ESJF INTERNATIONAL STUDY TOURS

Every two years, we bring educators to South Korea and collaborate with South Korean history teachers on social justice education topics, including decolonization, democracy, and peace education. In alternating years, we bring a small group of activists to countries outside the U.S. and South Korea to explore how social justice education is taught in schools and can be applied in a global context. 
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Reflections and educational materials developed from each tour, centered on a different theme each year, are shared to support continued learning and classroom engagement. 

2026 Study Tour
​Imperial Violence and the Decolonization Movement
Seoul, Cheonan, & Gwangju, South Korea

The 2026 ESJF Study Tour took place in South Korea, spanning Seoul, Cheonan, and Gwangju from June 11 to 13. This year's theme was Imperial Violence and the Decolonization Movement. ESJF hopes the study tour reminded participants that ordinary people, through their courage, sacrifice, and collective action, were the driving force in South Korea's struggles for democracy, human rights, and national self-determination.

We are grateful to the Northeast Asian History Foundation for hosting the seminar and our visit to the Independence Hall of Korea, and especially to Jeon Young-wook of NAHF for his leadership in organizing the seminar and study tour. We also extend our sincere thanks to Jung-ae Park of NAHF for connecting us with the researchers at the Independence Hall of Korea and Professor Noe Yong-ki.

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2025 Study Tour
Amplifying Marginalized Voices: Educators and Activists in Action
UN Office at Geneva, Switzerland

From June 17 to 19, ESJF convened a two-day seminar at UNOG, spotlighting the inspiring work of our participants—educators and advocates who have taken meaningful action to confront historical and ongoing injustices faced by marginalized communities, and to amplify their voices.

The seminar served as a dynamic platform for exchanging insights and fostering collaboration among participants from the United States and Europe. Through engaging discussions and shared learning, we deepened our collective understanding and commitment to equity and inclusion.

Following the two-day gathering, we joined a guided tour of UNOG and the city of Geneva. The experience offered a chance to explore Geneva’s historic role as the birthplace of key international agreements and human rights goals—reminding us of the enduring importance of peace, justice, and global solidarity.
Big appreciation and cheers go to the 2025 ESJF Participants (in speaking order): Sung Sohn, Alison Brown, Tania Tam, von Heyderbrand, Stuart Fong, Rose Camastro-Pritchett, Saša Martinović, and Yeni Yi.

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2024 Study Tour
​Peace, U.S. Foreign Policy, and Korea’s Modern History
Seoul & Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

The 2024 study tour explored the significance of peace through the lens of modern Korean history and examined the impact of U.S. foreign policy on the Korean peninsula. The four-day study tour consisted of a collaborative seminar from U.S. and Korean educators, visits to sites significant to the history of U.S. militarism in South Korea, and observing high school classes. The tour examined the role of peace as a vehicle to counter conflict from the perspectives of those directly impacted by the conflict.

​Much appreciation goes to all participants and South Korean organizers — Association of History Teachers and Asia Peace and History Institute — and the following individuals:  Mira Park (President, Association of Korean History Teachers), Sebyong Yoon (Kongju National University Professor), and Sin Chul Lee (Head of Asia Peace and History Institute). Each day was packed with knowledge and experiences, learning and unlearning, shared among educators from two countries. 2024 participants were Eunjee Kang, Helen Kyungsun Youn, and Zachary Johnson. Here are some snapshots of the tour: 

DAY 1

​During the seminar — History Education in the U.S. and South Korea in a Multicultural Age: Peace Education, Voices of Marginalized Populations, and Sidelined History — six educators presented various topics taught in their classrooms or introduced different educational systems in the U.S. and South Korea. See flyers for more information.
Image Credit: Association of History Teachers & ESJF

DAY 2

​About 35 participants — including more than 20 history teachers, activists, and researchers — went to Uijeongbu and Dongducheon in Gyeonggi Province. We began with a visit to Camp Red Cloud, where in June 2002, U.S. soldiers stationed at the camp ran over two 14-year-old girls in a U.S. Army-tracked vehicle (AVLM). After, we toured Durebang (두레방), a center that works to find solutions to the problems of the U.S. camptown sex industry while also supporting former and current  camptown women, often referred to as Gijichon women. Durebang is in Bbaebeol (빼뻘), Dongducheon. Since the late 1990s, most Gijichon women are from the Philippines, Thailand, and Russia. Although race and ethnicity may have changed, the nature of sexual industry and exploitation remains the same. We then visited Posan Street and saw the house with the blue tiles, where U.S. serviceman Kenneth L. Markle sexually assaulted and brutally murdered 26-year-old Yun Geum-i, a waitress in the U.S. camptown. Yun was found dead with foreign, sharp objects inserted into her body. Next stops were Camp Casey, the last STD medical treatment facility built to lock up Gijichon women thought to be ill, and Sangpaedong cemetery, where numerous Gijichon women are buried, often with no identifying names. A few sites we visited are at risk of removal due to a “city revitalization project.” Heartfelt appreciation goes to the Association of Uijeongbu History Teachers for organizing this significant program. 
​Image Credit: Association of History Teachers, Jacques Y. Jeon, & ESJF

DAY 3

​The ESJF team visited Inchang High School, a Hyukshin (innovative) school. Instead of competition-based pedagogy, Hyukshin schools focus on employing democratic approaches and progressive practices. Inchang Hyukshin High School’s mission is to raise competent students who are earnest and future-oriented individuals. The ESJF study tour participants greatly thank Principal Hyunjoo Woo who took time to greet us and introduce the school. We also thank Jina Go and Sooyong Maeng for opening their classrooms for observation. Sooyong Maeng was extremely instrumental in creating this very moving opportunity. The principal even prepared delicious sweet rice cakes made with mugwort she raised in her garden. Our visit ended with a fresh school lunch cooked on the site. 
Image Credit: Association of History Teachers & ESJF

DAY 4

On the last day, we went to Yongsan Park Officer's Lodging Complex 5 and the National Museum of Korea. We deeply thank Sin Cheol Lee, head of the Asia Peace and History Institute, for sharing his knowledge with us. Some areas of the U.S. military base in Yongsan, part of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) located in the heart of Seoul, were returned to South Korea in 2020. Studies show some lots contain concentrated carcinogens and other environmentally toxic wastes. U.S. military bases, including the USFK headquarters in the Yongsan district, have been moved to a new garrison in Pyeongtaek, about 43 miles south of Seoul. The section of the base we visited was Yongsan Park Officer's Lodging Complex 5. We were deeply moved that Chul Kyu Chang, a photojournalist, took photos for all of us.

​Click here or the button below to read ESJF study tour participants’ reflections.
​Image credit: Chul Kyu Chang
This year’s study tour was elevated by/through touring traditional Korean districts and expanding our culinary experiences. ​Below is a collage of photos from the 2024 ESJF study tour and more. 
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2023 Study Tour
​Confronting the Colonial Past: Postcolonial Accountability and Colonial Memory in German Education 
Berlin & Potsdam, Germany 

​This study tour examined postcolonial Germany’s accountability on its former colonial countries in Africa from the late 19th to the early 20th century from the perspective of the colonized. It also focused on Germany’s colonial history in the public memory through its educational system. This study tour program included: 1) a discussion with activists representing the people of Namibia demanding a formal apology and reparations from Germany; 2) learning about the history of German colonization in Africa; 3) a session with German educators who will explain German education policy and the curricula differences (if any) between the teaching of the colonial period with the Holocaust; 4) visits to museums and a school; and 5) an optional half-day city tour in Berlin. Many activists and educators we met on this study tour closely connected the sexual violence their ancestors were forced to endure under German colonization with the Japanese military sexual slavery system, also known as the “comfort women” system, that numerous women and girls in Asia were forced to endure. 

This study tour was from Monday, June 19 to Friday, June 23, 2023. We thank the Korea Verband e.V. for making the necessary arrangements for this tour.
Image credit: Korea Verband, Julia-Carla Schmidt, and ESJF

How it began

In 2019 and 2022, organizations in South Korea invited ESJF co-founder Sung Sohn and educators in the San Francisco Bay Area to an international symposium and forum on the theme of preserving the history of military sexual slavery by Japan before and during WWII. On both occasions, ESJF educators actively sought a broader scope of study on South Korean history and culture. Their interest and dedication became the foundation of ESJF's Study Tour.  
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