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네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

Building a Platform for Sustained Development

Although Hong Kong residents have become avid fans of TV dramas from Korea in recent years, the academic study of Korea has lagged behind this surge of Korean pop culture. To promote a better understanding of recent developments on the Korean Peninsula, the Centre for Asian Pacific Studies (CAPS), at Lingnan University, held its sixth annual conference on Korea (May 8). Under the title of “The Koreas at Sixty: Retrospect and Prospect,” this international gathering reflected on historical milestones of the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea over the past six decades.



Annual Korean Studies Meeting
In 2003, under the leadership of professors Edward Chen and Brian Bridges, the Centre for Asian Pacific Studies launched a Korea-related meeting, in an effort to achieve two ives. First, to promote a better understanding of the Korean Peninsula, in light of its increasing significance to Hong Kong’s economic, strategic, and cultural interests. Second, to establish a network among Korean Studies scholars associated with various universities and organizations in Hong Kong, and to develop closer relations with scholars in both Koreas as well as relevant scholars worldwide. Although considerable progress has been made in realizing the two ives thus far, the continued pursuit of these efforts remains meaningful today as well.
The annual conferences have enjoyed steady growth, in quality and variety. In particular, the conferences have maintained a heavy interdisciplinary emphasis, bringing together scholars and individuals, from the diplomatic, media, business, and government sectors, to discuss controversial issues covering a diverse range of areas, including the economy, social trends, the “Korean Wave,” language instruction, domestic politics, regionalism, and relations with neighboring powers.

International Relations
This year, along with a number of presenters and discussants based in Hong Kong, the Workshop featured three distinguished scholars from Seoul, thanks to sponsorship support from the Korea Foundation: Prof. Kim Eun-mee, Ewha Womans University; Prof. Lee Jay Min, Yonsei University; and Prof. Park Hahn-kyu, Kyung Hee University. In addition, paper presenters included two senior scholars from the Institute for Disarmament and Peace, of the DPRK, and a scholar from the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, China.
The various sessions covered three general themes: economic transformation, social and political change, and international relations, while two major topics emerged from the economic discussions. At the macro-level, the important lessons that Korea had learned from the harsh experiences of the Asian financial crisis were noted, but there were also concerns that the post-crisis reforms may not have eliminated various problems for the economy in the future. At the micro-level, the growing importance of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in the service sector, was highlighted. Emphasis was focused on the new opportunities for Korean companies, to participate in cooperative joint ventures with overseas business concerns, in the rapidly expanding Chinese market in particular.
The social and political session also centered around two issues. One highlighted an important, but rarely analyzed, phenomenon: the growing non-Korean communities in Korea and how these communities are influencing Koreans’ perceptions of national identity. The ethos of Korea as a monolingual, monoethnic society has been under challenge. The second issue, which aroused lively discussion, was about the extent to which Korea’s new President Lee Myung-bak represented a continuity of past political traditions and set Korea onto a new path. Participants also noted the new forces emerging in Korean politics, particularly in regard to an active civil society. The final session dealt with the political and strategic situation of the Korean Peninsula, in terms of such key issues as relations between North and South Korea; the North’s perceptions of the attitudes and policies of the major powers, like the United States and Japan; China’s multifaceted role, including serving as the chair and mediator of the Six-Party Talks; and the extent to which external concepts, such as European models of economic reform, are having an impact on North Korea.

Importance of China-U.S. Relations
A key variable, was the extent to which the United States and China, can influence the situation on the Korean Peninsula. For South Korea, the fluid international situation and doubts about the effectiveness of a multilateral process underscore its need to carefully and strategically pursue a beneficial relationship with partner countries.
Relations between the two Koreas have been somewhat tense in recent months, while North Korea remains concerned about the obstacles that it must overcome. Nevertheless, the emotional and substantive significance of the landmark 2000 North-South Summit in Pyongyang was praised for establishing a framework for the advancement of inter-Korean relations. Several participants expressed an interest in having the current Six-Party Talks format, once the North’s nuclear issue has finally been resolved, be converted into a multilateral process for promoting further cooperation in the Northeast Asian region.
While well aware of how dramatically the Korean Peninsula has changed over the past 60 years, participants also sought to highlight important underlying continuities. The existence of both change and continuity, and the complex interaction between the two, emerged as one of the overriding themes of this conference.
In looking back over this series of Korea-related conferences at Lingnan University, Professor Brian Bridges, the Director of CAPS, noted that they had served as an important forum for “Korea watchers” in Hong Kong to get together, along with visiting scholars from both Koreas and the wider region. In particular, since scholars from Pyongyang had been able to attend three of these conferences, including this year’s workshop event, this annual forum has provided a truly rare opportunity for relevant scholars to meet and exchange views in person with scholars from North Korea, in an informal setting. The interaction between scholars from South Korea and Hong Kong can lead to more regular exchanges of ideas and research results as well as the undertaking of joint academic collaboration.

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