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2021 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

Generous Gesture? Franco-German Reconciliation from the Korean Perspective

Author : Dong-Ki Lee

Published in: Franco-German Relations Seen from Abroad

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The relationship between South Korea and Japan has been greatly influenced by unresolved historical problems. The main reason for South Korea’s interest in Franco-German reconciliation is that Germany and France have been able to face the pain of their shared past. In their criticism of Japan, most Koreans always refer to the German admission of guilt for Nazi crimes as a model. In view of the Japanese rejection of coming to terms with the past, a new approach must be adopted in South Korea: First the intensification of possible contacts with Japanese society, then a joint search for a long-term political solution to historical conflicts. The institutionalization of Franco-German cooperation, such as with the Franco-German Youth Office, can directly encourage South Koreans to take a further step towards closer and more stable cooperation. The contacts and networks for the cooperation between South Koreans and Japanese should not be disturbed by the politics of memory, but be intensified.

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previous chapter Indo-Pak Reconciliation Through the Franco-German Mirror
next chapter Franco-German Reconciliation Through the Prism of East Asia: A Japanese Perspective
Footnotes
1
On reports and articles written in Korean (Kim 2002, 2003; An 2006; Lee 2007).
 
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Metadata
Title
Generous Gesture? Franco-German Reconciliation from the Korean Perspective
Author
Dong-Ki Lee
Copyright Year
2021
Book
Franco-German Relations Seen from Abroad

Print ISBN: 978-3-030-55143-8

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-55144-5

Copyright Year: 2021

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55144-5_12

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