Research arms join hands for Dokdo

Kim Hak-joon, left, president of the Northeast Asian History Foundation, poses with Kim Young-won, director-general of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, after signing a memorandum of understanding in the foundation’s office in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of NAHF

The Northeast Asian History Foundation (NAHF) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, a sub-unit of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) at the foundation building Friday.

Under the MOU, the two research arms will cooperate by sharing relative documents and information on on-going research projects, formulating countermeasures and carrying out joint research on Korea’s cultural heritage items overseas.

“Since we have a system to mobilize our respective expertise in the field into one, as well as joint countermeasures against Japan’s further provocation, we expect considerable synergic effects in the future,” said Kim Hak-joon, president of NAHF.

NAHF conducts studies on Korea’s history ranging from the ancient to modern period, including the Goguryeo, Balhae and Imna Nihon-fu periods, and bilateral relationships as well as sovereignty claims to Dokdo.

The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage also performs a variety of research and investigations for scientific conservation and the management of cultural properties, in particular, those scattered through North Korea and East Asia.

The two state-funded research organizations through the MOU aim to arrange more systematic countermeasures against Japan’s distortion of historical facts and thus further secure Korea’s identity.