Summary
In order to objectively locate the current situation of Korea-Japan relation and establish future prospects, one should avoid viewing the relation as a special one and attain a comparative perspective. Moreover, a temporal comparison becomes necessary, to affirm the fact that the relation does not retain an unchanging essence, but rather has changed according to the times’ changes that are governed by international affairs. Additionally, tracing the changes of the Korea-Japan relation in its development could be significant, through comparing the two populations’ living and civic consciousness. Under the general topic of “50th Anniversary of Korea-Japan Normalization, a comparative study,” SNU Institute for Japanese Studies established three topics: the normalization from a comparative perspective, structural changes of international politics and 50 years of Korea-Japan relations, 50 years of Korea-Japan relations from a comparative perspective of people’s living. For this conference, six Korean and Japanese specialists cooperated and presented joint researches.
