{"id":30921,"date":"2023-06-06T19:51:11","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T17:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=30921"},"modified":"2023-06-06T19:53:34","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T17:53:34","slug":"truth-of-us-fault-in-jeju-massacre-must-be-conveyed-via-evidence-to-the-world-argues-ex-foreign-minister-of-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=30921","title":{"rendered":"Truth of US fault in Jeju massacre must be conveyed via evidence to the world, argues ex-foreign minister of Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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… . HUMAN RIGHTS … . <\/p>\n

An article by Heo Ho-Joon in Hankyoreh<\/a><\/p>\n

To achieve true reconciliation regarding the Jeju April 3 Incident, the US government must take responsibility for its historical wrongdoing in the same way as the Korean government, argues Gareth Evans, the former foreign minister of Australia. The US\u2019 key role will be acknowledging responsibility and apologizing, he says.<\/p>\n

These remarks came on the first day of the 18th Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity held at the International Convention Center Jeju in Seogwipo during the \u201cMaking the Solution of Jeju 4.3 a Global Model: Truth, Reconciliation and Solidarity\u201d session hosted by the Jeju 4.3 Research Institute. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nGareth Evans, the former foreign minister of Australia, speaks at the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity. (courtesy of the Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation) <\/center><\/p>\n

The previous day, Evans received the fifth annual Jeju 4.3 Peace Prize presented by the Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation. Evans was awarded the prize for his involvement in the conclusion of the Paris Peace Agreements that brought peace and an end to civil war in Cambodia, an opportunity which he seized to create the international \u201cresponsibility to protect\u201d norm in 2005 that enables the UN to intervene in order to protect civilians in the event of state-sponsored genocide. Evans has also been involved in peace work such as nuclear nonproliferation and banning chemical weapons.<\/p>\n

The 4.3 Peace Prize Special Award was awarded to painter Kang Yo-bae for his contribution to informing people about the Jeju April 3 Incident through his \u201cHistory of People\u2019s Uprising in Jeju\u201d and \u201cThe Camellia Has Fallen\u201d series of works in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

Efforts to inform the international community of the tragic history that took place 70 years ago in Jeju must be taken, Evans argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf mass atrocity crimes of the kind that occurred here on Jeju are not remembered and seared into the nation\u2019s and the world\u2019s consciousness, [. . .] then the prospect is all too real that these horrors will recur again, that people will fail to recognize the early warning signs of catastrophe before it is too late, and that we will fail as an international community to develop the kind of prevention and response strategies that minimize that risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Expressing concern about the movement to reveal the truth about crimes against humanity weakening in the international community, Evans said that the truth of and responsibility for the Jeju April 3 Incident must be conveyed to the international community so that it may serve as a basis for the creation of principles for solving these sorts of problems.<\/p>\n

Evans argued that the level of responsibility the US should bear for the Jeju April 3 Incident must be explicitly stated based on historical evidence, and blame should be clearly assigned through fact-finding work.<\/p>\n

The former foreign minister stressed that the US is \u201cfailing to properly acknowledge this responsibility.\u201d Accordingly, he said, we must urge the US to acknowledge its responsibility in ethical and moral terms by thoroughly bringing the truth to light through evidence.<\/p>\n

(Article continued in right column)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Question related to this article:<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n

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Truth Commissions, Do they improve human rights?<\/a> <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

(Article continued from left column)<\/p>\n

Evans recalled the moment when former German Chancellor Willy Brandt knelt down in front of the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw, Poland, in December 1971, and noted how the world remembers how Germany has continued to apologize for the Holocaust. He suggested that Japan should take a leaf out of Germany\u2019s book and apologize for the horrific brutalities it committed in colonies in the past.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Evans suggested that, in the same way that President Barack Obama paid respects at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Biden should express a similar sentiment with regard to the uprising and massacre in Jeju 70 years ago. Doing so will make the US a nation that \u201cwarrants respect,\u201d he said, and will serve to bolster the alliance between Korea and the US.<\/p>\n

During a press conference after the fact, Evans called for accountability from the US government with regard to the massacre of Jeju citizens during the Jeju April 3 Incident.<\/p>\n

Saying that while it may appear impossible for the US government to share responsibility for the Jeju April 3 Incident in the same manner as the Korean government, Evans noted that what is clear is that the specific nature of US responsibility must be revealed. Real conciliation is about acknowledging and accepting one\u2019s own mistakes, he stressed.<\/p>\n

In his acceptance speech for the peace prize, Evans emphasized the \u201cnecessity to retain memory of the worst if we are to progress at all toward achieving the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we fail to remember the indescribable horror and misery that is involved in any major war, we are at profound risk of sleepwalking into another,\u201d he said of the need to improve global and regional performance when it comes to conflict prevention and response.<\/p>\n

Evans also brought up the recent Korea-US summit.<\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Korea is closer to the eye of the storm than my own country, and most others,\u201d he said. \u201cYour preoccupation with North Korea\u2019s ever-increasing nuclear weapon capability and endless rhetorical belligerence is perfectly understandable.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he cautioned against heeding the \u201cmany domestic voices\u201d that are arguing for South Korea to arm itself with nuclear weapons. \u201cFor that to happen would be disastrous for the global non-proliferation regime, and with it your country\u2019s international reputation, while doing little or nothing to actually enhance your security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans expressed concern about Presidents Joe Biden of the US and Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea having \u201cdoubled down on their commitment to nuclear deterrence,\u201d saying, \u201cWhat South Korea, like Australia, should focus on ensuring in all our alliances with the US is not extended nuclear deterrence, with all [the] enormous risks that entails, but extended conventional deterrence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to build a worldwide culture of peace, there is a crucial need not only for us to remember what has gone so badly wrong in the past, but to stay optimistic about changing things for the better,\u201d Evans stressed. \u201cI\u2019m sure that this is the spirit which sustained the people of Jeju during those long decades of government denial and suppression of the truth, before democracy and decency finally prevailed. I know it is the spirit which will sustain the effort to universalize the Jeju model of truth, reconciliation, and international solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the closing session of the Jeju Forum on the afternoon of June 2, Evans spoke with Governor Oh Young-hun of Jeju on the topic of \u201cPromoting the Culture of Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… . HUMAN RIGHTS … . An article by Heo Ho-Joon in Hankyoreh To achieve true reconciliation regarding the Jeju April 3 Incident, the US government must take responsibility for its historical wrongdoing in the same way as the Korean government, argues Gareth Evans, the former foreign minister of Australia. The US\u2019 key role will … Continue reading Truth of US fault in Jeju massacre must be conveyed via evidence to the world, argues ex-foreign minister of Australia<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,13],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-30921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-east-asia","category-human-rights","tag-east-asia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}