Feeling Toward Decoloniality
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Feeling toward Decoloniality: Transnational Solidarity Efforts to Seek Redress for Survivors of War Violence Soohyung Hur A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts University of Washington 2020 Committee: Kim England Victoria Lawson Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Department of Geography ©Copyright 2020 Soohyung Hur University of Washington Abstract Feeling toward Decoloniality: Transnational Solidarity Efforts to Seek Redress for Survivors of War Violence Soohyung Hur Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Kim England Department of Geography This project investigates the recent contentious strides of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance, a well-established South Korean organization seeking redress for Korean survivors of wartime sexual slavery. Stirring intense controversy within Korea, since 2013, the organization started expressing solidarity with survivors of massacres and gender-based violence perpetrated by Korean soldiers during the VietNam War. This project pays attention to this rather bold development in the Korean Council’s work. It focuses on a particularly striking component called the ‘VietNam Butterfly Peace Trips.’ Every year, the Korean Council gathers its allies to visit sites of memorialization and meet Vietnamese survivors. These trips are intended to invoke learning and alternative future imaginings through characteristically emotional experiences. Drawing on the modernity/coloniality/decoloniality (MCD) framework, I first argue that modernity/coloniality is central to discourses that thwart the VietNam War redress movement and its solidarity work with the Korean Council. This provides a stepping stone for my second argument that emotions arising from the Peace Trips behold decolonial potential. By bringing in emotional scholarship rooted in feminist struggles, this thesis demonstrates how emotion as an analytical device can sharpen the critique of modernity/coloniality. In turn, emotion, when taken seriously, can lead to buddings of radical politics. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ·········································································································· 6 Introduction ···················································································································· 7 Chapter 1. Methodology, Methods, and Theoretical Frameworks ···················································· 13 1. Methodology and Methods ·················································································· 13 2. Theoretical Frameworks ····················································································· 23 2.1. Grounding decolonization ················································································ 24 2.2. Feeling for hope ······························································································· 34 Chapter 2. Modernity/Coloniality and Redress Movements for Survivors of War Violence ············ 38 1. Redress for ‘Comfort Women’ ············································································· 38 1.1. History of the Korean ‘comfort women’ redress movement ······························ 38 1.2. Discourses that thwart the redress of former ‘comfort women’ ························ 40 2. Redress for Survivors of the VietNam War ························································· 47 2.1. History of the Vietnamese survivors’ redress movement in Korea ··················· 47 2.2. Discourses that thwart the redress of Vietnamese survivors ···························· 49 Chapter 3. Feeling the Peace Trips ·································································································· 58 1. VietNam Butterfly Peace Trips ············································································ 58 2. Trips that Make You ‘Feel’ ·················································································· 66 Chapter 4. Complicated Feelings, Complicating Feelings ······························································· 78 1. Discomfort ·········································································································· 78 2. Love ···················································································································· 80 3. Guilt ···················································································································· 82 4. Familiarity ·········································································································· 87 5. Frustration ·········································································································· 94 Conclusion ····················································································································· 98 References ··················································································································· 105 Appendix A. Interview questions for trip planners ······················································· 113 Appendix B. Interview questions for trip participants ·················································· 114 Glossary ························································································································ 115 5 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Kim England, my infinitely brilliant and supportive supervisor who has been my strongest advocate since I first set foot on this campus. Even when I had difficulty believing in myself, Kim made sure that I know she believed in me. Always, I am in awe of her incredible generosity, with her time, insight, and trust in what I can do. I also thank Dr. Vicky Lawson, my committee member, who, with such warmth and grace, continuously pushes me to be a more thoughtful scholar. When I felt lost with this project, Vicky was there. She helped me find my way. I deeply appreciate her patient guidance as I stumble through my journey of becoming a geographer. My gratitude for Dr. tish Lopez has not wavered since my days as an undergraduate geographer. As I was thinking through this project, tish had carefully nudged me toward Sara Ahmed’s work on emotions. Her advice has yet again saved my project. I would be remiss not to mention Sam Thompson, a dear friend and scholar I respect immensely. The countless times I tied myself in a knot over this project, she handed me a warm cup of tea. Then, she would sit across from me at our kitchen table and help sort through the mess of my thoughts. It is a kind of magical talent she has. This thesis would not have existed had it not been for the activists and scholars who shared their wisdom and experiences with me during my time in Korea. I am especially indebted to my interviewees, the Peace Butterfly Network, Hae-seul Kim from the Korean Council, Dr. Su-jeong Ku from the Korea-VietNam Peace Foundation, and Dr. Na-young Lee whose scholarship continues to powerfully inspire me. My cautious hope is that this project contributes to the incredibly meaningful work these activists and scholars have undertaken long before me. This project has been generously funded by the Howard Martin Fund, without which the thesis would not have come into fruition, quite literally. I am grateful to the Department of Geography at UW for this financial support. Lastly, everything I do is made possible by the ferocious love and quiet bravery of my parents; and this thesis is no exception. 6 Introduction In 1992, South Korea and VietNam established formal diplomatic relations. Vows were made to only talk of good things to come: economic partnership and prosperous futures. Over the promise to “put the unfortunate past behind and go into the future,” Vietnamese and Korean state officials shook hands (Yoon, 2010, p. 150). Done were the days of mourning over the wounds of the VietNam War, in which Korea had enthusiastically supported the U.S. Since then, Korea and VietNam have developed strong bilateral relations that are also largely unequal. Today, Korea is one of the most influential foreign investors and aid donors to VietNam. Each year, a staggering number of Vietnamese enter Korea as migrant laborers or as spouses to rural Korean men via marriage agencies. This geopolitical present grows directly out of the violence of the VietNam War. Between 1965 and 1973, Korea dispatched approximately 320,000 GIs to VietNam to support the U.S. (Hwang, 2016). On the anti-communist side, Korea was the second largest foreign troop presence in VietNam after the U.S. The primary agenda of the then authoritarian Korean regime was accomplishing rapid economic growth and modern development. The VietNam War was a heaven-sent opportunity. Backing the U.S. in the war killed two birds with one stone; it established Korea as a trusted partner of the U.S. empire and brought in U.S. funding to finance Korea’s militarized industrialization. Indeed, by the time Korean soldiers withdrew from VietNam in 1973, Korea’s GNP per capita had increased by more than five times during the nine-year involvement (Y.-H. Choi, 2008). Furthermore, the VietNam War became a handy narrative to uplift nationalist spirits and to ‘re-masculinize’ Korea after its Japanese occupation (1910- 7 1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953). The government celebrated that Korea’s ascent in the global hierarchy was evidenced by its joint effort with the U.S. to ‘free VietNam’ from the menace of communism, as the U.S. had done fifteen years ago through the Korean War (J.-K.