태극기문화재 활용방안 - 진관사 소장 태극기를 중심으로 -

Abstract

Korean national flag is Taegeukgi. Taegeukgi was first used in a ship when Park Young-ho was dispatched to Japan as an envoy to carry King Gojong's credential in September, 1882. This fact is recorded in the newspaper ‘Sisashinbo’ published in Tokyo and the literature ‘Sawhagiryak’ written by Park Young-ho during his stay in Japan. Since Taegeukgi contains not only patriotic spirit of Korean people but also the joys and sorrows of each epoch, its value as a historical material is very high. The Cultural Heritage Administration gave a historical value as historical material to 18 cultural properties by registering them as cultural properties in 2008 at the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Korean government. However, there have been a lot of difficulty for the public to access Taegeukgi cultural heritages because they were kept in located in Independence Hall and museums. This paper explored the process of registration of Taegeukgi as cultural heritage and its meaning, and suggested a method of utilization focussing on the Taegeukgi that Jingwansa in Seoul owned. As a premise of the proposal, this paper addressed the historical meaning of finding Taegeukgi in Jingwansa and the historical value related to the anti-Japanese movement of Monk Baek Chowol who is presumed to make this Taegeukgi. The method of utilization is constructing a Taegeukgi cultural heritage park where all the people can appreciate various Tageukgi's in one place, developing story-telling and contents, reserving Taegeukgi cultural heritage and constructing an exhibition hall. In addition, this paper suggested a proposal to amend the law by adding the explanation on the symbols of Taegeukgi which is omitted in the Act on the Flag of the Republic of Korea. In this way, people can easily appreciate Taegeukgi's, which used to be preserved all over the country, in one place and it is anticipated to be a place of historical education.