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Searching for New Perspectives on Contemporary History of Korea: Rethinking Decolonization, Military Occupations, and the Ideas for a Democratic Korea
Searching for New Perspectives on Contemporary History of Korea: Rethinking Decolonization, Military Occupations, and the Ideas for a Democratic Korea
Topic
Searching for New Perspectives on Contemporary History of Korea: Rethinking Decolonization, Military Occupations, and the Ideas for a Democratic Korea
Date
2025. 8. 4 (Mon) - 8.5 (Tue)
Place
The Korea Chamber of commerce and Industry
Host
Northeast Asian History Foundation
Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies
Institute of Social Sciences
Program
Time

Program

August 04(Mon),     KCCI Grand Hall

09:30 ~ 10:30

Welcome

adress

Jihang Park (President, Northeast Asian History Foundation)
Congratulatory
Remarks
Hong Lim Ryu (President, Seoul National University)
Kenote Speech Stephen Kotkin (Stanford University)
Stalin and Korea: Calculation, Miscalculation, Consequences

 

Panel 1.

Decolonization of Korea from the Perspectives in Japanese History

10:40 ~ 12:40 ModeratorHyun Chul Kim (Northeast Asian History Foundation)
Presentation 1 Toyomi Asano (Waseda University)
  • Between the Collapse of the Japanese empire and Normalization with South Korea
Presentation 2 Motokazu Matsutani (Tohoku Gakuin University)
  • Formal Decolonization and Informal Reconnection : Korean and Japanese Christian Intellectuals in the Post-colonial Era
Presentation 3 Deokhyo Choi (The University of Maryland)
  • Decolonization as a "Nonevent"?: The Liberation of Korea and Its Impact on Japan
Presentation 4 Hannah Shepherd (Yale University)
  • Decolonization on the Waterfronts: the view from Pusan and Hakata 1945-1947
Discussant
  • Youn Soo Cho (Northeast Asian History Foundation)
  • Ji Hee Jung (Seoul National University)
12:40 ~ 14:20

 

Lunch

 

Panel 2.

New Approaches to the US Occupation of Korea

14:20 ~ 15:50 ModeratorBok-Ryong Shin (Konkuk University)
Presentation 1 Yumi Moon (Stanford University)
  • Imperial Commander and Activist Statesman: John Hodge, Syngman Rhee, and the Politics of the US Occupation in Korea
Presentation 2 Chaisung Lim (Rikkyo University)
  • The Crisis of a Divided Economy and the Creation of a National Economy: South Korea in the Late 1940s
Presentation 3 Taek Sun Lee (Myongji University)
  • Reconstruction of the September 1946 General Strike and Daegu October 1, 1946
Discussant
  • Myongsob Kim (Yonsei University)
  • Wan-Bum Lee (The Academy of Korean Studies)

 

Panel 3. 

Debates on Syngman Rhee

16:00 ~ 18:00ModeratorHosup Kim (ChungAng University)
Presentation 1 Sungik Yang (Arizona State University)
  • Reconsidering the Liberalism of Syngman Rhee
Presentation 2 Hyeonji Cha (The Independence Hall of Korea)
  • Characteristics of Syngman Rhee's Military Diplomacy during the Pacific War
Presentation 3 Yong-sup Oh (Yonsei University)
  • Syngman Rhee's Separate Government Proposal under the U.S. Military Government in Korea
Presentation 4 David Fields (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
  • No Trusteeship without Trust
Discussant
  • Chul Soon Lee (Pusan National University)
  • Byung Joon Jung (Ewha Women's University)

August 05(Tue),     KCCI Council Chanmber

 

Panel 4.

Constitution Making and the Politics of the Constitutional Assembly Period (1948-1950)

09:00 ~ 10:30 Moderator Wontaek Kang (Seoul National University)
Presentation 1 T. K. Ahn (Seoul National University)
  • The Korean Political Regime during the Constitutional Assembly Period (1948-1950)
Presentation 2 Joongyong Koh (Seoul National University)
  • Far-right only?: The Ideological Landscape of the 1948 Korean Constitutional Assembly
Presentation 3 Hee Kyung Suh (Seoul National University)
  • The Emergency Constitution and the Formation of the Korean Presidential System
Discussant
  • Seungryul Lee (The Institute for Korean Historical Studies)
  • Keedon Kwon (권기돈 Busan City Hall)

 

Panel 5.

The Formation of North Korea

10:40 ~ 12:40 Moderator Yong Chool Ha (University of Washington)
Presentation 1 Fyodor Tertitskiy (Kookmin University)
  • 1945: the Soviet Army's rule over North Korea and the coming of Kim Il-sung
Presentation 2 Balázs Szalontai (Korea University)
  • A Distant Member of the Socialist Family: North Korea in East European Eyes, 1945-1950
Presentation 3 Claudius Kim (Stanford University)
  • Braiding Two Revolutions: Yan'an Group in the Chinese Civil War and Korean Migrants in the North Korean Revolution, 1945‒50
Presentation 4 Myung Ho Hyun (Northeast Asian History Foundation)
  • Peripheral Perspectives on North Korean State Formation: The Case of Wonsan, 1945-1950
Discussant
  • Mira Moon (University of Seoul)
  • Taeyoon Kim (Seoul National University)
12:40 ~ 14:20

 

Lunch

 

Panel 6.

The Recovery of Language and the Reconstruction of Education and Universities

14:20 ~ 15:50 Moderator Jae-moon Hwang (Seoul National University)
Presentation 1 Heo Jae Young (Dankook University)
  • Language and Cultural Policies and Textbooks during the US Occupation Period
Presentation 2 Jun Young Jung (Seoul National University)
  • Between Democratic Education and National Education: O Ch'ôn-Sôk before and after the National University Plan
Presentation 3 Hae Dong Yun (Hanyang University)
  • The Establishment of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Formation of 'Myth of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences'
Discussant
  • Shin Jang (The Academy of Korean Studies)

 

Panel 7.

War Crimes, Reparation, and Memory

16:00 ~ 18:00 Moderator Sang-gu Nam (Northeast Asian History Foundation)
Presentation 1 Barak Kushner (Cambridge University)
  • Victims of Victory: Power and Strategy in Postwar East Asia
Presentation 2 Masaru Tonomura (Tokyo University)
  • Why do Differences in Historical Perception Arise? — The influence of strong mobilization in a weak empire
Presentation 3 Jung-Ae Park (Northeast Asian History Foundation)
  • The Dilemma of Acknowledging Victimhood and the Alienation from One's Own Memory
Presentation 4 Jie-Hyun Lim (Sogang University)
  • Failed Memory, Failed Reconciliation: Victimhood Nationalisms in East Asia
Discussant
  • Chong-chin Seo (Northeast Asian History Foundation)
  • Michael Kim (Yonsei University)
※ Korean-English simultaneous interpretation