『삼천리』를 통해 본 친일의 논리와 정서 (The logic and mentality behind the Pro-Japanese position, reflected in the magazine)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국역사연구회
· 수록지 정보 : 역사와 현실 / 69호 / 135 ~ 164페이지
· 저자명 : 이지원

초록

In this article, the logic and mentality that existed behind the pro-Japanese position which prevailed during the 1930s and ‘40s are examined, through the literary works published in the popular magazine 『Samcheon-ri(三千里)』, of which publication was overseen by a pro-Japanese intellectual named Kim Dong Hwan. The pro-Japanese arguments that we can find inside 『Samcheon-ri』display a tone which was significantly enforced and aggressively expressed with the breakout of the war. Added to that, a specific kind of perception of the world, a position supporting modernization, and also a view upon the issue of people(nation), all being products of the modern days of Korea, can be found behind such pro-Japanese arguments. The perception of the world exhibited in 『Samcheon-ri』was based upon Social Darwinism, while the cause of modernization was based upon the idea of Korea’s subordinacy to Japan and also a certain level of ‘Asian-ism’ supporting the idea of ‘cooperations’ between East Asian countries, and the view upon the nation supported the idea of the Korean people and the Korean nation being ‘assimilated’ into Japan.
From a Social Darwin-ist viewpoint to perceive the world, and from an attitude that supported the concept of ‘subordinate modernization’, Japan’s war was considered as a noble war waged out of a grand vision determined to develop itself to become a stronger state and also a modernly civilized nation. And at the same time, the idea of ‘developing’ Joseon as a supposedly ‘economic partner’ of Japan, was justified and supported as well. Also, the meaningful existence of Joseon was only granted and acknowledged ‘conceptually’ inside the ‘East Asian Cooperative block’ with Japan at its center. Japan had been reshaping Asia since the 19th century, and under such sentiment (of the Japanese people), Koreans were forced to cooperate with the system.
In the meantime, the argument of ‘the Japanese inland and the Joseon peninsula as one’, which surfaced after the Sino-Japanese war ended, was an argument inherently Fascist in nature, as it supported the idea of forming a ‘Mega-state unbounded by and also transcending Nationalism’, which also imagined Joseon shattering its national boundaries and joining the ‘Japanese state’ inside the ‘East Asian Cooperative block’ as a legitimate part of it. This argument of ‘Japan and Joseon as one’ displayed racism and state-ism merged with each other, and it was also related to the ‘Assimilation argument’, which was the primary position of the Japanese colonial rulers as well.
With the war heating up, the editors of 『Samcheon-ri』magazine, in their efforts to achieve the objective making ‘Japan and Joseon as one’, encouraged the Korean people to brush up their patriotism and spreaded totalitarian national sentiments throughout the Korean population, through emphasizing the merits of a reactionary spirit honoring militarism(尙武) and propagating the ‘rural qualities’. In the wake of ever elevating wartime mobilization in the 1940s, such efforts manifested themselves in the form of campaigns(“New System Movement”) launched by the Joseon Governor General office, which promoted local artistic activities, agricultural entertainment and the honoring of local traditions. In such campaigns, things that were Joseon and things that were local in nature were promoted to a certain extent, yet such concept of ‘localism’ denoted no other than regional qualities ‘conceptualized’ inside the supposed ‘Great state of Japan’, and as a result, such concept came to generate abundantly colonial nuances. In the end, what was promoted as ‘national(Korean)’, was in fact most anti-national in nature, and anti-Korean in nature as well.

영어초록

In this article, the logic and mentality that existed behind the pro-Japanese position which prevailed during the 1930s and ‘40s are examined, through the literary works published in the popular magazine 『Samcheon-ri(三千里)』, of which publication was overseen by a pro-Japanese intellectual named Kim Dong Hwan. The pro-Japanese arguments that we can find inside 『Samcheon-ri』display a tone which was significantly enforced and aggressively expressed with the breakout of the war. Added to that, a specific kind of perception of the world, a position supporting modernization, and also a view upon the issue of people(nation), all being products of the modern days of Korea, can be found behind such pro-Japanese arguments. The perception of the world exhibited in 『Samcheon-ri』was based upon Social Darwinism, while the cause of modernization was based upon the idea of Korea’s subordinacy to Japan and also a certain level of ‘Asian-ism’ supporting the idea of ‘cooperations’ between East Asian countries, and the view upon the nation supported the idea of the Korean people and the Korean nation being ‘assimilated’ into Japan.
From a Social Darwin-ist viewpoint to perceive the world, and from an attitude that supported the concept of ‘subordinate modernization’, Japan’s war was considered as a noble war waged out of a grand vision determined to develop itself to become a stronger state and also a modernly civilized nation. And at the same time, the idea of ‘developing’ Joseon as a supposedly ‘economic partner’ of Japan, was justified and supported as well. Also, the meaningful existence of Joseon was only granted and acknowledged ‘conceptually’ inside the ‘East Asian Cooperative block’ with Japan at its center. Japan had been reshaping Asia since the 19th century, and under such sentiment (of the Japanese people), Koreans were forced to cooperate with the system.
In the meantime, the argument of ‘the Japanese inland and the Joseon peninsula as one’, which surfaced after the Sino-Japanese war ended, was an argument inherently Fascist in nature, as it supported the idea of forming a ‘Mega-state unbounded by and also transcending Nationalism’, which also imagined Joseon shattering its national boundaries and joining the ‘Japanese state’ inside the ‘East Asian Cooperative block’ as a legitimate part of it. This argument of ‘Japan and Joseon as one’ displayed racism and state-ism merged with each other, and it was also related to the ‘Assimilation argument’, which was the primary position of the Japanese colonial rulers as well.
With the war heating up, the editors of 『Samcheon-ri』magazine, in their efforts to achieve the objective making ‘Japan and Joseon as one’, encouraged the Korean people to brush up their patriotism and spreaded totalitarian national sentiments throughout the Korean population, through emphasizing the merits of a reactionary spirit honoring militarism(尙武) and propagating the ‘rural qualities’. In the wake of ever elevating wartime mobilization in the 1940s, such efforts manifested themselves in the form of campaigns(“New System Movement”) launched by the Joseon Governor General office, which promoted local artistic activities, agricultural entertainment and the honoring of local traditions. In such campaigns, things that were Joseon and things that were local in nature were promoted to a certain extent, yet such concept of ‘localism’ denoted no other than regional qualities ‘conceptualized’ inside the supposed ‘Great state of Japan’, and as a result, such concept came to generate abundantly colonial nuances. In the end, what was promoted as ‘national(Korean)’, was in fact most anti-national in nature, and anti-Korean in nature as well.

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