Police stand guard in front of the general headquarters of the Chosen Soren offices in Tokyo on March 7. (© Sankei by Masahiro Sakai)
A liberal society, and its knowledge producers, should expose citizens to complexity and debate, not one-sided propaganda. What Kookmin University historian Andrei Lankov argues for North Korean defectors applies to all democratic citizens: "Koreans should not be treated with syrupy propaganda and anti-Communist harangues. Instead, they must become accustomed to intellectual differences and arguments….They should be exposed to the modern world, with all its complexity and uncertainty."
Understanding complex issues requires more information, not less. But too often, contemporary knowledge producers focus on simple, Manichean narratives of victimized and oppressor groups that ignore key shades of grey.
This was a theme in a recent, November 22 Heterodox Academy forum on Zainichi Korean and North Korean research/activism in Japan. It featured human rights activist Park Hyangsu 박향수 (NGO Free2Move) and professors Safa Choi (Doshisha University) and Lauren Richardson (Australian National University).
Human Rights in the Context of Repatriations
Ms Park advocates for, and Drs Cho and Richardson research, the human rights of the 93,340 individuals who were repatriated to North Korea. Those include approximately 87,000 ethnic Koreans and 6730 Japanese citizens (mostly spouses). Cho and Richardson include a discussion of the complicity of the North Korean and Japanese governments. These victims were also allegedly deceived, to varying degrees, by the pro-North Korea Chosen Soren. (Chosen Soren is a voluntary general association of Korean residents in Japan.)
Park's advocacy received less-than-expected support from many progressive activists and media. The latter focuses instead on the Japanese government and society as the historic oppressors of Koreans' human rights. Progressive-leaning media, such as Pachinko (Korean-American) author Lee Min-jin 이민진) rarely discuss the mass repatriation. That is despite the direct impact on a fifth of the Zainichi Korean population and indirect impact on the rest. Nearly every Korean-Japanese resident knows a family member or friend who was repatriated to North Korea. But none of the major Pachinko characters do.
Ms Park and Dr Richardson found that Korean progressives were reluctant to discuss the alleged human rights violations committed by the North Korean government or the Chosen Soren association. Instead, discussing such violations was considered anti-Korean hostility or discrimination against pro-North Korean residents.
Taking a Universal Perspective on Human Rights
The forum moderator, Hanyang professor Joseph Yi, replied that human rights should be a universal issue and not weaponized for the political left or right. One can support the human rights of former Zainichi in North Korea, and the rights of North Koreans to work and trade abroad and of Americans to travel to North Korea.
Partly because of progressive media influence, young people today are less familiar with the alleged recruitment of forced Korean labor to North Korea than to imperial-era Japan. They are even less familiar with the history of the "comfort women for the United States military" who were supervised by the South Korean government during the 1970s. That is even though their legal advocates won a 2017 Korean court case against the government.
Comfort Women of the US Military
Comfort women for the US military (1945- ) is a more sensitive, or even taboo, topic than Zainichi repatriation to North Korea (1959-1984). That is allegedly due to concern that it could be weaponized by Japanese or pro-Japan Korean conservatives against social justice campaigns for former comfort women of the Japanese imperial army.
However, an emerging number of scholars, especially those interested in women's rights, research this issue. They would argue that discussing the human rights concerns of one group of women should not detract from that of another.
Heterodox East Asia Debates
Heterodox East Asia (a community of Heterodox Academy) invites readers to attend a first-ever, international forum on comfort women for the United States military, both past and present. The online event features Professors Moon Seungsook (Sociology, Vassar), Grace M Cho (City University New York-Staten Island), You Soosun (University of Pennsylvania), and Sara Kang (Princeton).
Since 2022, the Heterodox East Asia Community has invited informed voices to dialogue with students and scholars on sensitive issues. For instance, this semester featured a debate on whether and how students should read controversial, "anti-Asian" books. They include the work of authors such as Dr Seuss. This was debated with Professors Philip Nel (Kansas State) and Jonathan Zimmerman (University of Pennsylvania).
Another topic was academic freedom in Hong Kong and among Chinese citizens, with Rowena He (University of Texas-Austin) and Carsten Andreas Holz (Hong Kong University of Science & Technology). Additionally, a discussion was held on the sensitive issue of gay Christian teachers in South Korea.
More, and more probing discussion is especially important when human rights activists advance various, sometimes uncorroborated, claims. For example, the allegations that the North Korean regime tortures Christian prisoners by pouring molten iron or that the Chinese Communist regime mass organ harvests of Falun Gong practitioners. Credibly distinguishing between corroborated and non-corroborated claims is essential for genuine understanding of, and effective advocacy for, victimized groups.
We welcome participants with various viewpoints and invite everybody to register and speak at our upcoming forum on US militarized comfort women and women's rights in Korea.
Register for the December 6 Event
Individual registration: on the Heterodox East Asia site.
RELATED:
- INTERVIEW l Tsutomu Nishioka On History From Comfort Women to the Abductions
- Choi Sung-ryong: The Long Crusade to Free Hostages in North Korea
- Comfort Women Scholars from Diverse Perspectives Debate at HEAC Forums
Author: Dr Joseph Yi
Joseph Yi is an associate professor of political science at Hanyang University. For information about past or upcoming forums, or to join Hx East Asia Community, please email: joyichicago@yahoo.com
