The International Conference for the 70th Anniversary of April 3rd will be held at KAL Hotel Jeju on Oct. 4–6.
Titled “Truth and Justice: Towards the Sustainable Justice,” the conference is hosted by Memorial Committee for the 70th Anniversary of the Jeju April 3rd Uprising and Massacre and organized by Jeju 4.3 Research Institute and the Academic Commission under Memorial Committee. Sponsored by Jeju Special Self-governing Province, the conference will examine the April 3rd Uprising on a national level using comparative cases, and share the experiences of domestic and overseas democratic research organizations in commemoration of its 70th anniversary.

Divided into three sessions, the conference will kickstart with the first session, “Cold War, Genocide, and the Role of the U.S.” on Oct. 4. It will explore how the tragedy occurred within the Cold War framework and the intervention by the United States. The session will also highlight the massacre in Bali, Indonesia in the 1960s, the civil war in Greece in the late 1940s, as well as the unfolding of Jeju Massacre that occurred at the same period, in addition to the the American role over the incidents. Bedjo Untung (Indonesia) will present “Cold War, Genocide, and the Role of the United States,” Thanasis D. Sfikas (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece) will discuss “The United States and the Greek Civil War, 1946–1949), and journalist Heo Ho-Jun (The Hankyeoreh) will talk about “The Development of Jeju 4.3 and the Role of the United States.” The discussants are Kim Hun-Joon (Korea University) and Murakami Naoko (Hiroshima University). At the following opening ceremony, poet Kim Myung-Sik will give a keynote speech on the “Truth and Justice of Apil 3 Jeju Uprising.”
On Oct. 5, the second session is called “Resistance, Genocide, and the Responsibility of the State Government.” Cheng Nai-Wei (researcher at February 28 National Memorial Hall) will discuss “A Revisit to Taiwan’s 2.28 Incident,” while Park Gu-Byeong (University of University of Ajou) will speak on “Guatemala’s ‘Heated Cold War’ and Genocide: The Massacre on the Indigenous in the Early 1980s.” Finally, Park Chan-Sik (Director, Center for Jeju Studies) will present “4.3, the History of Community Resistance.” Discussants are Kim Yoon-Kyung (Seoul National University) and Yang Jeong-Sim (Ewha Womans University).

In the third session, “Truth, Justice, and Solidarity,” Youk Chhang, 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award honoree and the executive director of the Sleuk Rith Institute in Cambodia, will give a keynote speech entitled, “Responding to the Cambodian Genocide in a Global Context: A Strategic Plan.” Afterwards, the following presentations will be given by the speakers: “Indonesia’s Turbulence of Justice in 20 Years of ‘Reformasi’” by Nisrina Nadhifah Rahman (Kontras, Indonesia); “The History of Okinawa Resistance in Discrimination and Oppression” by Takazato Suzuyo (Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence, Japan); “The Development of the 5.18 Democratic Uprising and the Process of the Honor Recovery” by Song Han-Yong (Director, May 18 Research Institute, Chonnam National University); “A Journey Towards the History of Truth and Justice” by Heo Yung-Sun (Director, Jeju 4.3 Research Institute); and “The 70 Years of the Jeju 4.3 Lived with Solidarity and It’s Time to Work with the Current Era” by Kang Ho-Jin (Memorial Committee for the 70th Anniversary of the Jeju April 3rd Uprising and Massacre). The session will close with a floor discussion. On Oct. 6, the participants will visit Jeju April 3rd Peace Park and related historic sites.

The conference will also provide an arena for solidarity and exchanges between domestic and international democratic research organizations. Academic entities such as 5.18 Research Institute, as well as members of Jeju and Pan-national Memorial Committee for the 70th Anniversary of the Jeju April 3rd Uprising and Massacre joined the effort. Overseas organizations include April 3rd Action Committee in Osaka, Tokyo Group for Consideration of Jeju April 3rd, and Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence from Japan, Sleuk Rith Institute from Cambodia, Kontras from Indonesia. As an additional event to the conference, Kim Bong-Gyu, a photojournalist from the Hankyeoreh, will hold “Special Exhibition on Jeju 4.3 and Genocide” at the KAL Hotel lobby.