On November 22, 2023, the International Academic Conference on “The 70th Anniversary of the Korean War Armistice and the Future Development of the Situation on the Korean Peninsula” was held at Jilin University, jointly organized by the Northeast Asian Research Center of Jilin University, the Institute of North Korean and South Korean Studies of Jilin University, the Institute for North Korean Studies of Dongguk University (South Korea), and the Korea Research Center of Ritsumeikan University (Japan). This was the 10th joint international conference since the establishment of cooperative relations among Jilin University, Dongguk University, and Ritsumeikan University in 2014.
Professor Wu Hao, Dean of the Northeast Asian Studies College of Jilin University, Professor Kim Yong-hyun, Director of the Institute for North Korean Studies at Dongguk University, and Professor Nakato Yasuo, Director of the Korea Research Center at Ritsumeikan University, delivered opening remarks respectively. In their speeches, all three professors congratulated on the first offline holding of the conference in three years and unanimously emphasized that, given the increasingly complex regional security situation, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea should strengthen communication and jointly work toward resolving differences and conflicts.
More than 20 scholars from institutions including the Northeast Asian Studies College of Jilin University, the School of Administration of Jilin University, the School of International and Public Affairs of Jilin University, the Institute for North Korean Studies of Dongguk University, and the Korea Research Center of Ritsumeikan University participated in the conference.
The conference held in-depth exchanges and heated discussions around three themes: “The Significance and Future of the 70th Anniversary of the Armistice,” “New Cold War Thinking on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia,” and “China–Japan–ROK Relations and U.S.–Japan–ROK Relations.”
At the conference, participants engaged in in-depth exchanges on three major areas: the progress of U.S.–Japan–ROK trilateral security cooperation; changes in the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and the construction of a broader Northeast Asian security order, including China–ROK relations; and the scope for cooperation among all parties on non-traditional security issues. They drew on many profound and valuable viewpoints and opinions from each other.
In the concluding session, Professors Nakato Yasuo, Kim Yong-hyun, and Zhang Huizhi summarized the conference and spoke highly of the conference, stating that they would continue to promote the deepening development of such cooperative relationships. They also expressed the hope that scholars from China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea would further strengthen academic cooperation in the future and contribute to maintaining peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
