3·1운동 100주년에 돌아보는 법학교육 100년 - 普成專門學校와 京城專修學校를 중심으로 -

Abstract

The year 2019 marks the centennial of the March 1st Independence Movement. From the perspective of the history of the independence movement and of international politics, as well as that of sociocultural history, the significance of the March 1st Independence Movement cannot be overstated. The March 1st Independence Movement occurred at a time when Japanese colonialism was gaining a firm grip on the Korean peninsula. As a result, the Japanese Empire shifted from the initial so-called "military rule" to a "cultural rule". This could not but effect the educational system in Korea. Therefore the importance of the March 1st Independence Movement from a historical educational perspective is also great. During the late XIX century many educational institutions were founded on the Korean peninsula. These institutions began teaching jurisprudence which had developed in the West. The level of legal education provided during this period ranged from rudimentary to that of higher education. The focus of this paper is on the latter, with particular emphasis on Bosung College and Kyungsung Special School. These two institutions were chosen for the following reasons. First, Bosung College and Kyungsung Special School were the two main educational institutions during the initial stage of the Japanese colonial rule. With Bosung College being private, and Kyungsung Special School being public, it is worthwhile to conduct a comparative analysis of the characteristics of these institutions. Secondly, the history of Bosung College and Kyungsung Special School is related to two currently existing institutions of legal education, namely Korea University and Seoul National University. Whereas Bosung College became Korea University and subsequently Korean University School of Law, thereby maintaining its identity, the development of Kyung- sung Special School is slightly more complex. Kyungsung Special School in 1922 became Kyungsung College of Law, and after Korea gained independence merged with the Faculty of Law of Kyungsung Imperial University, and is now Seoul National University School of Law. During turbulent times the March 1st Independence Movement proved to be a milestone in the educational history of Korea. In 2019, on the centennial of the March 1st Independence Movement, this paper proposes to commemorate higher legal education in Korea and provide a vision for the future.