Twenty-six South Korean and Japanese scholars marked the 100th anniversary of Japan’s forced annexation of Korea by saying that Japan carried out its annexation by force over the opposition of Koreans, and presented a 21-point agenda for a new era of Korea-Japan relations.

Seoul University Professor Ha Young-sun and Keio University Professor Masao Okonogi, the joint chairs of “Joint Research for a New Korea-Japan Age,” officially announced this report at the Central Government Complex Annex in Seoul on Friday afternoon and advised the leaders of the two nations soon and announce a South Korea-Japan “joint statement.”

Joint Research for a New Korea-Japan Age was formally launched in February of 2009, focused on political science scholars in both countries, in accordance with an agreement reached during the April 2008 South Korea-Japan summit.

The adoption of the phrase “against the backdrop of armed force” by the report in regards to Japan’s annexation by South Korea is interpreted as a clear expression that there was force used in the annexation process. This is more concrete than Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s statement last August regarding colonial rule “against the wishes of the Koreans.” The report made no mention of the illegality of the annexation, a key matter of debate.

The report presented as its future vision of bilateral ties the building of a comprehensive network for South Korea-Japan symbiosis that would contribute to East Asian and world peace and prosperity through a network of close cooperation in all sectors, including politics, security, economics and culture, by a diversity of actors in both countries, including government, local governments, corporations and NGOs.

To do this, the report presented a 21-point agenda, including the creation of a “Campus Asia” project that would exchange mass numbers of students between South Korea, China and Japan, push an “East Asia Knowledge Bank” that would store data, create an undersea tunnel and cooperate in the energy and environment sectors.

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Essential Vocabulary

the 100th anniversary of Japan's forced annexation of Korea: 강제병합 100주년/joint researcher:공동연구원