Beyond the Dividing Wall of Hostility: A Theory and Practice of Reconciliation for the Korean Church in the Conflict between "Comfort Women" and Japanese Government Open Access
Shin, Won Chul (2016)
Published
Abstract
There is ongoing conflict between "comfort women", who were
exploited as a sexual slavery by Japan during World War II, and
present Japanese government; this conflict has been sustained by
Japanese government's official denial of sexual slavery during the
war time. My thesis aims at resolving this ongoing conflict between
two parties in terms of the language of reconciliation from my
reflection and reconstruction of 1) Christian theology and ethics
and 2) circumstances in other contexts over the world. I
particularly focus on an agency of the Korean church in the process
of reconciliation.
In the first and second chapter, I intend to suggest a sound theory
of reconciliation in light of a compatible relation between agape
and justice in the age of peace-building. Nurturing agape
transforms justice from liberal justice - mere fairness and strict
punishment - to restorative justice - restoring the right
relationship. Restorative justice is the indispensable part of
agape, and it also prevents agape from lapsing into injustice. Both
nurturing agape and restorative justice shared a moral vision of
restoration of the right relationship - bringing down the dividing
of walls of hostility in the world of injustice and violence. In
the third chapter, I try to persuade the Korean church to become an
agent of reconciliation between "comfort women" and the Japanese
government. I explored the richness of Christian languages of
reconciliation in Christian tradition: 1) the Christology and
Ecclesiology of Barth and Bonhoeffer and 2) the Pauline theology
interpreted by Volf and Lederach.
In the rest of chapters I intend to develop possible practices of
the Korean church in order to facilitate the process of
reconciliation between "comfort women" and Japanese government. In
the fourth chapter, I first explored the social context and
location of "comfort women" by borrowing a Korean ethos, Han -
suppressed pain from injustice or oppression. In the fifth and
sixth chapters I suggested four practices of the Korean church -
acknowledgement, reparations, apology, and forgiveness - for
healing wounds of "comfort women" and restoring the right
relationship between them and the Korean church, Korean society,
and Japanese government.
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION 1
SECTION I: A THEORY OF RECONCILIATION FOR THE KOREAN CHURCH
Chapter 1. A Compatible Relation between Agape and Justice 8
1.1. Wolterstorff's Critique of Modern Day Agapism 10
1.2. Wolterstorff's Care-Agapism 13
1.3. Evaluation on the Critique of Modern Day Agapism and
Care-Agapism 15
1.4. My Position: Nurturing Agape and Restorative Justice 20
Chapter 2. Reconciliation As a Proper End of Agape and Justice
28
2.1. Definition of Reconciliation: Restoration of the Right
Relationship 29
2.2. Agape and Justice in Harmony toward Reconciliation 31
2.2.1. Volf's Model: Will to Embrace-Liberation/Justice-Actual
Embrace
2.2.2. Philpott's Model: Mercy-Restorative Justice-Just Peace
Chapter 3. Theological and Social Meanings of Reconciliation in
Christian Tradition 40
3.1. Theological/Social Meaning of Reconciliation 41
in Christology and Ecclesiology
3.2. Theological/Social Meaning of Reconciliation in Pauline
Theology 44
SECTION II: A PRACTICE FOR THE KOREAN CHURCH AS AN AGENT OF
RECONCILITION BETWEEN "COMFORT WOMEN" AND JAPANESE GOVERNMENT
Chapter 4. Social Context of "Comfort Women" 48
4.1. The Critical Issue: Forced Mobilization or Consenting
Prostitute? 49
4.2. Han of "Comfort Women" in Korean Society 50
4.2.1. Han from Being Born as a Daughter in the Korean Family
4.2.2. Han from Living As a Surviving "Comfort Women" in Korean
Society
Chapter 5. Description of Four Practices for Reconciliation
57
5.1. Acknowledgement 58
5.2. Reparations 59
5.3. Apology 61
5.4. Forgiveness 63
Chapter 6. Practices of the Korean Church for Reconciliation
67
between "Comfort Women" and Japanese Government
6.1. The Korean Church's Practices for Encouraging Acknowledgement
68
6.1.1. The Recovery of Historical Memory Project for "Comfort
Women"
6.2. The Korean Church's Practices for Implementing Reparations
73
6.2.1. Biblical Resources and Educational Programs for Trauma
Healing
6.3. The Korean Church's Practices for Doing Apology 81
6.3.1. The National Sorry Day for "Comfort Women"
6.3.2. A Liturgy of Apology for "Comfort Women"
6.4. The Korean Church's Practices for Supporting Forgiveness
88
CONCLUSION 91
BIBLIOGRAPHY 96
About this Master's Thesis
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