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Hun Joon Kim is Senior Lecturer at Griffith University. He has research interests in international norms and institutions, international human rights and transitional justice, international ethics, and international relations theory. He has placed articles in international relations journals (International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, and Global Governance) and law journals (Human Rights Quarterly, International Journal of Transitional Justice, and Annual Review of Law and Social Science). His forthcoming co-edited book, Transitional Justice in the Asia Pacific (Cambridge University Press 2013) provides an in-depth analysis of transitional justice processes, practices and problems in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, his forthcoming book, The Massacres at Mt Halla: Sixty Years of Truth-Seeking in South Korea (Cornell University Press 2014) tells a comprehensive story of state violence, human rights advocacy, and transitional justice in South Korea since 1947, focusing on the Jeju massacres and the subsequent political process.
South Korea has launched various transitional justice measures since democratic transition in 1987, with truth commissions being employed most frequently. With at least ten truth commissions established to date, South Korea has been a leader in such initiatives in the Asia Pacific region. This paper analyzes two of South Korea’s most prominent truth commissions―the Jeju Commission and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)―in an effort to answer why some truth commissions succeed while others do not.
