On 9-11 July EuroClio was presented to a wide public of educators, historians and students at the 6th Annual International NGO Conference on History and Peace in Seoul by EuroClio Director Jonathan Even-Zohar and Programme Director Steven Stegers. The conference was organized by the Korean-based International NGO History Forum with whom EuroClio has been cooperating since 2008.
For East Asia 2015 marks significant year of historical commemorations, with the 50th anniversary of the normalization treaty between the Republic of Korea and Japan, and of course the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. The conference gave special thought to these by raising the topic of 70 Years of Post-World War and the Task of Peace Building in East Asia.
EuroClio and the Conference established its first Europe-Asia Online Discussion, with history educators joining online from Italy, Montenegro, Poland and Slovenia. What followed were very frank, constructive, open and reflective discussions about the nature of history, conflict and the relationship between both, as well as the importance of establishing better dialogue for a peaceful future.
It was on this same topic that Director Jonathan Even-Zohar delivered a key-note lecture in Seoul, covering ‘History Education that Supports Young People to Deal with the Legacy of a Violent Past’. Following this presentation, the Korean Times conducted an interview with him, focusing on the discrepancies between Korean and Japanese historical perspectives and memory. You can find the Korean Times article here, whereas the more in-depth story can be found in the in the complete interview.
For further reading on the sensitive and complex inter-related history of East Asia we recommend the EuroClio Special Report “Korea and It’s Neighbours” by EuroClio’s founder and Special Advisor Joke van der Leeuw-Roord, which can be downloaded here.
