U.S.-Korea Relations: Retrospective on the Jeju April 3 Incident, Human Rights, and Alliance

Retrospective on the Jeju 4.3 Incident, Human Rights, and Alliance

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Korea Center hosts, in cooperation with Walden Korea and The Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation, a featured conference entitled U.S.-Korea Relations: Retrospective on the Jeju April 3 Incident, Human Rights, and Alliance. The conference will bring together U.S. and South Korean scholars and experts to address various facts and controversies related to unresolved history, truth, justice, and reconciliation in the context of the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance.

Registration

INTRODUCTIONS

Sue Mi Terry Director of the Asia Program and the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy

Ko Hee-bum

Chairman, The Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation

PANELISTS

Kathleen Stephens

President and CEO, The Korea Economic Institute of America; Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

Sung-Yoon Lee

Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies and Assistant Professor, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Suyeon Yang

Chairwoman, Walden Korea; Chairwoman, Jeju 4.3 Memorial and Families Association of the U.S.

Jo-hoon Yang

Member, The National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju 4.3 Incident

John Merrill

Visiting Scholar, Johns Hopkins University; Former Chief of the Northeast Asia Division, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State

Hojun Huh

Head of Research, The Jeju 4.3 Research Institute

Charles Kraus

Charles Kraus is the Deputy Director of the History and Public Policy Program at the Wilson Center.

Bruce Cumings (invited)

Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor of History and the College, University of Chicago

---

Agenda

12:30pm – 12:45pm ET

Welcome Remarks

Dr. Sue Mi Terry Director, Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy, Wilson Center Mr. Ko Hee-bum Chairman, The Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation

12:45pm – 02:15pm ET

Panel I

Moderator Dr. Sue Mi Terry Director, Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy, Wilson Center

Panelists

Amb. Kathleen Stephens President and CEO, The Korea Economic Institute of America; Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

Dr. Sung-Yoon Lee Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies and Assistant Professor, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Ms. Suyeon Yang Chairwoman, Walden Korea; Chairwoman, Jeju 4.3 Memorial and Families Association of the U.S.

Mr. Jo-hoon Yang Member, The National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju 4.3 Incident

Discussion and Q&A

02:15pm – 02:25pm ET

Coffee Break Coffee and light refreshments will be provided

02:25pm – 03:55pm ET

Panel II

Moderator Dr. Sung-Yoon Lee Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies and Assistant Professor, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Panelists Dr. John Merrill Visiting Scholar, Johns Hopkins University; Former Chief of the Northeast Asia Division, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State

Dr. Hojun Huh Head of Research, The Jeju 4.3 Research Institute

Dr. Charles Kraus Deputy Director, History and Public Policy Program, Wilson Center

Dr. Bruce Cumings (invited) Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor of History and the College, University of Chicago

Discussion and Q&A

03:55pm – 04:30pm ET

Reception Reception location TBC.

04:30pm – 04:30pm ET

Adjournment Thank you for attending

04:30pm – 06:00pm ET

Private Roundtable: U.S.-South Korea Dialogue (By-invitation-only)

Ms. Jae-Jung Lee, Member of the ROK National Assembly Mr. Han-kyu Kim, Member of the ROK National Assembly

Co-Moderators: Dr. Sue Mi Terry and Dr. Chung-In Moon

Registration

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. ■

A Retrospective on the April 3 Jeju Uprising and Massacre

7:15 - 8:30 PM, Friday, April 1, 2022 Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy St.,Cambridge

The April Third Jeju Uprising and Massacre, the biggest peacetime massacre of civilians in post-1945 Korean history, warrants study, remembrance, and reconciliation. From March 1, 1947 to September 21, 1954, more than 30,000 innocent civilians were massacred by government authorities in the name of quelling Communists. Scholars view the tragedy as a major turning point, if not the start, of the Cold War in Northeast Asia. Today, some 75 years later, truth, accountability, justice, and reconciliation have yet to be fully established. This retrospective seeks to cast the Jeju Sasam Incident through the prism of truth, justice, human rights, and historical memory. The ongoing tragedy in Ukraine–perhaps the start of a new Cold War–offers a new perspective on this old Korean tragedy.

Presenters Mr. Edward J. Baker Former Associate Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard University ​ Dr. David R. McCann Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Literature, Emeritus, Harvard University ​ Dr. Sung-Yoon Lee Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies & Assistant Professor, The Fletcher School, Tufts University ​ Ms. Suyeon Yang Chairwoman, Walden Korea and Jeju 4.3 Memorial and Families Association of the U.S Remarks Dr. Do-ol, Young-Oak Kim Philosopher ​ Dr. Alex Taek-Gwang Lee A professor at the Department of British and American Cultural Studies and a founding director of the Center for Technology in Humanities, Kyung Hee University, South Korea & Advisor of Walden Korea ​ Music Anna Choi, oboe a dual-degree student at Harvard University and the New England Conservatory. ​ Anthony Choi, cello a dual-degree student at Harvard University and the New England Conservatory. ​ Co-Hosted by ​ Walden Korea The Jeju 4.3 Memorial and Families Association of the U.S., Memorial Committee for the Jeju April 3rd Uprising and Massacre, Sponsored by ​ Truth and Justice International Network on the April 3 Jeju Massacre. 43 Committee of Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council. ​ ​ ​