Rethinking historical injustice and reconciliation in northeast Asia : the Korean experience / edited by Gi-Wook Shin, Soon-Won Park, and Daqing Yang.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Shin, Gi-Wook.

Park, Soon-Won, 1949-

Yang, Daqing, 1964-

Series:

Politics in Asia series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Korea (South)--History.

Korea (South).

History.

World War, 1939-1945--Korea.

World War, 1939-1945.

Korea (South)--Relations--Japan.

Relations.

Japan.

Japan--Relations--Korea (South).

Physical Description:

xv, 266 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2007.

Summary:

The Northeast Asian region has witnessed phenomenal economic growth and the spread of democratization in recent decades, yet wounds from past wrongs - committed in times of colonialism, war, and dictatorship - still remain. Of all the countries in the northeast region coping with historical injustice, the Republic of Korea has the rare distinction of confronting internal and external historical injustices simultaneously, both as a victim and as a perpetrator. Korea's experience highlights the major forces shaping the reckoning and reconciliation process, such as democratization, globalization, regional integration, and nationalism, in addition to providing valuable insight into the themes of historical injustice and reconciliation within the region.

The book aims to move beyond a nation-state oriented analysis of Korea as the victim/aggressor, seeking instead to understand reconciliation as a mutual, interactive concept. Although there is no universal formula for reconciliation, the contributors examine the reaction of society from the perspective of citizens' groups, NGOs, and victim-activist groups toward such issues as enforced labor, comfort women, and internal injustices committed during the wars to foster a better understanding of the past and thus aid in future reconciliation between other Northeast Asian countries. Rethinking Historical Injustice and Reconciliation in Northeast Asia represents the first book written in English to address these significant issues and as such will be of huge interest to those studying East Asian politics, history, and society.

Contents:

Part I. Coming to terms with the darker past in Korea

1. The Korean "comfort women" tragedy as structural violence / Chunghee Sarah Soh

2. The resignification of the "comfort women" through NGO trials / Hideko Mitsui

3. The politics of remembrance : the case of Korean forced laborers in the Second World War / Soon-won Park

4. The war against the "enemy within" : hidden massacres in the early stages of the Korean War / Dong-choon Kim

5. Justice incomplete : the remedies for the victims of Jeju April Third Incidents / Tae-Ung Baik

6. From Seoul to Saigon: Gook meets Charlie / Kyung-yoong Bay

Part II. Toward a Northeast Asian approach to historical injustice?

7. The aesthetic construction of ethnic nationalism : war memorial museums in Korea and Japan / Hong Kal

8. Difficult neighbors : Japan and North Korea / Gavan McCormack

9. Dynamics of denial : responses to past atrocities in Germany, Turkey, and Japan / John Torpey

10. Pop culture, public memory, and Korean-Japanese relations / Chiho Sawada

11. A strong state, weak civil society and Cold War geopolitics : why Japan lags behind Europe in confronting a negative past / Andrew Horvat

12. Economic integration and reconciliation in Northeast Asia : possibilities and limitations / Wonhyuk Lim.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0415770939

0203967046

OCLC:

65819755