This paper examines the dynamics of competition and cooperation between Korea and Japan in constructing the Seoul-Pusan railway during the late 19th century. Korea and Japan had quite different motivations in the construction of the railway with each trying to secure its own agenda and interests on the Korean Peninsula. For the Korean government, the construction was perceived as a critical modernization project and an important symbol of advancement. For the Japanese government, the Seoul-Pusan railway was an important bridgehead to expand Japanese influence on the Asian continent. Initially, the Korean government, wary of the Japanese, hoped to grant concessions to almost anyone but the Japanese. Although the Korean government finally agreed to grant the Seoul-Pusan railway concession to a Japanese syndicate, it retained the right to buy back the railway company. Although in the end, the railway served Japanese colonial interests in attaining and maintaining control over Korea and beyond, the processes that characterized the construction of the railway reveal the deeply complex and paradoxical nature of colonial modernity by showing that the colonized can still retain considerable agency.
목차
Abstract Introduction The Initiation of the Seoul-Pusan Railway Project in Korea Japanese Interest in the Seoul-Pusan Railway Negotiations for the Construction of the Seoul-Pusan Railway Conclusion References
저자
Sungwoo KANG [ A professor of International Studies at Korea University. ]
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.