동북아역사재단 2022년 06월호 뉴스레터
- Yi Byeong-taek, Head of the Research Institute for International Relations and Historical Reconciliation
A Step Towards Internationalization of the Foundation
The academic conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), the largest society for Asian studies in North America, was held from March 24-27 in Honolulu, Hawaii. At this conference, the foundation created a panel titled “A Growing Idea of Neutral Korea in the Collapsing Sino-centric Order.” It was very difficult to decide to participate in person while COVID-19 was still continuing. Many unknown variables were expected until the final deadline for the decision to participate in person in early March. Nonetheless, we decided to participate, considering the urgency of the foundation's need for internationalization and the efforts we have put in for a year for participation. In addition to the COVID-19 situation, the Russo-Ukrainian War has become a major obstacle in participating in the AAS. There were times when we were concerned that Choi Deok-gyu, the panel presenter and researcher of the foundation currently dispatched to Russia, and Bella Park, President of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Science, would not be able to travel to the United States due to the Ukraine crisis. Perhaps, for this reason, it seemed that the number of participants from East Asian countries decreased significantly at this AAS conference.
Talking about ‘Collapsing Sino-centric Order and Neutralization of the Korean Peninsula’
The panel was moderated by Clark Sorensen, an emeritus professor at the University of Washington, and unlike we expected, 12 researchers participated as the audience. Researcher Kim Hyeon-cheol gave the first presentation, followed by researcher Choi Deok-gyu and president Bella Park. Keimyung University professor Joshua Van Lieu was going to lead the discussion, but unfortunately, he could not make the trip due to the burden of COVID-19, and his discussion papers filled the panel instead. Interesting questions followed, such as the ones about the role of small and medium-sized states in the change of regional hegemony, the difference between the Sino-centrist world order and the European model, and the comparison with neutralization in it, and the implications of the discussion above for the current situation in Northeast Asia.
The foundation aims to publish a book at an international level by associating international academic conferences held inside and outside the foundation by topic in the future. In addition, overseas promotion of the foundation cannot be left out. This year, mainly American publishers were filling book promotion booths due to the impact of COVID-19. The foundation's publishing team also continuously participated in the AAS Book Fair to promote the foundation's books. If we continue to participate in the book fair afterward, learn related know-how, and follow that effort with the local publication of books in English overseas, it might be possible to contribute to the internationalization of the foundation. In addition, the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Japan Foundation was held this year. At the event, the Japan Foundation promoted Donald Keen, who participated in World War II as an interpreter for the US military and became a naturalized Japanese citizen afterward, and Ezra Vogel, the author of Japan as Number One, who was a former professor at Harvard University. I left the ceremonial venue, thinking that it would be great for Korea to select people who contributed to the internationalization of Korea and have a chance to promote them broadly at an event like this.
Academic Trends and Prospects after Mark Ramseyer Papers
One of the purposes of participating in the AAS conference is to understand the academic trends related to ‘comfort women’ and forced mobilization after Mark Ramseyer’s thesis, which approached the issue of ‘comfort women’ in the Japanese military using the game theory. We learned that researchers on ‘comfort women,’ forced mobilization, and Dokdo are facing difficulties, through meetings with people such as Seo Hyeon-joo, a researcher at the foundation, and Baik Tae-ung, director of the Center for Korean Studies at the University of Hawaii. For this, the researchers seemed to be quite reluctant to engage in activities outside the scope of debate through papers. One of the reasons is that researchers are accused of being engaged in “activities that significantly harm the interests of the United States,” and the courts are pressing them to disclose e-mails containing ‘comfort women,’ forced mobilization, and Dokdo. According to Director Baik, this pressure is not just on academia, but also within the UN Human Rights Committee. Perhaps because of the atmosphere around academia, it was difficult to find a panel on ‘comfort women’ and forced mobilization at this AAS conference. All we could find was a presentation (The Victims of Crimes against Humanity and the 1965 Settlement Agreement between Japan and the Republic of Korea) by Director Baik in a panel, which pointed out the problems of Japan in handling the issues of 'comfort women' and forced mobilization from the perspective of international human rights law. Regardless of the said circumstances, it is expected within academia that Ramseyer's discussion will be seriously criticized from a historical viewpoint and from the perspective of the game theory itself.
On Monday, March 28, we took a PCR test to return to Korea and visited the Syngman Rhee Memorial. There was no custodian, and the memorial hall and church were empty. We also visited the Battleship Missouri Memorial, which toured the battlefield from the Pacific War to the Korean War. Standing on the battleship where the Japanese surrender was signed, we lost ourselves to deep emotions. In the afternoon, we visited the Center for Korean Studies at the University of Hawaii and met with Director Baik Tae-ung and related people and discussed how we should collaborate on research. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the participants who kept up with the difficult schedule and to the foundation’s officials who supported the official trip both materially and emotionally.
동북아역사재단이 창작한 '미국 아시아학회(Association for Asian Studies, AAS) 학술회의 참가' 저작물은 "공공누리" 출처표시-상업적이용금지-변경금지 조건에 따라 이용 할 수 있습니다.
