[KS] Re: introduction/Choi Jang-jip Statement

[Roger L. Janelli]

Henry:
    I be happy to sign the statement that you composed.  Professor Choi
deserves our support.  Please add the following to the list of
signatories:

Roger L. Janelli
Professor of Folklore and East Asian Langugaes and Cultures
Indiana University

Best,
Roger


Henry H. Em wrote:

> 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)





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