제주평화연구원

Jeju, Island of World Peace 2.0

  [caption id="" align="alignright" width="150"] Kyungmin Ko
Professional Researcher, Jeju Research Institute[/caption] Peace has historically been a value or an ideal for many states and the international community as a whole. A number of academic studies have explored theories and discourses on peace in international relations. Countries in military standoff, notably South Korea, have been preoccupied with developing strategies to attain peace for their own sake. Meanwhile, there have been few, if any, projects exploring practical alternatives to achieve peace on a local level. In this regard, “Jeju, Island of World Peace” is a novel project for building and spreading peace via the initiative of local governments, instead of national or international actors.   Designated and declared as the “Island of World Peace” by the Roh Moo-hyun administration in 2005, Jeju Island has been diligent in carrying out the so-called 17 peace in practice projects. Looking back on the 12 years since the declaration, the Island of World Peace has progressed as to be on the verge of a major breakthrough. Three reasons stand out in favor of achieving such a breakthrough and unveiling a new horizon.   First, new initiatives succeeding the 17 peace in practice projects have become necessary. Among the 17 undertakings were establishing the Jeju Peace Institute, regularizing the Jeju Forum, hosting international peace conferences and the UNITAR Jeju International Training Center, etc. Initiatives for peace-building on the Korean peninsula, such as sending mandarins to North Korea, have effectively been discontinued due to strained inter-Korean relations. Meanwhile, projects to mark the Jeju April 3rd Massacre, including opening a peace park, conserving historic sites and establishing a remembrance day, are now nearing completion. The time has come for new, more ambitious follow-up projects to be designed, taking into account the changing environment both within and beyond the country as well as the improved status of Jeju Island.   Second, new peace projects should involve efforts to promote a culture of peace in order to attain peace within the Jeju community. In fact, disputes surrounding public policies and projects carried out by central or local governments began to escalate from 2002, when Jeju was designated as a free international city and a special self-governing province. Adding to the turmoil are issues such as the soaring number of tourists and ill-planned, slapdash development, rising speculative demand, poor maintenance of water and sewage, traffic and waste treatment systems, etc. A peaceful mechanism must be devised that can help relieve the growing pains in the course of becoming a greater, better Jeju.   Third, the conventional notion of peace should be reevaluated as a popular concept and also be translated into practicable programs. In his opening address at the 2016 “Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity,” Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong proposed an extended notion of peace for boundless prosperity of Asia, based on the island’s experience of overcoming painful history and achieving harmony and reconciliation. The concept is defined by “peace of healing” as derived from the nature of Jeju Island, “peace of tolerance” arising from the open-mindedness and diversity of the island and “peaceful use of energy” whereby the entire process of energy production and consumption is satisfied in an environmentally peaceful way. By clarifying overly idealistic and abstract peace discourses as concrete issues, the proposal in the address ostensibly provided a basis for new and practical peace projects.   Ten years into the project, however, the island of Jeju seems somewhat exhausted. There is a growing sense that its status and image as the Island of World Peace are fading. Without adequate support from the central government to encourage the design and implementation of new peace projects, follow-up programs seem unlikely. Recent developments on the Korean peninsula as well as in East Asia involving diplomatic and military standoffs render discussions on peace less realistic. Growing disputes over interest within the island community warrant a mechanism for peaceful resolution.   Is the peace in practice project of the Island of World Peace coming to an end? If not, the leadership of the project should not ignore the internal conflict and disarray of the island. While the past 10 years saw the building of international cooperation and infrastructure for peace, the next decade should focus on spreading the peace culture within the island and on searching for new peace projects based on an extended definition of peace.   What is called Jeju, Island of World Peace 2.0 should be oriented towards deepening understanding among the local population about peace practice, internalizing peace in daily lives for harmony and tolerance, and fostering civic virtues to resolve disagreements and disputes in a democratic and rational way. Equally important is to a comprehensive and multifaceted notion of peace to the extent of seeking peace in such issues as ecology, environment and energy.   Governor Won announced that Jeju Island would play its role as an “intellectual melting pot of peace discourse” and “incubator of peace practice” as well as a “peace entrepreneur accumulating peace capital.” It amounts to a bold declaration that the island will become a “global platform of peace.” To this end, peace within the Jeju community is undoubtedly a prerequisite.   However, peace does not come by itself. It must begin by bolstering and fostering the capabilities of the civil society of the island. Meanwhile, new peace programs should be designed and implemented based on the extended concept of peace. It would be absurd to talk of world peace without peace on the island itself. That is what makes “Jeju, Island of World Peace 2.0” different from version 1.0.