Mr. Homann’s research is not concerned with some kind of “historical truth” or to take sides with one special analysis of the tragedy of the Imjin War. The research focuses rather on the de-construction of different historical images of the event and their respective changes in the fields of East Asian public remembrance after 1945 (e.g. the appropriation of Admiral Yi Sun-sin by the government of Park Chung-Hee in South Korea or the Imjin War as symbol of the moral qualities of Chinese foreign policy in the People's Republic).

In order to handle this rather broad field of study, Mr. Homann confines the research to a selection of somewhat comparable and representative examples in the form of descriptions in historical textbooks, museological depictions (e.g. at the National Imjin War Museum in Jinju/SK or the Japanese Nagoyajo Museum in Kyushu) and historical television series/movies.

The underlying rationale of this study is that an analysis and de-construction of the national narratives of this highly emotional historical issue from an East-Asian perspective will contribute to the constructive discussion about historical consciousness in Japan, Korean and China.

We have the honour of having with us Dr. Ahn, from the East Asia Institute, Leipzig University, as the commentator, to share with us her expertise on her take on this topic, from the perspective of a Korean historian, on how to re-captualize history in post war East Asia.  Her recent work include topics on “Comfort Women” and “Japanese Revisionism”.