Lecture : Slavoj Žižek "Are There Still Masters or Are There Only Servants of Servants?"

Walden Korea Lecture Series

International School of Philosophy in Asia (ISPA)

Slavoj Žižek "Are There Still Masters or Are There Only Servants of Servants?"

10 am (EST-U.S & Canada), Wed, December 21

Webinar Lecture

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86835446597?pwd=WnpZSFgyc3c2Zkc2elhHajhYL04xZz09

Meeting ID: 868 3544 6597

Passcode: 4343

All are welcome to join by video or audio

Dr. Žižek will take questions from audience

Email: info@waldenkorea.org

Host: Walden Korea

Sponsor: Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation

The Walden Korea Lecture Series aims to bring together preeminent scholars and intellectuals to address the most salient issues of the day. The development of global mobility that facilitated the “Global Value Chain” has transformed the regions of Asia and beyond into large-scale factories and shaped global capitalism in the 21st century. Widespread mass industrialization has precipitated the rise of metropolia and accelerated environmental crises and climate change. The economic subsumption of these regions to the global market has brought profound changes and shackled the distinct immanence of the locals to the norms of the monetary regime. Asia is no longer a particular region but instead the place of universal subject matter: global capitalism. For this reason, the lecture series posits Asia as a means to bring forth the potential conceptualization of planetary philosophy. The progress of technology increasingly separates our sense of certainty from concrete spatio-temporal experiences and imposes algorithmic intelligence upon our way of thinking. From coal and oil to electricity, the forms of energy for the sustainability of this vulnerable civilization stifles the infinity of today’s imagination. It obstructs the new idea of another future. However, the idea of the future is always related to a breakthrough in the present, and the virtual alternation is already internalized within today’s reality. From this perspective, the Walden Korea Lecture Series, an initial program of the International School of Philosophy in Asia, invites all interested in thoughts challenging the normative perception of today’s world and a search for an alternative method to the current knowledge systems.

The Walden Korea Lecture Series is the inaugural program in the launch of the International School of Philosophy in Asia (ISPA). The Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation funds the series. The first lecture will be delivered by Slavoj Žižek, a renowned Slovenian philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New York University and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana’s Department of Philosophy.

Jeju 4·3 International Network for Truth and Justice established in Jeju City

The Jeju 4.3 International Net­work for Truth and Justice was established in the Jeju City Communication and Cooperation Center at 2:00 PM KST on June 27, 2022. Peo­ple from Jeju, Seoul, Japan, the United States, Europe, and Taiwan joined forc­es to seek the truth and justice.

Seven different organizations came together to join hands, with the Jeju As­sociation for the Bereaved Families of 4.3 Victims in Jeju as the hub: Jeju 4.3 Pan-National Committee to Commem­orate the Jeju 4.3 Massacre, Memorial Committee fortheJeju 4.3 Uprising and Massacre, Association for the Bereaved Families of 4.3 Victims in Japan, Jeju 4.3 Victims and Families Association in the U.S., Taiwan Jeju 4.3 Victims Association, and the Jeju 4.3 Network Europe. In addition, participation by two other groups are in the planning: Jeju 4.3 Net­work Tokyo andJeju 4.3 Network Osaka.

At the founding ceremony, representatives of each organization participated through video conference, and Jeju Provincial Governor Oh Young-hoon and National Assemblyman Kim Han-kyu of the Demo­cratic Party delivered congratulatory speeches. Koh Hee-beam, chairman ofthe Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation, visited the site of the founding ceremony and delivered congratulatory remarks.

In its founding declaration, the 4.3 Internation­al Network for Truth and Justice announced that it would become a catalyst for connecting the next gen­eration by fostering the spirit of 4.3 and resistance against injustice to reaffirm peace and human rights.

The spokesperson for the 4.3 International Net­work for Truth and Justice said, "The Jeju 4.3 Massa­cre, which claimed the lives of IO percent of the pop­ulation of Jeju at the time, occurred 74 years ago, but it is not a problem unique to Jeju. After World War II, the Korean Peninsula was another battleground between the great powers. It is a righteous history in which the people of Jeju tried to forge the future of the Korean Peninsula after liberation rather than be dictated by the great powers:'

"The 4.3 journey towards truth and justice did not come about by sitting still. The dedicated research and movement of the Jeju 4.3 organizations and civil society, in tandem with the efforts of the bereaved families, led to the enactment of the 4.3 Special Act, the adoption of a fact-finding report at the government level, and an apology from the President of South Korea. The amendment of the Special Act, backed by the efforts of all, made historical progress in enabling compensation and retrial at the govern-ment level;' the spokesperson added.

"In the 1970s and 1980s, when it was hardly possible to talk about the Jeju 4.3 Massacre out in the open, the voices calling for the investigation of the truth first emerged in Japan. And we've come a long way. Recently, the Jeju 4.3 Victims and Families Association of the U.S. was formed. And a meaningful step began in Taiwan with the launch of the J eju 4.3 Network Taiwan. In other nations, such as the UK and the Netherlands, various activities are underway to es­tablish the truth of the Jeju 4.3 Massacre:'

"Even if it takes a long time, we will establish the truth and the responsibility of the U.S. military gov­ernment at the time. The spring of the natural seasons each year comes by itself, but the spring of historical truth must be forged by men and women as well as the next generation. Our collective footprints towards solidarity will become the warp and weft that light up a brighter tomorrow:'

'We [ 4.3 International Network] will bloom in the Jeju 4.3 spirit of protesting against injustice and flow­er into peace and human rights:'

The representatives of each organization who par­ticipated in the founding ceremony of the Jeju 4.3 In­ternational Network for Truth and Justice aim to raise awareness through collaboration among civic societ­ies and investigate the role of the U.S. Army Military Government in Korea.

In September 2020, the Memorial Committee for the Jeju 4.3 Uprising and Massacre, with the view toward establishing the 4.3 International Network, reached out to each J eju 4.3-related association across the world.

In January, 2021, discussions on the establishment of the international network began in earnest and, six months later, it was established. Each representative of the participating organization took on the role of co-representative, and a joint secretariat consisting of co-representatives and directors of various fields with­in each organization was formed.

The Jeju 4.3 International Network is planning to hold various events such as international forums and seminars for resolving the Jeju 4.3 issue, internation­al solidarity projects, international representation of the Jeju 4.3 history, and international cooperation for forging peace and justice. ■

Walden Korea/43FAU holds its first Jeju 4.3 Massacre commemoration

At Harvard Faculty Club and New York Academy

GROUP PHOTO following the .Jeju 4.3 Retrospective and Commemoration at Harvard Faculty Club, April 1, 2022.

The journey of a thousand miles does begin with a single step. Today, that step was taken. For the first time on American soil (to the best of my knowledge), an event was held to bring awareness to a dark chapter in history: the Jeju Island Massacres.

The site where countless words of learning have been spoken for hundreds of years, Harvard University was the perfect backdrop for the words that began to bring light to the travesty of the Jeju Island Massacre seventy years ago. The Jeju April 3 Victims Memorial Ceremony was held at the Harvard Faculty Club on April 1st. The list of local speakers carried weight, but with humility and empathy: Professor David McCann of Harvard University, Professor Edward Baker of Harvard University, Professor Sung-Yoon Lee of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Ms. Suyeon Yang, Chairwoman of the Jeju 4.3 Memorial and Families Association of the U.S.

Professor Edward Baker of Harvard University

Professor David McCann of Harvard University

Each speaker held a brush to paint together a moving yet troubling portrait. Professor Baker began by showing that the United States bears culpability in this terrible chapter of Korean history. A history not long ago, yet so easily forgotten. Next, Dr. McCann spoke of the terrible pain of the victims as embedded through literature. But to know the victims' pain is only one part of the picture. Who could do such a thing? Who had the authority to carry out such a killing?

Dr. Lee, a renowned expert on U.S.-Korea relations, was direct and effective, calling on President Joe Biden to pay his respects at the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park, a beautiful 88-acre sanctuary on Jeju Island that commemorates the victims of this great tragedy.

Professor Lee reminded Biden that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in 2016. The Jeju Massacre victims should not remain invisible to the world any longer.

Suyeon Yang then brought vivid colors to the portrait. This isn' t just some event in the annals of history for her. It's personal. Ms. Yang shared how her father lost his own father and two ofhis brothers-her uncles-in this horrific massacre. In particular, she shared how this critical part of Korean history has long been suppressed by the state.

Speakers joining from South Korea via recorded videos included: Doh-ol Kim Young-ok, Im-jong Oh, Chairman of the Jeju 4.3 Free Families Association, Oh Kwang-hyeon, Chairman of the 4.3 Bereaved Family of Japan, Koh Hee-beom, Chairman of the 4·3 Peace Foundation, Heo Young-sun, Director of the 4·3 Research Institute, Oh Young-hoon, Member of the N ationalAssembly, and Professor Taek-Kwang Lee at Kyunghee University.

Dr. Doh-ol Kim Young-ok

Together they brought depth to the canvas, helping us understand the stark realities of what happened and how the painful past impacts the world today shocking realities of how power, ideology, and human nature can result in horrific outcomes.

The event was a combination of commemoration and short lectures hosted by Walden Korea, an academic and cultural platform, and the Jeju 4.3 Memorial and Families Association of the U.S. It brought together graduate students from both Tufts and Harvard, as well as researchers and those interested in Korean history, shedding a light on the gaps in knowledge of the complex history. It was a light that would never have been seen under the cover of silence and darkness.

The Salpuri dancer Kang Eun-Ju and Mr. Sungyoon Park

Further raising awareness on American soil, eight days later, on April 9th, a commemoration was held at the New York Academy in Bayside, New York. The service began with a screening of Jiseul: Unfinished Years 2, a film by director Oh Meuk depicting the story of Jeju 4.3. Ms. Yang followed with words that brought to light both facts and emotions.

A memorial poem, Poet Heo Young-sun's, "Before the Law;' was recited passionately by Jennifer Eun Joo Kim. The Salpuri dancer Kang Eun-Ju's moving dance was an appropriate finale to the commemoration of such a dark yet critical chapter in Korean history. Mr. Sungyoon Park artfully presided over the event as the master of ceremony. Due to Covid-19, only pre-registered people could attend in person. Many others participated online via Zoom.

Though only a first step, these two events are a critical first step in unveiling the truth and seeking reconciliation. There is no truth without awareness, and no awareness without effort. And no justice without the truth. Both Walden Korea and The Jeju 4.3 Memorial and Families Association will continue to raise awareness on the tragic events of the Jeju Island Massacre and shed light on this very dark chapter. ■