Regional Contexts of Transitional Justice in Korea: The Possibilities and Limitations of Interactions between Korea and Taiwan (2022.03)
- Author : KIM, Hun Joon
- Publication : East and West Studies
- Publisher : Institute of East and West Studies
- Volume : 34(1)
- Date : March, 2022
Abstract: Transitional justice is measures adopted by the government after political transition to address the past human rights violations committed by the former regime. Scholars used norm life cycle to explain the emergence, diffusion, and internalization of international diffusion of transitional justice norms. However, they tend to miss the dynamic of state-to-state interaction in the region which is an important building bloc of international diffusion. In this article, I conduct research on the interactions between Korea and Taiwan with regard to transitional justice measures. First, I overview transitional justice practices in South Korea and put the Korean case in the international and regional context. Second, I closely follow the interactions between Korea and Taiwan from 1990s to today. Two findings are worth noting. First, Korea-Taiwan interactions in transitional justice were not unidirectional but bidirectional relations over a long period of time. Second, horizontal diffusion, not vertical diffusion, is more likely when human rights violations are diverse and multifaceted as in case of Taiwan and Korea.