Conference Program

The politics of memory plays a significant role in the relations between states that have experienced tragic events. Even after several decades, the aggressor and the victim maintain distinct identities, leading to potential disagreements and disputes between them in history, memory and identity. Due to Japan’s annexation and occupation of Korea in 1910-1945, the current relations between the two nations are among the most complicated in the East Asian region. Numerous unresolved historical issues persist, perpetuating strain and detrimentally impacting South Korean-Japanese relations.

The paper presents the novel concept of the multilevel politics of memory, focusing on the role of South Korean cities, in shaping collective memory regarding Japan’s colonial past and wartime atrocities. While previous research has primarily examined the national dimension, this paper highlights the significance of subnational entities. South Korean cities assume three roles in the politics of memory: as actors, they actively commemorate historical events and promote specific narratives; as places, they host official commemoration events, museums, and memorials; and as issues, they hold significant importance within the politics of memory. Based on the multilevel governance theory and concept of the multilevel politics of memory, by examining the case of South Korean cities, this paper emphasizes the importance of considering the local context, historical experiences, and collective memories of cities, providing a comprehensive understanding beyond the national level. It contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamics between South Korea and Japan and their cooperation or conflict regarding historical matters.

This study is interested in how the sub-state actors negotiate their authority in a global system. It looks at the special case of the Taiwanese paradiplomacy to explore the rhetorical work involved in negotiating the island's local governments’ legitimacy in global politics with the interested stakeholders, with particular attention to China. It examines how China politicizes Taiwanese paradiplomacy while Taiwanese cities and counties actively participate in global affairs despite the island’s diplomatic isolation on the international stage due to three interrelated factors: a) the growing acceptance of the agenda on the necessity of including substate units to solve global problems; b) push of the local governments around the globe to claim authority in international relations and challenge the dominating paradigm of diplomacy as state-to-state relations; c) local governments’ promotion of the understanding of substate relations as focusing on the functional areas in opposition to those related to sovereignty and the ensuing particular division of responsibilities in international relations.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) brought Central Asian countries into focus. On the national level, the primary five countries generally have active attitudes toward the BRI. At the same time, Kyrgyzstan, with the lowest GDP (2020), is set apart from others as it was once regarded as a hybrid regime according to the Democracy Index. On the sub-national level, China and Kyrgyzstan have established 25 sister cities as of January 2024, outnumbering any counterparts in this region. Meanwhile, the biggest anti-Chinese protests took place in Bishkek in 2019 against the work permits for Chinese citizens and China’s influence in Kyrgyzstan. These data and facts raise two crucial research questions for this paper — (1) what factors maintain Sino-Kyrgyzstan relations? (2) how do their interactions on the national and subnational levels mutually influence each other in the BRI context? By empirically reviewing Sino-Kyrgyzstan relations on each level, this paper argues that an eclectic approach can be applied to explain the multi-layered relations. Specifically, neoclassical realism is an ideal analytical framework to explain the domestic impact on foreign policies, while complex interdependence provides an intersubjective lens by which more channels other than military relations can make a difference on both international and sub-national levels. This eclectic perspective can uniquely portray Sino-Kyrgyzstan ties and contribute to the research on multi-layered diplomacy in unitary countries.