1. An ‘Island of World Peace’ and ecological justice community
Byeon Jong Heon (Professor of Teachers’ College in Jeju University)
The Korean government designated Jeju island as an ‘Island of World Peace’ in 2005. It can be evaluated as a meaningful project related to the future of Jeju, considering it expects for Jeju to play an important role in establishing peace in Northeast Asia and the world, going beyond Jeju. However, since Jeju’s designation as an ‘Island of World Peace’, in Jeju society, there have been different opinions and views on the meaning of peace and the concept of an ‘Island of World Peace’, intensifying in a flood of discourses on peace. There are different perspectives on the concept of an ‘Island of World Peace’. However, they can be divided into two views : a hub for international exchange and cooperation, and zone of peace. In other words, there are two main perceptions of what an ‘Island of World Peace’ actually menas. The one is to regard as a place to discuss peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, and furthermore, in the world and the other is to consider it as a new vision associated with the future of Jeju.
Since Jeju was designated as an ‘Island of World Peace’, Jeju has achieved its desired results in the projects related to it and also in promoting its image as an island of world peace. Peace has emerged as a new brand value of Jeju and together with the vision for a free international city and the ecological value of Jeju’s nature, it has served as a pivot in designing the future of Jeju. By the way, current Jeju society is also facing a paradoxical situation quite different from it. One of most regrettable things is that there have been prolonged conflicts and confusion over the value of peace between citizens.
‘Jeju 4•3’ has brought pain and feud to Jeju society and is still causing political and ideological divide. Moreover, Jeju has conflicts between different interests and clashes between values, including between environment and development and between security and peace. As a part of the efforts for the establishment of a free international city, Jeju pushed for reorganization of its administration, a shopping outlet project, the foundation of for-profit hospital, and the construction of a naval base. However those endeavors led to some complications. In addition to that, there are conflict and confusion among citizens over the construction of a second airport. Those are the current situations of Jeju, an island of world peace. Moreover, with the influx of population and a surge in the number of domestic and foreign tourists, Jeju is suffering from various complications such as a boom in the real estate market, noise, and traffic congestion, and so on. These things threaten not only local residents’ quality of life, but also undermine a spirit of mutual cooperation and a sense of community.
Against this backdrop, we need to be reminded that the establishment of peace in Northeast Asia and the world, neglecting Jeju’s reality and peace doesn’t make sense. It is because that without resolving the challenges and conflicts facing Jeju rationally and peacefully, advocating and pursing an ‘island of world peace’ will end up as an empty rhetoric. Therefore, in the process for the establishment of an ‘island of world peace’, what is crucial and fundamental is a paradigm shift which could enable Jeju to overcome the several competing claims and conflict situations it is facing. In other words, Jeju has to reflect on the true meaning of peace and what top priorities for the establishment of an ‘island of world peace’ are, and then explore practical solutions to realize them in Jeju society. Creation of a culture of peace will serve as a starting point.
“Culture of peace’ is a foundation for ecological justice community, which can be considered as the future of the Jeju community. ‘Ecological justice community’ can be defined as a community in a state where it is free from threat of war, violence, and poverty and relationships between humans as well as between humans and the natural ecosystem are in balance. Jeju will have to move toward a community where people enjoy prosperity and peace with humans and nature in balance and can realize individual freedom and social justice. Culture of peace is a cornerstone for realization of the future vision of Jeju community. Accordingly, Jeju’s project for an ‘Island of World Peace’ has to play a pivotal role in leading the ecological justice community by creating a culture of peace.
Jeju, an island of world peace, has to focus its attention and capability on paving the way for the improvement of inter-Korean relations and the reunification of the Korean Peninsula, and furthermore for the peace in Northeast Asia and the world, by creating and spreading peace culture. The project for an ‘Island of World Peace’ needs to create peace culture in Jeju society which could help realize an ecological justice community and also make all-out efforts to spread it to the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, and furthermore, to the world.
2. Island of World Peace and Culture of Peace
A culture of peace can be regarded as peace in awareness, values, mode of behavior, and habit. This concept was first introduced in the international conference in Yamoussoukro, held by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1989. Since then, it was adopted as a UNESCO’s program in 1995 and spread to the world. Peace has been usually regarded as something that can be achieved through laws and institutions to regulate activities among countries in international relations. On the contrary, peace of culture is a new approach to realize peace, focusing on change in human nature. In other words, a change is seen in finding solutions from laws and institutions to a psychological approach in which there should be peace in the minds of men.
A culture of peace can be called peace which is living and moving. As a culture of life, it seeks a life where different individual live together, share, communicate, and take care each other and also includes social responsibility to fight against poverty and discrimination. At the same time, it guarantees political equality, social justice, and cultural diversity. Its purpose is to change a culture of war, violence, deception, and discrimination into a culture of nonviolence, dialogue, tolerance, and solidarity.
A culture of peace can be referred to as a state where peace becomes a meaningful issue and is internalized and practiced in daily life. In this context, in order to realize peace, efforts should be made to create peace culture as a life style as well as to establish structural and institutional conditions. A culture of peace is a mode of behavior and deep devotion to freedom, justice, equality, and the principle of solidarity between humans. Moreover, it encompasses harmonious relations between human and community and between human and the natural ecosystem, going beyond human relations. In this regard, it is the way of life of coexistence and harmony that is required in relations with themselves, others, communities, and the natural ecosystem.
It is an environment and condition that enables human to live a decent life with pride in themselves, where human beings respect others and protect nature for the sake of their communities. Realizing this fact and acting on it is the key to peace culture. Discussions on peace used to be regarded as structural and political matters. However, humans actively and independently cope with and make decisions on the various problems which arise from the relations with themselves, communities, and the natural ecosystem. If those humans are wrong, it is impossible to establish peace in communities, and coexists harmoniously with natural ecosystem. In this regard, it is crucial to establish and spread peace culture based on cultivation of individual peace awareness and peace competency.
Based on the creation of peace culture, Jeju’s project for becoming an ‘Island of World Peace’ has to play a central role in realizing the ecological justice community, which is Jeju’s future vision. By spreading peace culture, Jeju has to take the initiative for improvement in inter-Korean relations and peace on the Korean Peninsula and furthermore in Northeast Asia and the world. These goals can be realized by using the status and capacity of Jeju, an island of world peace, including as a zone for peace discourse, a center for peace education, and a hub for an eco-vaccine.
3. Jeju’s creation of peace culture and its spread
1) A forum for peace discourse
The international community has many challenges and pending issues which have been emerging in the post cold war era, including human right, the climate crisis, the environment, the spread of infectious diseases, problems between advanced and developing countries, and regional conflicts. Against this backdrop, Jeju island has drawn attention as a center for international exchange and cooperation to discuss and resolve these issues.
In particular, in spite of the ups and downs in the inter-Korean relations, Jeju sent tangerine to North Korea and held ‘inter-Korean Peace Festival’. Also Jeju residents paid visits to North Korea three times. Through these efforts, Jeju island has established itself as a center for inter-Korean exchange and cooperation. For this reason, it has been in the limelight as an optimal region for discussion on the new order for peace in Northeast Asia and the world, as well as, on the inter-Korean relations and peace on the Korean Peninsula.
In this circumstance, Jeju, an island of world peace has to serve as a center for discussion on peace and for exchange and cooperation between countries on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, and furthermore, the world. By doing so, it needs to play a leading role in expanding the opportunities to create a discourse on peace seeking a new international order. For stability and co-prosperity in the region of Northeast Asia, it can take the initiative in promoting the establishment of a peace cooperation body by activating multilateral cooperation at a governmental or non-governmental organization level. For instance, the ‘Helsinki Process’ played the main role in establishing the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). The action plan for the ‘Jeju Process’ modeled on it was proposed at the ‘4th Jeju Peace Forum’ in 2007.
As the diplomatic space have currently become complicated, the role of cities is gradually growing. Considering that the city diplomacy can help improve the relations between countries based on the friendly cooperation between cities, it can be an effective way to realize peace. In other words, if cooperation and solidarity between cities of peace through city diplomacy are established, it can serve as a foundation for peace in the region and the world, going beyond peace at an individual country level. In this context, Jeju, an island of world peace need to expand exchanges between other cities which are pursuing peace and to lead the solidarity between cities of peace through active city diplomacy.
In order to strengthen the mutual trust and to achieve co-prosperity and peace between countries in Northeast Asia, opportunities should be expanded to understand and cooperate with each other through dialogues and exchanges at city and citizen level. In the same vein, what is noticeable is the program of ‘Dialogue with City Citizens in ROK, China, and Japan’, which Jeju is going to promote. It has the goal and expectation that Jeju, an island of world peace will play a central role in establishing solidarity between cities of peace around the world and that building on this, it will thereby expand peace culture with them.
In addition, based on the promotion of exchanges and establishment of sisterhood relationships with cities in North Korea, Jeju island needs to lay the foundation for cooperation and solidarity to achieve peace on the Korean peninsula and its reunification from mid and long term perspectives. In terms of city diplomacy, cities in North Korea can also be regarded as subjects for exchange and cooperation as well as invaluable partners for cooperation in promoting peace. Starting with the tangerine donation to North Korea in 1999, Jeju island has consistently pushed ahead with inter-Korean cooperation projects and has achieved good results and experiences. Those will serve as great assets to help build friendly relations and trust with cities in North Korea and furthermore move toward peace on the Korean Peninsula and its reunification.
Jeju, an island of world peace has to lay the foundation for integration and solidarity based on mutual trust. To make this possible, it has to create and spread peace culture and also actively engage in regional exchange and city diplomacy with North Korea, China, and Japan and so on. Based on this, Jeju will serve as a main actor in resolving the instability in the region and establishing co-prosperity and peaceful order. The activation of city diplomacy can be achieved through exchange and cooperation with cites of peace and local governments in Northeast Asia and furthermore the world. It could be one of attractive solutions that Jeju, an island of world peace, can choose.
2) Center for Peace Education
Maria Montessori argued that while preventing war is the fundamental work of politics, creating and maintaining peace is the mission of education. It implies that through education, internalizing peace in daily life is crucial.
In this context, Jeju, an island of world peace has to make efforts to create and spread peace culture. To this end, it needs to focus on research and education to cultivate so called peace generations whose aptitude and attitude may enable them to internalize peace into their daily lives and act by it.
A culture of peace can pave the way for understanding not only many pending issues related to conflicts of local community, but also the conflict structure of our society, including inter-Korean relations and reunification issue and for resolving them in rational and peaceful ways. By playing a role in creating and spreading peace culture, Jeju, an island of world peace can enhance its capability to peacefully address all conflicts, which may arise from the process of social and cultural integration during and following inter-Korean unification. Peace education is one of most effective ways to emphasize and cultivate this capability.
Accordingly, Jeju, an island of world peace, has to strengthen the foundation for research and education related to peace and also serve as a center for peace research and education through the network between related institutes from home and abroad. Furthermore, based on human and knowledge exchange with research institutes and educational institutions from the various countries in Northeast Asia and the world, it should take the lead in establishing peace education cluster. Through these efforts, it will not only serve as a center for peace education to create and spread peace culture, but also lay the foundation for cultivation of peace generations of Northeast Asia, who will pursue and be able to practice peace in the region and the world.
When it comes to cultivation of peace generations who will be able to contribute to peace in Northeast Asia and the world, going beyond Jeju and the Korean Peninsula, we can refer to the ‘Erasmus Program’, adapted by the EU (European Union). The program, launched in 1987, has had a huge impact on the globalization of universities in Europe and to date, it has provided more than 2 million university students of Europe with the opportunity to experience the education and culture of other countries and regions across borders. The program allows young people with different languages and cultural backgrounds to gather, study, and live together for several months. As a result, they can broaden their mutual understanding and shape their identities as Europeans.
The ‘Erasmus Program’ is regarded as one of the successful models which universities in the Asian region try to benchmark. In reality, international organizations related to higher education in Asia are putting their efforts for exchange and cooperation in this sector within the region through a variety of programs. However, in order to establish coexistence and peace in Northeast Asia, it is important for university students in the region to make efforts to shape identity as Northeast Asian, going beyond the borders of individual countries and encompassing the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. And those endeavors have to be based on communication, exchange, and mutual understanding,
In this context, it can be considered that an intensive program with specialized theme including peace in Northeast Asia and the world like the ‘An Jung-Geun Peace Program’ needs to be developed. The program would allow university students in Northeast Asia to share the opportunity to mutually exchange and study together. As its course and content of education is focused on the theme of peace, it would provide students with the opportunity to raise their awareness of peace and strengthen peace competency, based on the perception of the universal value of peace. Through the program, they would be able to overcome the limits of identities as the people of an individual country who blindly cave in to the exclusiveness of national interests. Moreover, as citizens of Northeast Asia, Asia, ,and furthermore, the world and as peace generation, they could develop their aptitude and attitude, through which they would be able to share and respect the value of peace.
3) Hub for Eco-vaccine
When we approach issues related to peace from the perspective of coexistence and harmony between humans and the natural ecosystem, Jeju’s beautiful nature could be an invaluable asset that could emphasize and draw attention to the meaning and value of peace in a broad sense at Northeast Asia and the world level, as well as, at the Korean peninsula level. It is because that as an ecological repository recognized by the world, the value of Jeju’s nature could serve as a foundation for re-evaluation of the meaning of peace and recognition of its importance, going beyond the simple dimension of natural environment. In this context, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Jeju, an island of world peace would be able to fulfill the role as a hub for an eco-vaccine, which remind human beings of the importance and value of the natural ecosystem for their survival and future.
Based on its solid status as an eco-city, Jeju, an island of world peace, will be able to take the initiative in building solidarity to gather wisdom from the countries in Northeast Asia in order to overcome the overall crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic and to address common challenges. In other words, Jeju will be able to present solutions for North Korea to overcome the Covid-19 crisis and to lead the collective efforts in the region to make the possible. Furthermore, as a model of an eco-city to lead the project centered on ecological value, Jeju will be able to show leadership in response to the spread of infectious diseases and health crises, which can happen anytime in Northeast Asia or East Asia, as well as, global problem of climate crisis.
Challenge and crisis, triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic are expanding to the entire world. With these prolonged difficult situations, it is hard to have optimism for the future of humans. As periodic outbreaks of virus, threatening to humans, are associated with global warming and the climate crisis, the future of humans and the global village has become uncertain. The crisis humans are currently witnessing can be regarded as an existential and overall crisis, considering that it has an impact on human survival itself and across all sectors of the lives of human beings in both direct and indirect ways.
Seen from a different angle, the crisis can be considered a natural consequence from the limited understanding of the meaning of peace and breakdown of peace culture. If Peace is regarded as a state of coexistence and harmony between the environment and the lives of human beings, the meaning of peace needs to be interpreted more comprehensively, going beyond the passive state with no violence and conflict. Accordingly, resolving the threats to so called human security such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis is also the important for establishing peace. Likewise, the expanded concept of peace shows that peace is about more than human relations. This implies that we need to understand the meaning of peace from the perspective of coexistence and harmony between humans and the natural ecosystem as well as of from human relations.
In this regard, in order to realize peace overcoming the existential and overall crisis of the global village, we should not focus only on human relations but actively embrace and pay attention to the relations between humans and the world and between humans and the natural ecosystem. For this paradigm shift, we should step away from the previous perspective, where issues related to peace were dealt with focusing on human relations at a country level. We also make efforts to recover relations of coexistence and harmony between communities and the world, and furthermore, the natural ecosystem. In the era of existential crisis, facing the global village and human beings, peace should be redefined as building relations of coexistence and harmony between the lives of human beings and various environments, going beyond a state with no conflict and war.
The harmonious coexistence between human beings and natural ecosystem is one of crucial conditions for peace culture. For this reason, Jeju, an island of world peace should make all-out efforts to spread peace culture by serving as a hub for an eco-vaccine at the regional level of Northeast Asia, and furthermore, a global level. the Covid-19 pandemic has provided the opportunity for us to realize the importance of distancing between human beings and the natural ecosystem, and global cooperation and international solidarity across the borders of individual countries for human survival and a common future. Against this backdrop, while serving as a hub for an eco-vaccine based on the beautiful local nature, Jeju, an island of world peace, should play a pivotal role in leading integration and solidarity between countries in Northeast Asia in order to achieve coexistence and harmony between human beings and the natural ecosystem. Furthermore, based on these endeavors, it should join the journey toward world peace.