[KS] introduction/Choi Jang-jip Statement

[Henry H. Em]

Hello,

I teach modern Korean history at UCLA, and
having just joined this discussion list, I look foward
to joining your discussion on Korea-related issues.

Several days ago, on my behalf, Frank Hoffmann
kindly posted a message regarding the current
controversy surrounding Professor Choi Jang-jip.

If I may, I would now like to give you an update
on the "Second Statement" that will be issued to the
press in ROK (on Nov. 25).  I've copied below a
near-final draft of the statement itself, information
about how this statement will be issued, and the list
of "signatures" I've received thus far.  If you would
like to sign this statement, please send your name,
position, & institution to:  em at humnet.ucla.edu

For your information, we believe that Choson Ilbo
will go through the list of signatories quite carefully
(a number of signatories to the first Statement,
issued on Oct. 30 from UCLA, were contacted
by Choson Ilbo reporters), and a reporter _may_
contact you by phone to see if:  you did in fact
sign the statement, and what relationship you may
have to Bruce Cumings or Choi Jang-jip.

But, as stated below, we think this controversy
can lead to a chilling effect on Korean Studies
both within and outside of Korea - unless scholars
take a firm stand against attempts to impose a
very narrow ideological boundary around
academic research - and I hope many of you
will respond.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Henry H. Em

------------------------
Background Information:

On October 30, 1998, a "Joint Statement" was
released at a press conference held at the University
of California Los Angeles (UCLA).  This "Joint
Statement," signed by twenty scholars of Korean
Studies in North America, Europe, Japan, and
Australia, was issued in response to the November
issue of Wolgan Chosun and Chosun Ilbo's
distortion of Professor Choi's academic writings.
This "Joint Statement" criticized the attempt to
foster on the public a very narrow interpretation of
modern Korean history.  Expressing dismay over
Chosun Ilbo's black-and-white Cold War mentality,
the signatories to the "Joint Statement" called for
broadening the spectrum of academic and public
discourse in Korea.

With the Seoul District Court's  Nov. 11 ruling,
which  prohibits the Chosun Ilbo group from
commenting further on Professor Choi Jang-jip's
work, many scholars outside of Korea hoped that
the ideological campaign against Professor Choi
Jang-jip would cease.  These scholars felt that the
attack on Professor Choi's scholarship would have
grave consequences for intellectual freedom in the
Republic of Korea and the healthy development of
Korean Studies throughout the world.   After the
appearance of the December issue of Wolgan
Chosun, however, it has become apparent that the
attack on Professor Choi Jang-jip has indeed been
widened to an attack on all scholarship which
contain critical or progressive views.  In light of this,
a new group of scholars in the field of Korean
Studies have now stepped forward to issue this
"Second Joint Statement."


"Second Joint Statement"
November 25, 1998

We issue this "Second Joint Statement" in response
to the continuing controversy surrounding Professor
CHOI Jang-jip's academic writings on the Korean
War.  The November and December issues of
Wolgan Chosun, which paint Professor Choi as a
pro-communist sympathizer, has cast a pall over the
field of Korean Studies, both in the Republic of
Korea and abroad, and threatens to set back the
trend toward openness and truly democratic
gains that the Republic of Korea has made in
the past decade.

As scholars who are deeply concerned about Korea,
we are encouraged by the November 11th  ruling
by the Seoul District Court finding that the
November issue of Wolgan Chosun distorted
Professor Choi's writings on the Korean War.
Freedom of the press does indeed include the right
to scrutinize and criticize public officials.  However,
because in the Republic of Korea anyone who gives
support to or praises North Korea can be
prosecuted for violation of the National Security
Law, the unfair and incorrect portrayal of Professor
Choi as a pro-North Korean leftist is a serious
charge that cannot be made by taking quotations
out of context and distorting Professor Choi's views.

We sincerely hope that this ruling will provide
an important precedent for broadening the
spectrum of academic and public discourse in
Korea.  It is our hope that the divisiveness brought
on by this controversy will in the end result in a
greater commitment to move beyond outdated
Cold War anxieties and to embrace the openness
necessary for both academic research and genuine
public discourse.

signed by (as of Nov. 22):

1)  Charles Armstrong, professor, Dept. of
    History, Columbia University
2)  Don Baker, professor, Dept. of Asian Studies,
    University of British Columbia
3)  Marn J. Cha, graduate student, Dept of
    Political Science, California State Univ.
4)  Michael Chwe, professor, Economics Dept.,
    University of Chicago
5)  Bruce Cumings, professor, Dept. of History,
    University of Chicago
6)  Henry H. Em, professor, Dept. of East Asian
    Languages & Cultures, UCLA
7)  James Freda, graduate student, Dept. of
    East Asian Languages & Cultures, UCLA
8)  Martin Hart-Landsberg, professor & chairman,
    Economics Dept., Lewis and Clark College
9)  Frank Hoffmann, graduate student,
    Harvard University
10)  G. Cameron Hurst III, professor,
     & director, Center for East Asian Studies,
     University of Pennsylvania
11)  Elaine H. Kim, professor, Dept. of Ethnic
     Studies, University of California, Berkeley
12)  Eun Mee Kim, professor, Graduate School of
     International Studies, Ewha Womens'
     University, & adjunct professor, Dept. of
     Sociology, USC
13)  Kyung Hyun Kim, professor, Dept. of East
     Asian Languages and Literatures,
     University of California, Irvine
14)  Nan Kim, graduate student, Anthropology
     Dept., University of California, Berkeley
15)  Paul Hyoshin Kim, graduate student, Theology
     Dept., Princeton Theological Seminary
16)  Gari Ledyard, professor, & director, Center for
     Korean Research, Columbia University
17)  Edward J. Shultz, professor, Dept of History,
     University of Hawaii-West Oahu, editor,
     _Korean Studies_
18)  Sungjong Paik, professor, Korean Studies,
     Tuebingen University
19)  Andre Schmid, professor, Dept. of East Asian
     Studies, University of Toronto
20)  Alexandra S.H. Suh, graduate student,
     Dept. of English and Comparative Literature,
     Columbia University
21)  Jae Jung Suh, SSRC-MacArthur Foundation
     Fellow, Dept. of Political Science, U Penn
22)  Jaehoon Yeon, professor, Dept. of East Asia,
     SOAS, University of London

----------------------
Regarding how this "Second Statement" will be
released:

* There will be no press conference - for reasons
stated earlier.  Instead, this "Second Statement"
will be faxed directly to the major dailies in ROK.

* The "Second Statement" will begin with
"Background Information" - so that journalists
in ROK will know who "we" are, and why we
felt it necessary to issue a "Second Statement."

* For confirmation purposes, this Second
Statement will list two faculty members as
"contact persons."

* Since these "contact persons" will have to
respond to inquires from Korean journalists, (i.e.
since they will have to be responsible for how
the Second Statement is worded), I propose that
we delegate to them the right to revise and edit
the final draft.

* As for who will take on this role, I think it will
be two well known scholars on the East Coast
(U.S.).  As soon as this is confirmed, I will ask them
to post the "final draft."

--------------------
Also, regarding the above draft, I received this
comment from Charles Armstrong at Columbia:

Charles Armstrong:  i think this new draft is much
clearer and more detailed while still sufficiently
concise. I've changed it slightly, but am not yet
entirely satisfied, e.g., the phrase "contain critical
or progressive views" might be misunderstoon in
ROK; what we mean is quoting Antonio Gramsci
should not paint one a communist, but it's hard to
say that concisely for general consumption. Also,
I wonder if the last sentences is still a little
patronizing.

_______________________
Henry H. Em
Assistant Professor,
UCLA - Dept. of East Asian Lang. & Cultures

mailing address until Dec. 31, 1998:
c/o Asiatic Research Center, Room 303
Korea University,
Anam-dong, Sungbuk-gu,
Seoul 136-701,  Korea

Tel:  82(country code)-2-780-6185 (ho)
Fax:  82-2-780-7014
Tel:  82-2-923-8702,  Ext. #126  (of)




%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%