“Re-examining the Sunshine Policy”

The inaugural lecture will be given by Professor Moon Chung-in of the Department of Political Science at Yonsei University. Professor Moon Chung-in is a leading scholar in arms control and Korean unification. His lecture, entitled “Kim Dae-Jung and the Sunshine Policy”, will offer a re-examination of former President Kim Dae-Jung's Sunshine Policy.

He will discuss how the mood of optimism, prevalent for much of the past decade, now appears to be shattered following recent political and military skirmishes between the Koreas.

Dr. Michael D. Shin, said: “We are very excited that Prof. Moon is giving the inaugural lecture because of his combination of scholarly erudition, experience at dealing with North-South relations in high-level government posts, and commitment to promoting peace and understanding in East Asia”.

Often referred to as the “Nelson Mandela of Asia,” Kim Dae-Jung (1925–2009) was a democracy activist, dissident politician, and President of South Korea (1998-2003). Over the course of his decades-long struggle against the military dictatorship in South Korea, he survived an assassination attempt and was once sentenced to death.

His leadership was crucial to the victory of the democracy movement in 1987, and he later became the first opposition politician to be elected president of South Korea in 1997. As president, Kim led the country through the Asian financial crisis and tried to break through decades of Cold War animosity by pursuing a policy of engagement with North Korea termed the Sunshine Policy.

He went to Pyongyang for a historic summit between the two Koreas in 2000, and for his efforts to reunify and bring lasting peace to the peninsula, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. After his defeat in the presidential election of 1992, he spent several months as a visiting scholar at Clare Hall. He received an honorary doctorate from the University in 2001.

The Kim Dae-Jung Memorial Lecture in Korean Studies, will bring a prominent scholar on Korea to Cambridge to discuss issues to which Kim Dae-Jung devoted his life to - democracy, reunification, and Korean history.

The lecture takes place on Friday, 18 February 2011, at 5:30 pm, in the Umney Theatre at Robinson College, Cambridge.

Professor Moon Chung-in served as Dean of Yonsei’s Graduate School of International Studies and taught at Williams College, University of Kentucky, Duke University, and UCSD. Not only as an academic but also as a national figure, Moon has been in a various positions of influence, including post as Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Northeast Asian Cooperation Initiative, a cabinet-level post. He also accompanied both the 2000 and 2007 North-South Korean summit as a special delegate. Moon is currently a board member of the Korea Foundation, the Sejong Foundation, the East Asia Foundation, and the International Peace Foundation. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Global Asia.