Peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula: Potential Reciprocal Empowerment

Given its extensive geopolitical dimensions, involving the Cold War legacy and nuclear

weapons, the role of civil society peacebuilders on the Korean peninsula has not been

drawing significant attention, compared to the high-level negotiators. However, there have

been several civil society peacebuilding groups who have been building relationships with

people in North Korea across the Demilitarized Zone, and promoting civic values for peace,

in order to overcome the fragile armistice situation and build a sustainable peace on the

Korean peninsula. The first part of this talk explores the invaluable contribution of diverse

peacebuilding groups on the Korean peninsula. The second part discusses potential

reciprocal empowerment for peacebuilders by presenting a case study of lesson sharing

visits between peacebuilders in the Korean and Irish peace processes. Recently, historical

similarities and concurrences in the peace processes have been increasing the lesson

sharing visits between Korean and Irish peacebuilders. This talk demonstrates that trans-

local interactions between peacebuilders would not only generate useful lessons for each

context, but also empower peacebuilders, provided the comparisons and interactions are

reciprocal, not unidirectional or hierarchical.

Our Speaker

Dong Jin is Irish School of Ecumenics Fellow in Peace and Reconciliation Studies, Trinity College

Dublin. His research interests are in the area of peacebuilding, reconciliation, humanitarian and

development cooperation in the Korean peninsula, and comparative studies of peace processes in the

conflict affected countries including Korea and Ireland. He is also a Goodwill Ambassador for Peace

on the Korean Peninsula at the South Korean Government Ministry of Unification, and a policy

advisor for the Korean Peacebuilding NGOs including the Korean Sharing Movement (KSM) and

Okedongmu Children in Korea. He is author of The Korean Peace Process and Civil Society

(Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). His recent articles include ‘Reciprocal Empowerment for Civil Society

Peacebuilding: Sharing Lessons between the Korean and Northern Ireland Peace Processes'

(Globalizations, 2021); ‘Beyond identity lines: women building peace in Northern Ireland and the

Korean peninsula’ (Asia Europe Journal, 2020); ‘Sharing Lessons between Peace Processes: A

Comparative Case Study on the Northern Ireland and Korean Peace Processes’ (Social Sciences,

2018); ‘Building Relationships Across the Boundaries: The Peacebuilding Role of Civil Society in the

Korean Peninsula’ (International Peacekeeping, 2017); and ‘Aid to the Enemy: Linking Development

and Peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula’ (Pacific Review, 2016).