Reconciliation: Perspectives from Ireland, Korea, and Beyond
Friday, 4 November 2022, 10am – 6pm 
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
Campus Location: Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute
Accessibility: Yes
Room: Neill Lecture Theatre
Event Category: Conferences, Lectures and Seminars
Type of Event: One-time event
Audience: Researchers, Faculty & Staff, Public
Cost: Free but registration is essential
Contact Name: Dr David Mitchell
Contact Email: damitche@tcd.ie
More info: www.eventbrite.co.uk…
