Debut of NGO History Forum

By Park Won-chul

More than six decades have passed since Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II. Next year will mark the centennial of Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula.

Despite the lapse of time, a conflict over shameful and tragic modern history still shows little sign of abating in Northeast Asia. South Korea has been at loggerheads with Japan over thorny issues such as ``comfort women,'' or sexual slaves for Japanese troops during WWII, and school textbooks glossing over Japan's aggression and misdeeds.

In a word, countries in Northeast Asia, mainly Korea, China and Japan, have continued a ``war without gunshots'' over history-related issues. This conflict has been a long and tedious process with no end in sight. It seems that the conflict has steered the three countries into an inextricable maze with no way out.

How can we find a clue to the solution of this recurrent conflict? It is hard to solve this problem without finding a clue because it is so exhausting and complicated. It is apparent that this problem serves as a destabilizing factor in Northeast Asia, posing as a realistic and potential threat to the region.

How can we tackle this history-related feud? Is it possible to continue to passively ``manage'' the problem to prevent conflict from coming to a head? It is necessary to provide a vision and set out a goal for a better future by overcoming the conflict over ``comfort women'' and history textbook issues.

It is also necessary to encourage the international community to participate in the process of settling the conflict. There is no doubt that it would be best for Korea, China and Japan to fix the problem on their own. But it is not easy to do so. Therefore, the international community needs to play a certain role to help the three countries overcome the conflict.

One of the typical examples of international efforts for this matter is the ``comfort women'' resolution passed by the U.S. Congress in 2007. This resolution has drawn global attention as it had a positive effect on similar resolutions adopted by the parliaments of Canada, the Netherlands and the European Union.

Korean society has already begun concrete efforts to settle the standoff over the history-related issues in Northeast Asia. These efforts led to the establishment of the International NGO History Forum for Peace in East Asia, which officially started its operation on April 1.

The International NGO History Forum is a coalition of civic groups which is aimed at continuing their efforts for the settlement of the conflict after holding the International NGO Conference on Peace and History in Seoul over the last two years.

It is noteworthy that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and academic communities at home and abroad have played active and diverse roles to promote ``historical reconciliation'' and peace in Northeast Asia over the past years.

In this regard, the International NGO History Forum is designed to set agendas on Northeast Asian history and peace in the region and share common understanding of history by expanding the networks of NGOs and academic communities at home and abroad.

The annual history NGO conference in 2007 and 2008 served as a festive venue for civic groups to develop various agendas and discuss different issues under the theme of global NGOs' role to overcome the Northeast Asian conflict over history.

Based on the achievements of the conference, the International NGO History Forum will further activate discussions on wide-ranging issues such as war, territorial disputes, human rights, gender equality and history in order to help shake off narrow-minded nationalism and promote reconciliation through peace education.

But, we have some problems to be tackled at the International NGO History Forum. Only after changing our narrow-minded way of thinking can we step up cooperation with the international community. Actually, it was not easy for us to find much in common with international NGOs due to different experiences and activities.

However, it may not be difficult to consolidate the coalition with world NGOs if we make strenuous efforts to encourage their active participation. It is important to set up global standards for international cooperation in resolving the Northeast Asian history conflict.

Thus, it is required to highlight the regional conflict as an international issue of common interest by globalizing our experience. Besides, in order to enhance international cooperation, we have to overcome our own shortcomings such as excessive nationalism.

This process will certainly set the new stage for the development of the NGO movement and the settlement of the Northeast Asian conflict through the reconciliation of history.

Park Won-chul is president of the International NGO History Forum for Peace in East Asia. He concurrently serves as president of the Headquarters of Korean Unification Movement at the Young Korean Academy. He is also an attorney at a law firm, Kim & Chang. He worked as a co-chair of the 2nd International NGO Conference on History and Peace, which was held in Seoul in October 2008.