Dialogue Instead of Discipline, Restoration Instead of Punishment... Hallym University Brings Together Restorative City Practices

Hallym University Holds Seminar on "Restorative City"
Sharing Restorative Practices in Schools, Judiciary, Police, and Housing

The Center for Community Conflict Transformation at Hallym University (President Choi Yanghee) held a seminar on November 26 in the university's international conference room under the theme "A Model for Building Healthy Community Based on the Conflict Transformation Paradigm: Dreaming of a 'Restorative City'."

The Center for Community Conflict Transformation at Hallym University held a seminar on November 26 in the university's international conference room titled "A Model for Building Healthy Local Communities Based on the Conflict Transformation Paradigm: Dreaming of a 'Restorative City'." Provided by Hallym University

This seminar was organized as a platform to expand restorative approaches-which seek recovery involving victims, offenders, and the community together-across the broader community, moving beyond the limitations of traditional punishment-centered conflict resolution methods. In particular, it brought together and proactively shared restorative practices being conducted in various sectors such as schools, police, judiciary, and housing.

First, Lee Sangcheol, Principal of Chuncheon High School, gave a presentation on "Restorative Schools," introducing classroom case studies where disciplinary actions and conflicts were shifted from a punishment-centered approach to one focused on dialogue and restoration. Next, Kim Kwangyoung, Inspector at Sokcho Police Station, shared cases of "Restorative Policing," highlighting attempts at community-based conflict mediation that solve problems together with citizens.

Following this, Kim Cheongmi, Presiding Judge at Chuncheon District Court, presented on "Restorative Justice," sharing examples of building a justice model focused on restoration, moving beyond the retributive paradigm. Lastly, Son Byungki, Auditor at WeStay Byeollae, presented on "Restorative Apartments," introducing field experiments that resolve residential conflicts with a focus on the living community. Through these presentations, participants shared practical experiences reflecting the regional context of Gangwon Province-such as low population density, aging demographics, and weakened community ties-and proposed concrete strategies for realizing a restorative city.

In his opening remarks, Seok Jaeun, Director of the Center for Community Conflict Transformation, emphasized, "The wounds do not heal and the community becomes more divided if we rely solely on retribution-based conflict resolution. The restorative approach begins with the question, 'How can we achieve recovery?'"

Vice President Park Joonsik, in his congratulatory address, stated, "It is important to recognize the everyday nature of conflict and to resolve it through healthy communication using restorative approaches. I hope that this seminar by the Center for Community Conflict Transformation will serve as a starting point for designing a restorative city model within Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province and, furthermore, for expanding it into a new conflict transformation model for Korea."

Meanwhile, the Center for Community Conflict Transformation plans to pursue three major strategies following this seminar: establishing a restorative practice network, conducting research and developing models for restorative cities, and operating an education platform to train professional personnel.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.