This session aims to highlight the importance of historical reconciliation to maintaining sustainable relations of peace among Korea, Japan, and China. Despite some improvement on their political relations and increasing economic and social communication, there still remains considerable gaps and conflicts between their attitudes towards the other cultures and societies. One of the most worrying conflicts consists in their uncompromising differences in their views of the pasts, especially, their historical attitudes to justify their past acts, tending to silence the voices of the other nations’ victims. These suppressed voices have found its outlets through their present conflicting issues or evolved into new contending points.
To cope with historical issues among Korea, Japan, and China is crucial for their sustainable relations of peace in the midst of ever-changing circumstances and vicissitudes. One way for their historical reconciliation is to transcend the ego-centric compulsion of nationalism obsessing the modern nation-building in Northeast Asia. Regional history or worldwide comparative history has been put forward to cultivate an enlarged view for reflecting on their own national histories. This session will touch on the possibility for constituting historical narratives which enhance and sustain peaceful relations in the region and the other strategies for historical reconciliation.