Reconciliation: Perspectives from Ireland, Korea, and Beyond

A one-day conference which examines the prospects for progress towards reconciliation in Ireland, Korea, and other conflict-affected societies, delivered by the Trinity Centre for Post-Conflict Justice, Trinity College Dublin, in partnership with the Institute of Trans-division and Border Studies, Shinhan University, Seoul. Reconciliation is widely regarded as the ultimate goal of peacebuilding, involving group identity change and new relationships. However, it is contested in both the academic literature and within different contexts. It is closely related to other concepts and practices such as conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and transitional justice, while it is sometimes opposed by people in conflict who believe it is an abrogation of justice, or that it demands forgiveness. Nevertheless, the term has a popular currency, and captures what are deeply desired goods in places of conflict: the removal of the causes of conflict, new relationships and identities, and ultimately, sustainable and stable peace. This one-day conference examines the prospects for progress towards reconciliation in Ireland, Korea, and other conflict-affected societies. Bringing together scholars from East Asia, Europe, and the United States, the conference will consider issues such as: how ‘reconciliation’ is understood in different contexts; how it relates to human rights, transitional justice, and democratisation; how it can occur at all levels of society; and what mutual learning about reconciliation is possible between different peace/conflict contexts. The conference is organised by Trinity Centre for Post Conflict Justice, Trinity College Dublin, and Institute for Trans-division and Border Studies, Shinhan University, South Korea, with funding from the Korea Foundation. REGISTER HERE. Contact: Dr David Mitchell, Trinity College Dublin. damitche@tcd.ie. CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

10.00 – 10.45 – Opening and keynote speeches Chair, David Mitchell, Trinity College Dublin at Belfast Eve Patten, Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub Wankyu Choi, Director of Institute of Trans-division and Border Studies, Shinhan University, South Korea Ambassador Ki-hwan Kweon, Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Ireland 10.45 – 11.00 – Break

11.00 – 12.45 – Session 1 Chair, David Mitchell, Trinity College Dublin at Belfast Etain Tannam, Trinity College Dublin The Good Friday Agreement and British-Irish relations Heajeong Lee, Chung-ang University, South Korea From post-colonial, divided Korea to global Korea: the rise of South Korea and (ir)reconciliation on the Korean peninsula Tae-Kyung Kim, National Assembly Futures Institute, South Korea Women and the peace process on the Korean peninsula Duncan Morrow, Ulster University, Northern Ireland Reconciliation in society and its relationship to politics: reflections on 30 years of inter-community work in Northern Ireland. Discussants: Je Hun Lee, Hankyoreh media, and Donghyuk Kwon, Trinity College Dublin at Belfast/South Korean Ministry of Unification Lunch 12.45 – 1.45 including launch of Reconciling Divided States: Peace Processes in Ireland and Korea (Routledge, 2022), edited by Dong Jin Kim and David Mitchell.

1.45 – 3.30 – Session 2 Chair, Gillian Wylie, Trinity College Dublin Linda Hogan, Trinity College Dublin Human rights: the lingua franca for a pluralist world Hyun-seok Yu, Kyunghee University, South Korea In search of reconciliation on the Korean peninsula: lessons from the experiences of Southeast Asia Kiho Yi, Hanshin University, South Korea Democracy and the crisis of peace in the South Korean context Gráinne Kelly, Ulster University, Northern Ireland The hyperlocal experience of reconciliation in Northern Ireland: reflections on priorities, problems and paradoxes. Discussants: Youngho Nam, Shinhan University, and Eugene Lee, Trinity College Dublin at Belfast/South Korean Ministry of Unification 3.30 – 3.45 - Break

3.45 – 5.30 - Session 3 Chair, Dong Jin Kim, Trinity College Dublin Kyungmook Kim, Waseda University, Japan Intercultural understanding and people-to-people exchange as non-governmental diplomacy (track 2.5 diplomacy): Japanese NGOs’ engagement with North Korea for conflict resolution and reconciliation Nisan Alici, Nottingham Trent University, UK Transitional justice trajectories in Turkey Maja Vodopivec, Leiden University, Netherlands War childhood memory in Bosnia and Herzegovina: towards universality of experience and reconciliation, or further divergence? Monti Datta, University of Richmond, United States Imagining reconciliation strategies for a deeply divided American polity Discussants: Maya Halilovic-Pastuovic, Trinity College Dublin and Paul Kyumin Lee, Trinity College Dublin at Belfast