Many mistakenly posit the presently close relations between Korea and the United States as having begun with Japan’s surrender in 1945. The alliance exists to this day, and there are still many who can scarcely imagine a Korean peninsula without U.S. military forces present. The curious triangle of Korean-U.S.-Japanese relations, however, began much earlier. A forced treaty with Japan in 1876 was the first attempt to coerce Korea away from the traditional East Asian world order, while a treaty of “amity and commerce” with America in 1882 represented a more autonomous move toward a new global configuration. With annexation in 1910, the first battle lines had been drawn: Japan had betrayed Korea and America represented the best hope for salvation. And this was more than historical reality; it also clearly manifest itself in works of early modern Korean fiction, which reveal a naïve optimism regarding America’s role in Korea’s mod-ernization and rescue. With the failure of America, however, to come to Korea’s aid during the independence movement of March 1, 1919, there came a turning away from the U.S. and to Japan. The U.S., once the promised land, became a wasteland, while Japan came to fill the vacated position of redeemer. From the 1920s, we see a systematic dismantling of America’s privileged position and a concomitant acceptance of the reality of Japanese hegemony. Ironically, however, Japanese oppression and American silence liberated Koreans psychologically from the naïve fantasy of U.S. salvation, even as they politically drove them further toward subjugation and assimilation.
목차
ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION JAPAN AS STOPOVER, AMERICA AS DESTINATION : DECENTERING JAPAN IN YI INJIK'S TEARS OF BLOOD JAPAN AS DISTANT PAST, AMERICA AS IMMEDIATE FUTURE : YI KWANGSU'S MUJONG THE TURNING POINT : MARCH 1, 1919 RETHINKING KOREA'S PLACE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN : YOM SANGSOP'S SAMDAE CLONCLUSION REFERENCES
키워드
Korea-U.S. RelationsKorea-Japan RelationsModern Korean LiteratureColonial PeriodMarch First Movement
저자
JOHN M. FRANKL [ an Associate Professor of Korean and Comparative Literature, Yonsei University, Korea. ]
한국연구원은 1970년 5월 한국 민속의 각 분야에 걸친 자료의 수집과 학술적 연구를 목적으로 '한국민속연구소'로 출발하였다. 그 후 1973년 5월 연구 분야를 확대하며 민속뿐만 아니라 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 위해 '한국학연구소'로 개편하였고, 다시 1989년 3월 한국의 국제적 위상의 부상과 함께 한국학 연구의 중요성이 높아짐에 따라 '한국학연구원'으로 확대, 개편하였다. 한국학연구원은 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 통해 지역과 민족문화 발전에 기여하며 한국학의 세계화를 위해서 학술활동을 강화하고 나아가 내·외국인에 대한 한국문화 교육을 담당하고자 한다.