy move to call for peace.

A Samuel Lee Yes, they did. When Japan and China were teetering on the brink of military confrontation over the disputed Senkaku (Diaoyudao) Islands late last year, about two thousand conscientious intellectuals and civil society leaders of Japan signed and issued an inspiring statement that urged the government to resolve historical conflicts through peaceful dialogue instead of military collisions. I believe that when we attempt to resolve the issues of Dokdo and 'comfort women,' we need to also work with people like them and make rational dialogue and peaceful efforts. That's why a few among the intellectuals who signed the statement were invited to this year's conference. First of all, former United Nations University Rector Kinhide Mushakoji will be the keynote speaker. He is celebrated as a leader of peace movement in Japan. And Mr. Ichiyo Muto, who will give the opening lecture at the workshop looking back on the Korean War and the sixty years since the truce, is also a renowned intellectual leader and critic of Japan's nationalism and militarism. Mr. Chen Chunlong from China served as a co-chair of our conferences. He is the Vice President of the Federation of China's Civil Claims Against Japan organized in China, where it is hard for civil society to take root and grow, to seek compensation for damage caused to civilians during Japan's aggression.

Due to budget restrictions, we could not invite more than thirty people from abroad as lecturers or commentators. But they are important figures who can collaborate with us for historical reconciliation and a peace community in East Asia. It is the objective and significance of the conference to work with major figures representing civil society groups in East Asia to seek an organizational structure that will allow us to campaign for historical reconciliation.

Q Seol Won-tae Please give us a brief history of the International NGOs Conference on History and Peace.

Samuel Lee Director of
International NGO History
Forum for Peace in East Asia

A Samuel Lee The inauguration of the International NGOs Conference on History and Peace is closely related with the genesis of the Northeast Asian History Foundation. When China launched the Northeast Project and Chinese scholars' showed distorted perception of history about the Korean cultural heritage sites in Jian, the old base of Koguryo, it was perceived as a serious problem to address by the Korean government, parliament, academia, and civil society, and voices were raised calling for historical research to fix such a problem and efforts to resolve historical conflicts. As a result, the Koguryo Foundation was established, which later became the Northeast Asian History Foundation. But it was realized that research or publication alone could not resolve historical conflicts; the people's efforts to correct the distorted interpretation or perception of history would be needed. It was also decided that it would be more effective and realistic if academia or civil society, rather than the government or bureaucrats, made such efforts. This is the background of organizing the History NGO Forum as an association of NGOs working toward historical reconciliation, in conjunction with the establishment of the Northeast Asian History Foundation, and of hosting the annual conferences that bring together history NGOs from neighboring countries or countries in conflict as well as Korea and engage them in the efforts to seek the path to the correct perception of history and conflict resolution.

Q Seol Won-tae What roles do the history NGOs, government, and media need to play in resolving historical conflicts?

A Samuel Lee The challenge of addressing and resolving historical conflicts is not limited to the government. This is a challenge for all the people. After all, it is the people who suffered and were traumatized during the war or colonial rule, and the government cannot resolve the conflicts on its own without considering the feelings or interests of its people. For instance, the issues of 'comfort women,' history textbooks, and compensation for Koreans conscripted to fight in the war for Japan cannot be resolved by the government's diplomatic efforts alone. The position and interests of the victims must be also taken into consideration. This is where history NGOs come in. In order to resolve historical conflicts, their roles to protect and speak for the victims are needed. And the government also needs to do its part by seeking diplomatic solution in close collaboration with them.

We can learn from the European case of resolving conflicts. To resolve the issue of history textbooks, history teachers in France and Germany took the initiative in drawing up a proposal through dialogue and collaboration and submitted it to the government. And it led to the inter-government meeting and diplomatic agreement. There are many cases where historical disputes or conflicts are resolved as civilians or relevant parties take the initiative in trying to resolve them and the government help them do so. If the government takes the initiative, it is difficult to reconcile different opinions within the country. A more desirable and manageable option would be that NGOs address issues and present ideas and then the government provides support while seeking a diplomatic solution. For instance, the government couldn't have done anything about the issue of compensation for 'comfort women' if NGOs for women's rights and peace movement hadn't addressed it first, although the issue isn't resolved yet, The same went for the issues of the legal status of the Korean-Japanese, the human rights of Koreans in China, and Koreans in Sakhalin. They were eventually resolved because NGOs addressed them and campaigned for the resolution. In many cases, civil-society groups or NGOs make the government's job easier by addressing issues that may be too sensitive for the government to address.

Q Seol Won-tae What's your plans on the future conferences? Please explain why it is necessary for history NGOs to work together.

A Samuel Lee From the third one, the conferences and the coordinating committee meetings have been held every other year. And I'll keep them that way for the time being. At the conferences, there are meetings and workshops to identify and review the ongoing historical conflicts in East Asia and the efforts made to resolve them, and come up with conflict resolution strategies. The coordinating committee meetings are held in the year after the conferences. One of neighboring countries is selected as the venue where participants gather together to visit the scenes of historical conflicts and meet with activists and organizations in the field. The purpose of the coordinating committee meetings has been to increase the NGOs' understanding and interest in historical issues and empower the NGO members. At the 2010 meeting, we worked with the history NGOs run by Chinese in Canada to have a look at the educational activities designed to inspire the youth with historical consciousness. For the 2012 meeting, we went to Cambodia to meet with the members in Southeast Asia, visiting the sites of massacre and learning about the processes of historical reconciliation. I feel that learning about how the issue of historical conflicts is being addressed in other countries and other regions is necessary if we are to resolve the issue of our own. So I think that we also need to visit Japan, China, and even Europe to learn about and study their ideas of resolving historical conflicts. To resolve historical conflicts and build a peace community in East Asia, we need, more than anything else, like-minded intellectuals and NGOs in East Asian countries coming together and strengthening their ties. And our conferences or coordinating committee meetings could do just that. I am committed to finding many NGO partners who could be and work with us, and exchanging and networking with them.

Q Seol Won-tae On the occasion of this conference, what is your suggested relationship between the Northeast Asian History Foundation and the history NGOs?

A Samuel Lee I think that the Northeast Asian History Foundation and the History NGOs Forum are like twins born at the same time for the same purpose of resolving historical conflicts in the Korean peninsula. They pursue the same goals except that one is a governmental organization and the other is a private one of civil society. Both organizations need to conduct research, education, promotion and solidarity activities for resolving historical conflicts, but their positions as a government or private organization may differ. The existing relationship has been marked simply by financial support from the Northeast Asian History Foundation to the history NGOs. But I think they need closer collaboration and role-sharing in their relationship. Sure, they are the co-hosts of the annual conferences. But they need to go further than that. For a better relationship, I urge the NGOs to get more closely involved in the NAHF's projects and the experts at the NAHF to collaborate with the NGOs for their activities. because the challenge of historical reconciliation cannot be fulfilled by either without the other.