During the Choson period, ojin or portraits of kings were regarded as the most important of all figural images. From the beginning of the Choson dynasty, many ojin were produced and housed in chinjon or portrait halls. King T'aejo (r. 1392-1398), the founder of the Choson dynasty, enshrined one of his ojin at the Chunwon Hall in Yonghung, where he was born, and another in a chinjon in Kyongju, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla. The third king T'aejong (r. 1400-1398), who was the fifth son of King T'aejo, established two more chinjon: Munso Hall in the capital city Hanyang and Kyemyong Hall in Kaesong, the capital of the previous Koryo dynasty. He also enshrined two additional portraits of King T'aejo in Pyongyang, the old capital of Kokuryo, and in Chonju, the royal family's ancestral home. As a result, there were altogether six chinjon in the early Choson period.

In contrast to the Koryo dynasty when chinjon were often established at Buddhist temples, most Choson royal chinjon had no relation to Buddhism. Instead, they were built in a Confucian architectural style and were used for the observance of ancestor worship ceremonies based on Confucian rites.

Choson ojin and chinjon often manifested the king's authority and power. Due to his usurpation of the throne by killing his brother, King T'aejong struggled to maintain his legitimacy throughout his reign. He used ojin and chinjon to consolidate his kingship and to suppress challenges posed by high officials. Therefore, ojin in the early Choson dynasty was a very political art form, and most recorded discussions on ojin were based on political context with little or no regard for artistic agendas.

A buffet lunch will be available to those who RSVP to Rakhi Patel at rpatel80@stanford.edu by Tuesday, May 5. Only recently have scholars begun to invest a substantial amount of effort in researching the history of the "forgotten" region of P'yóngan Province in Korean historiography. These works, which focus mostly on the period before the Hong Kyóngnae Rebellion of 1812, mainly investigate particular historical experiences of this region that culminated in the cross-class rebellion. These works are extremely valuable for a number of reasons. They represent the first comprehensive historical research on the northwestern region of the Korean peninsula, currently a part of the People's Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea). Most of these studies start with the notion that there was no yangban aristocracy in P'yóngan Province -- a prevailing perception of late Chosón literati, and one that rationalized social and political discrimination against people from this region. One of the main goals of this study is to challenge this perspective through a close reading of the writings of Paek Kyónghae (1765-1842), a literatus from P'yóngan Province, to illuminate his perceptions and responses to regional discrimination and his cultural identity as a man from a politically and socially condemned region. This discussion offers a microscopic examination of the bilateral relations between the center and the periphery through Paek's life experiences. Particularly because Paek Kyónghae lived as a yangban official through the major social and political disruption posed by the Hong Kyóngnae Rebellion -- to which regional discrimination against the people of P'yóngan Province in terms of political advancement by the central court provided an ideological justification -- his views and personal choices partly explain how the existing regime survived the rebellion.

The Korean peninsula has been at the center of Cold War politics ever since its 1945 territorial division, and remains so even after the demise of the Soviet empire. After half a century of intense conflict and tensions -- including a major war -- the leaders of North and South Korea held their first summit in summer 2000, creating hope and enthusiasm for peace and unification on the peninsula. However, the current stalemate in inter-Korean relations and the recent tension over North Korea's nuclear program clearly indicate that a peaceful conflict resolution, let alone unification, will not come easily. The current situation also attests to the urgent need for a new forum that can address various issues related to inter-Korean and North Korea-U.S./Japan relations at the nonofficial, nonpolitical level.

We believe that early 2003 will be a critical moment in inter-Korean and North Korea-U.S./Japan relations. The new South Korean government will take office in late February 2003 and the newly created special economic zone in Shin-ui-ju is expected to be at work in a few months. Also, the recent visit of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi to North Korea could lead to a new relationship between the two countries, and the Bush administration will be entering the second half of its term in early 2003.

All these developments, along with the recent revelation of North Korea's nuclear program, make the proposed policy conference timely and essential for (re) formulating new North Korean policies by South Korea, Japan, and the United States. The proposed conference will discuss policy issues toward North Korea among scholars and policymakers from the United States, Japan, China, and Russia, as well as South Korea. We seek to produce a policy proposal to be presented to the new South Korean government, as well as to the governments in Tokyo and Washington, D.C.