[Press Release] [Press Release 2024-70] 2024 5-18 International Forum “The Future of Memory, Commemoration and Solidarity” (Aug. 29-30)

<Under the theme of “The Future of Memory, Commemoration, and Solidarity

2024 May 18 International Forum

- 2024. 8. 29. ~ 30. / May 18 Memorial Culture Center Daedong Hall

- Planning international conferences and cultural events

The May 18 Memorial Foundation (Chairman Won Soon-seok) and the May 18 International Research Institute will hold the 2024 May 18 International Forum on the theme of 'The Future of Memory, Commemoration, and Solidarity' from August 29 to 30 at the May 18 Memorial Cultural Center.

The forum will consist of keynote sessions, thematic sessions, and general discussions on the 29th, followed by a session co-sponsored by the Council of Democratic Research Organizations and a video screening on the 30th.

Under the theme of “The Presence of Memory and Commemoration,” the keynote session will feature two keynote presentations: ▲ The Politics of Time and Liberation (Namhee Lee, Institute of Korean Studies, Department of Asian Studies, UCLA) and ▲ The Refraction and Meaningfulness of Memory and Commemoration (Dongchun Kim, Professor Emeritus, Episcopal University).

Dr. Namhee Lee received her Ph.D. in Korean history from the University of Chicago and is currently the Director of the Institute for Korean Studies in the Department of Asian Studies at UCLA. In her talk, “The Politics of Time and the Idea of Liberation,” Dr. Lee will discuss how the rise of political liberalization and aggressive neoliberalism in Korean society since the 1990s has led to significant changes and challenges to the historical injustices that crushed everything that did not conform to the times.

The second keynote speaker, Professor Kim Dong-chun (Professor Emeritus, Episcopal University, President of the Good World Institute), was a teacher who signed the 1987 Siguk Declaration calling for political democratization and participated in the resolution of national violence as a standing member of the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission. At the May 18th International Forum, she will give a presentation titled “Refracting, Transforming and Meaningfulizing Memory and Commemoration,” in which she will discuss how the memory and commemoration of state violence and its effects should be made current through the normalization of education and politics.

The next presentation will be titled “Institutionalization and Power of Memory,” and will be entitled “Omnipresent Memory, Excluded History: 'Comfort Women' as Matahari (Shin Hyun Kyung Kim, Seoul Women's University), National Veterans' System and May 18 (Park Kyung Seop, May 18 International Research Institute, May 18 Memorial Foundation), and “Connecting Memories, Expanding Solidarity,” which will be followed by the presentations on Memory of May 18, Solidarity in Mourning (Kang Na Young, Chonnam National University), and The Vietnam War of Those Who Didn't Live It: Expanding the Concept of Ecoside and the Possibility of Mourning as a Political Practice (Shim Ah-jung, Independent Research Activist), and ▲ Japan's Domestic Colonization: The History of “Forced Entry and Forced Labor” in Hokkaido (Yamamoto Kenji, Hokkaido University of Education).

30th Council of Democratic Research Organizations (affiliated organizations: 4‧9 People's Martyrs' Memorial Association, Busan Institute of Democracy and Society, Democratic Movement Memorial Association, Yeosu Institute of Community Studies, Chonnam National University May 18 Institute, Jeju National University April 3rd Institute, hereinafter referred to as the Council) will hold a special session under the theme “Sites of Commemoration, Old Futures,” with the presentation of ▲Old Futures and Wonderful New Worlds: Observations and Analysis of Cultural Memory Institutions of Democratic Organizations (Kim Tae-hyun, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies) followed by a comprehensive discussion with the Council's participating organizations.

The conference will be streamed live on the May 18 Memorial Foundation's YouTube channel (channel name: 5ㆍ18 Memorial Foundation).

The forum will also host video screenings to engage not only researchers but also citizens.

On August 30, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., the event will conclude with a screening of the documentary “Grey Zone,” which tells the story of the journalists who covered the April 16 Sewol ferry tragedy, followed by a conversation with human rights activist Park Rae-gun (4‧16 Foundation).

On Friday, May 18th, participants of the International Forum will attend the “30th Anniversary Ceremony of the May 18th Memorial Foundation” at 14:30 at the Democracy Hall of the May 18th Memorial Culture Center.

Inquiries: May 18 International Research Institute +82 062-360-0572.