WEBZINE NORTHEAST ASIAN HISTORY FOUNDATION

Solid Roots, Lush Leaves (根固葉茂) A new year has dawned. I hope your wishes come true for everyone here at the Northeast Asian History Foundation. The title of this message Geungo yeobmu (根固葉茂) means solid roots bear lush leaves. It's a four-character axiom my father often quoted to his children when we were young. The axiom sounds rather ordinary, but it's actually applies to any task lying ahead. The reason it came to mind was probably because I was preoccupied with how to handle several different matters related to the Foundation. Due to internal as well as external difficulties, the Foundation has not been able to completely figure out its own place. The title therefore represents my earnest hope for the Foundation to finally establish itself as a deeply rooted tree strong enough to not be shaken by any gust that blows its way. Any country or organization goes through the "start-up phase" upon its establishment before moving on to the "preservation phase." Both phases are, of course, equally challenging. Then again, they say that success is easy to obtain, but difficult to maintain. After ten years or so since its establishment, I believe the Foundation is now generally entering the preservation phase of preserving and upholding its founding mission, despite the many tasks lying ahead that still belong to the start-up phase. This transition will no doubt be very trying and difficult. During the preservation phase, the motivation throughout the start-up phase should continue to serve as a basis while it keeps being molded and renewed to suit the changing times. This process involves learning from the past to create new things, which is precisely what intellectuals would often recommend in the old days through axioms such as Beobgo changsin (法古創新) or Byeonrye changsin (變例創新). The Foundation has been carrying out many plans for reform it devised last year. Those plans were formed out of discussions on topics ranging from the Foundation's duty as a quasi-public institution to its areas of specialization. And what those plans ultimately aimed at was go back to the basics and recommit to the Foundation's original mission. The mission to conduct research and policy-related analysis and educate and publicize issues related to historical controversies. Accordingly, the Foundation recalibrated its core research areas and reviewed the outcomes it produced so far to determine which may be helpful in formulating policies or educating the public about historical controversies in Northeast Asia. The Foundation also sought to reinforce its role as a quasi-public institution by regarding the public as its client and therefore serving it at a closer proximity. In short, the plans for reform devised last year were aimed at guiding the Foundation into the preservation phase.

Kim Do-hyung (President, Northeast Asian History Foundation)

The March First Movement and the Korean Provisional Government in the Context of World History he year 1919 was a time of transition in world history. World War I that broke out in Europe in 1914 went on for five years until it ended in November 1918. To arrange post-war settlements and establish a system of peace, the Allied Powers hosted a peace conference in Paris in 1919. President Wilson of the United States suggested national self-determination as a principle to guide the establishment of a peaceful system. Meanwhile, the Russian Revolution occurred in 1917 during the height of World War I, overthrowing the Tsarist regime and giving rise to the communist Soviet Union. As a communist state, the Soviet Union supported and sought solidarity with smaller, weaker nations seeking liberty from oppression. Through this process, some colonies of defeated nations actually managed to achieve independence. Koreans engaged in various activities domestically and abroad to take advantage of changing international circumstances for Korea's independence. Among such activities, those of the Sinhan cheongnyeondan, or the New Young Korean Men's Association formed in November 1918 in Shanghai, proved to serve as a major catalyst for carrying out independence movements in a new dimension. To demand Korea's independence, the Sinhan cheongnyeondan sent a Korean representative to attend the Paris Peace Conference. The association's members also recognized the need to carry out a massive demonstration to appeal to the international society that Koreans unanimously desired independence and were capable of functioning as an independent state. The association dispatched members to Korea as well as other countries in search of a way to launch a consolidated movement for independence. Accordingly, a group of Korean students studying in Tokyo, Japan announced in the name of "Joseon cheongnyeon dongnipdan" a declaration of Korea's independence on February 8, 1919. Hearing news that young Korean men made such a declaration abroad prompted catholic, protestant, and cheondosim leaders in Korea to collaborate on locally announcing another declaration of independence under the name of thirty-three Korean representatives. These independence declarations were followed by others made in west Jiandao, north Jiandao, Primorye, and the United States and culminated in a nationwide demonstration throughout Korea calling for independence. The series of declarations for Korea’s independence was therefore an act of solidarity between Koreans based inside and outside Korea.

Kim Gi-seung (Professor, Soonchunhyang University)

March First Movement's Ideological Background and the Provisional Government's Idea of Republicanism On November 21, 2018, the Northeast Asian History Foundation's Research Institute of Japanese Studies invited experts on history and political science to participate in an academic conference held at the Foundation's grand conference hall. Under the theme "The Background and Significance of the March First Movement and the Korean Provisional Government: Criticism Toward Social Evolution Theory and the Formation of Republicanism," the conference was held to share the progress made through a three-year research project launched in commemoration of the centennial of the March First Movement and the Korean Provisional Government's establishment. The project's first year of 2018 was spent analyzing the process through which Korea came to understand and accept the Western idea of social evolution and republicanism between late Joseon and the Korean Provisional Government's establishment in 1919. Declaring democratic republicanism through the first article of Korea's provisional constitution promulgated on April 11, 1919 was a historic incident. At the recent conference, six experts gave presentations dealing with how social evolution theory and power politics in international relations were criticized around the time the March First Movement occurred and how justice, peace, and humanitarianism emerged as an alternative as independence activists sought to form a political system based on republicanism.

Kim Hyun-chul (Research fellow, NAHF Research Institute of Japanese Studies)

NAHF News On November 24, the Northeast Asian History Foundation held an academic conference at Lotte Hotel on Jeju Island entitled "The Implications of Historical, Territorial Issues for Northeast Asian Politics." The conference mainly set out to study, analyze, and seek resolutions with regards to the implications Korea's historical, territorial issues with Japan are having on the diplomatic, security relations between Korea, China, and Japan as well as Korea's exercise of sovereignty over the island Dokdo. On issues related to the South China Sea, presentations were given by Lee Dong-ryul (Dongduk Women's University), Choi Hee-sik (Kookmin University), Ko Bong-jun (Chungnam National University), Kim Dong-wook (Korea Institute for Maritime Strategy), and Lee Ki-beom (The Asan Institute for Policy Studies). Kim Sook-hyun (Institute for National Security Strategy) presented about the four Kuril Islands, while Lee Myong-chan (NAHF) focused his presentation on the Okinawa issue. Kim Yong-min (Konkuk University) introduced a European case of territorial dispute.

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