KLRI : KOREA LEGISLATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE

 

Korea Legislation Research Institute (KLRI, President Kye-Hong Kim) held the ‘International Symposium: Discussing Great Transformation in ROK-Japan Relations’ at the auditorium of Sejong National Research Complex Building A, on August 26 (Thur). The Symposium allowed only a minimum number of participants at the venue and was broadcast live via Youtube for the public to participate freely. 

 

The Symposium was hosted by the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Science (NRC) and organized by KLRI and Institute of Japanese Studies of Seoul National University. The event was planned to analyze the changes in the deadlock between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan and to seek a way to address the tension.

 

The event was attended by approximately 30 guests including KLRI President Kye-Hong Kim, NRC Chairperson Hae-Gu Jung, Director of SNU’s Institute of Japanese Studies Hyun-Chul Kim, former Ambassador to Japan Soo-Hun Lee and other internal law experts in Korea, U.S., Japan, and China. 

 

KLRI President Kim said, “We will have to find a solution for future generations despite the current strained relationship including the limit in exchanges in the private sector due to the pandemic. I hope that the Symposium sheds the light on the relations between Korea and Japan and tries to look for a way to break the deadlock in the international order.”

 

The International Symposium ran keynote speech session and three presentation sessions.  

Two keynote speakers were former Ambassador of the  ROK to Japan Sang-Yong Choi and former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama stressed out in his speech the role of the Japanese government in the political conflict between Korea and Japan and also emphasized that the importance of the cooperation between the two countries in amid of the escalating tension between the US and China. 

 

The first presentation session was moderated by former Ambassador of the ROK to Japan Su-Hoon Lee under the topic of Region, Gender and Generation: At the Forefront of Great Transformation of ROK-Japan Relations. Presenters of this Session include Jin-Won Lee (Professor at University of Seoul), Ikumi Haruki (Researcher at Institute of Korean Studies of Waseda University), and Yong-Suk Kwon (Professor at Hitosubashi University). 

 

The second session was moderated by Sun-Tae Yi, Director-General of KLRI’s Dept. of Legislative Research under the topic of The Structure and Aspect of Great Transformation in ROK-Japan Relations. Presenters of the session were Yul Sohn (Professor at Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies), Tadashi Kimiya (Professor at University of Tokyo), and Brad Glosserman (Deputy Director of the Center for Rule Making Strategies of Tama University). 

 

The third session, moderated by Yang-Hyeon Jo, Professor at the Center for Japanese Studies of KNDA), had three presenters of Kijeong Nam (Professor at Institute for Japanese Studies of Seoul National University), Yohihide Soeya (Professor Emeritus at Keio University), and Yongil Rhee(Former Ambassador of the ROK to Ivory Coast) under the topic of Direction and Strategies for the Re-establishment of ROK-Japan Relations. 

 

Afterwards, three discussants made in-depth discussion on the presentations under the three topics. 

 

 

Date: August 26, 2021 (Thur.)

Venue:  Auditorium of Sejong National Research Complex Building A