60 years ago, June 25, 1950, North Korea attacked the South of the country. For three years a murderous war waged with million deaths waged on the Peninsula, cementing for decades to come the division of the country. June 23, 2010, a joint conference of the 60th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee as well as the Korean Institute for Defense Analysis (KIDA) remembered this with an international symposium.

As a keynote speaker Robert Scalapino, professor emeritus of UC Berkely, advised South Korea to use its economic and political clout won in recent decades for a strengthening of reform processes in the Northeast Asian region. Spencer Tucker (ABC-CLIO) and Prof. Myongsob Kim (Yonsei University) looked back at the Korean war and ideological developments in South Korea. Dr. Bernhard Seliger, Representative of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation in Korea, stressed on the enormous effects of the Korean War on Germany, since it was a catalyst for Western integration and the regaining of (West) German sovereignty and at the same time confirmed the decision for the system of Social Market Economy in Germany. Other presentations regarded (Prof. Man-Ho Heo of Kyungpook University), research on the attitude of South Koreans on the Korean War today (Dr. Kwangsik Kim of KIDA), security policy on the Korean Peninsula (Dr. James Pryzstrup of the Institute for National Strategic Studies), the Korean economic miracle (Prof. Jaymin Lee of Yonsei University) and possibilities to strengthen the commemoration of the Korean War (National Assemblywoman Ok-Nim Chung).

More information on the symposium can be found at: http://eng.koreanwar60.go.kr

Prof. Scalapino gave the keynote speech of the conference

Dr. Seliger talked about the impact of the Korean War on Europe and in particular Germany.