Published on March 9, 2015
Featuring:
Shu-Hua Kang | Executive Director, Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation
Mina Watanabe | Secretary General, Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace
Bonnie Oh| (Moderating) Distinguished Prof of Korean Studies (Retired),
Georgetown University
Thursday, March 12
10:00AM – 12:00 PM
Rome Auditorium
1619 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
Please join the U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS and Asia Policy Point in commemorating International Women’s Day this month with a discussion by two spokeswomen for the survivors of sexual slavery. Ms. Mina Watanabe and Ms. Shu-Hua Kang have devoted their careers to the care of and advocacy for victims of sexual violence and trafficking in Asia, and will be in Washington after presenting at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York.
Shu-Hua KANG is Executive Director of the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation (TWRF). TWRF was established in 1987 by a group of lawyers, scholars, and social workers to fight on the behalf of girls illegally forced into prostitution. In her 9 years at TWRF, she has devoted herself to promoting awareness about institutionalized sexual slavery by the Japanese military during WWII (“comfort women”), as well as to the prevention of gender violence in Taiwan. She is the executive producer of Song of the Reed, a documentary depicting the stories of Taiwanese “comfort women” survivors, as well as the chief editor of the book The Reason to be Strong, which shares the recovery processes of these survivors. She is currently leading a team in preparing for a women’s rights museum in the memory of Taiwanese “comfort women.” http://www.twrf.org.tw/
Mina WATANABE is Secretary General of the Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace (WAM) based in Tokyo, which focuses on violence against women in conflict situations including military sexual slavery during the Second World War (the “comfort women”). Founded in 2005, WAM was a recipient of the Catholic Pax Christi’s International Peace Award in 2007. She has worked in women’s NGOs and parliamentarians’ offices with a focus on women’s rights, and was actively involved in The Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal for the Trial of Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery held in Tokyo in 2000. http://wampeace.org/en/
Please RSVP here.
This event will be webcast HERE.
Published on October 24, 2014
The Japanese islands are surrounded by a group of nations—Russia, South Korea, North Korea and China—where historic relations remain frayed, territorial disputes remain unresolved, and residual anger from harsh colonialism and past wars continue to sour relations. While Japan’s relations continue to deteriorate with China and South Korea over historical and territorial issues, the island of Taiwan stands out singularly as Japan’s good neighbor. ~ Dennis P. Halpin
In recent years, Japan and Taiwan have pursued multiple bilateral cultural and economic projects despite unresolved historical issues from World War II. USKI Visiting Scholar Dennis P. Halpin discusses legacy of Japanese imperialism and Comfort Women as more than a bilateral challenge for Japan and South Korea, and suggests future Taiwan-Japan cooperation on historical topics could set a precedent for reconciliation in East Asia.
Download the USKI Policy Brief: “Taiwan and Japan: The Good Neighbor Faces History Issues,” by Dennis P. Halpin.
Dennis P. Halpin is a Visiting Scholar at the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is a former adviser on Asian issues to the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He served as a State Department Foreign Service officer in Taipei, Beijing, Seoul and Pusan.
Published on October 21, 2014
Published on May 30, 2014
The US-Korea Institute at SAIS and the Society for East Sea present
A Workshop on the Naming
of East Sea/Sea of Japan
Thursday, June 12, 2014
9:00AM – 1:00 PM (lunch provided)
Kenney Auditorium
1740 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20036
The US-Korea Institute at SAIS and the Society for East Sea will hold a workshop in on the naming issue of East Sea/Sea of Japan. Since the early 1990’s, the name of the sea area between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago has been a cause of friction and debate. The workshop aims to engage in a constructive discussion on the naming issue.
9:00-9:30 AM Registration
9:30-10:30 AM Session I: Paper presentations
10:45-12:00 PM Session II: Panel discussion
12:00-1:00 PM Luncheon
Featuring the following speakers/discussants:
Nohyoung Park, President, The Society for East Sea
Jae H. Ku, Director, U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS
Eui-sang Yoo, Ambassador for Geographic Naming, Republic of Korea
Sungjae Choo, Vice President, The Society for East Sea
Joseph Stoltman, Professor, Western Michigan University
John Rennie Short, Professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Alexis Dudden, Professor, University of Connecticut
Dennis Halpin, Former Professional Staff, U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Jin-Hyun Kim, Chairman, World Peace Forum; Advisor, The Society for East Sea
Please RSVP to Sarabeth Craig () by Tuesday, June 10
Published on June 12, 2014
Published on April 10, 2014
Ironically, given the current political tensions in the region, Abe could end up having his first bilateral East Asian
summit with none other than North Korea’s Kim Jong Un—neither of whom have yet been invited to Beijing, though for entirely different reasons. ~ Dennis P. Halpin
With the recent round of Japan-North Korea informal talks in China last weekend and reported hopes for another round of formal bilateral negotiations in the near future, Dennis P. Halpin examines the possible motivations driving this seeming rapprochement.
Download the USKI Policy Brief: “Abe Plays the North Korea Card,” by Dennis P. Halpin.
Dennis P. Halpin is currently a visiting scholar at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in South Korea, U.S. consul in Pusan, and a House Foreign Affairs Committee staff member for over twelve years.
