[KS] Korean War 50th Anniversary Conference

[Alina Oh]

Korean War 50th Anniversary Conference
June 22 . Washington, DC
Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Organized by Korea University, Georgetown University, The Korea Society
with major support from International Foundation for Korea University 
(IFKU) and U.S. News & World Report

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The overall objective of this conference is to assess the long-term 
significance and lasting consequences of the Korean War for all concerned 
parties from the vantage point afforded by the commemoration of the 50th 
anniversary of its outbreak in 1950. Issues related to the background and 
origins of the war will be highlighted as well, but primarily from the 
perspective of how they relate to subsequent developments beginning from 
the immediate aftermath of the war and continuing right up to the present. 
The tragedies of the Korean War such as the No Gun Ri incident also will be 
an important topic of discussion, but primarily from the perspective of 
their significance in the development of U.S.-Korea relations during the 
ensuing decades and their continuing impact in the contemporary context. In 
short, the objective is to focus attention primarily on the whole spectrum 
of the relationships that have evolved as a consequence of the Korean War 
between Korea and the United States as well as the Northeast Asian region 
as a whole, rather than to re-visit in depth the various factors leading up 
to the war or any particular events of the war itself.

The guiding assumption in presenting this conference is that the modern 
political, strategic, economic and cultural relationships of the Korean 
people with the U.S. and the other countries of Northeast Asia can only be 
fully appreciated if viewed through the prism of the Korean War in all of 
its multifaceted dimensions. The lingering impact of the war, in both 
direct and indirect ways, permeates and informs both the substance and 
texture of these relationships. As a basis for the final resolution of the 
impasse created by the lingering structure of the Cold War on the Korean 
peninsula, every aspect of these relationships needs to be re-examined from 
an objective point of view that takes into account past shortcomings as 
well as future possibilities.

The conference will be open to the public and conducted with a minimum of 
the customary academic formalities. In adopting this format, we hope that 
the conference will be a tangible expression of the commitment to foster 
on-going, honest dialogue among all those who have a stake in fostering a 
better understanding of the Korean War, principally Koreans and Americans, 
but also representatives of the other participants in the war who have a 
continuing vital interest in the future of the Korean peninsula.


TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
(as of March 5, 2000)

Friday, June 23

8:00am      Registration

8:30am      Welcoming Remarks

Robert Gallucci (Georgetown University)
Donald P. Gregg (The Korea Society)
Sihak Henry Cho (IFKU)

8:45am      Congratulatory Address

Kim Jung Bae (Korea University)

9:00am   Panel 1: Background: The Korean War Revisited

(Chair: Bonnie Oh, Georgetown)

Origins and Causes: Two Views

Bruce Cumings (Chicago University) [invited]
Katherine Weathersby (Woodrow Wilson Center)

A Korean Perspective

Hyun In-Taek (Korea University)

10:30am      Coffee Break

10:45am    Panel 2: War as Crucible: Development of Korean Nationalism and 
Identity

(Chair: Lee Chae-jin, Claremont-McKenna College)

State and Society in South Korea: Social Consequences of the Korean War

Lim Hee-Sub (Korea University

Juch'e Ideology and Nationalism in North Korea

B.C. Koh (Illinois University)

The U.S. Bases in South Korea: Their Continuing Impact

Kathryn Moon (Wellesley College)

Korean Identity as Reflected in Changing Images of Americans

Donald Clark (Trinity College)

12:15pm      Luncheon

1:45pm      Panel 3: Concordant Discord: Reviving Suppressed Memories of 
the Korean War

(Chair: Donald P. Gregg, The Korea Society)

Politics and Culture in South Korea: The Korean War Remembered

Kim Uchang (Korea University)

Fourteen Months North of the Parallel: Experiences and Reflections

Tibor Meray (Hungarian Correspondent in North Korea, 1951-52)

The Forgotten War: The Korean War in Popular American Culture

David McCann (Harvard University) [invited]

Reflections of the Korean War in Recent Korean Poetry

Suh Ji Moon (Korea University)

3:30pm      Coffee Break

3:45pm     Panel 4: North Korea in the Aftermath of the Korean War

(Chair: Don Oberdorfer, SAIS)

DPRK Relations with China, Russia and Japan

Kongdan Oh (Institute of Defense Analysis)

U.S.-DPRK Relations

Chung Ok-nim (Brookings Institute)

North Korean Perspectives on the Korean War

Park Han Shik (University of Georgia)

7:15pm    Evening Forum: The Tragedies of the Korean War: No-gun-ri

Discussants: Donald P. Gregg, Hyun Hong-Choo & Don Oberdorfer



Saturday, June 24

8:30am    Panel 5: U.S.-ROK Relations: Cost and Benefits of the Korean War

(Chair, Kim Kyung-won, KSSI)

U.S.-ROK Alliance and the Effects of the War

William Stueck (University of Georgia)

Civil-Military Relations and Political Development in Korea

James Lilley (American Enterprise Institute)

U.S. Priorities in the Cold War and Post-Cold War Eras

Ralph Cossa (Pacific Forum-CSIS)

10:30am      Coffee Break

10:45am     Panel 6: Korea and Her Neighbors: Future of the Korean 
Peninsula

(Chair: Nancy Tucker, Georgetown University)

ROK-Japanese-U.S. Relations: An American Perspective

Victor Cha (Georgetown University)

ROK-Japanese-U.S. Relations: A Japanese Perspective

Masao Okonogi (Keio University) [invited]

A Russian Perspective on the Impact of the Korean War & the Future of the 
Korean Peninsula

Alexandre Mansourov (Brookings Institute)

Korea-China Relations: A Chinese View

Yuan Ming (Beijing University) [invited]

U.S.-Korea Relations: A Korean Perspective

Lho Kyoung Soo (Seoul National University)

12:15pm      Luncheon

1:30pm     Panel 7: Testimonial Session: Reflections on the Long-term 
Impact of the Korean War

(Chair: Sihak Henry Cho, (IFKU)

Panelists: John K.C. Oh (Catholic University of America), Edward L. King 
(former professional staff member, U.S. Senate), Bernard E. Trainor 
(Harvard University), [additional Korean panelist, TBA]

3:30pm      Coffee Break

3:45pm     Panel 8: Conference Summary and Wrap up

(Chair: Kim Kyung-won, KSSI)

Presenters: Donald P. Gregg (The Korea Society), Han Sung-Joo (Korea 
University), Hyun Hong-choo (Kim & Chang), David I. Steinberg (Georgetown 
University)



Sunday, June 25

9:00 am       Closing Ceremony

Wreath Laying at the Korean War Memorial





Alina Oh
Program Associate
The Korea Society
212-759-7525 ext. 15
alina.ny at koreasociety.org
www.koreasociety.org



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