태평양회의와 신규식

Abstract

Shin Kyusik is a representative figure who prepared a bridgehead for the Korean independence movement in Shanghai in the 1910s. He was fluent in Chinese and interacted with Chinese revolutionaries after stepping into the 1911 Revolution in China. His activities laid the foundation for the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai. After the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government, he was sick and took a step back. Then in December 1920, when the temporary president Rhee Syngman visited Shanghai, Shin Kyusik actively took the lead of the Korean Provisional Government. In April 1921, when the Guangdong Government of China was established, and Rhee Syngman left Shanghai in May, it was Shin Kyusik who led the political operation at Korean Provisional Government. Here, a cooperative relationship was established between the two. As Rhee Syngman left without being able to recover from the chaos of injury, he needed a person to perform two tasks. The one was stability of the political situation of the Korean Provisional Government, the other was to conduct diplomatic activities to the Guangdong Government of China to obtain approval or to establish a cooperative relationship. Moreover, Rhee Syngman, who heard the news of the Pacific Conference as soon as he arrived in the U.S., needed Shin Kyusik's performance. This is because Shin Kyusik was considered the most suitable person to draw cooperation with the Guangdong Government of China in the Pacific Conference. He asked for two things on the spot. One is to approve the Korean Provisional Government, and the other is to jointly respond to the Pacific Conference. Sun Wen(孫文) agreed with this, and began to subsidize the cost of staying as diplomats from the Korean Provisional Government allowed them to stay in Guangdong. In addition, although there are some limitations in form, the Guangdong Government of China actually approved the Korean Provisional Government. This was an achievement of Shin Kyusik’s diplomatic activities. However, the Pacific Conference eventually turned a blind eye to Korean issues. When the U.S. also invited Northern Government of China, the representative of the Guangdong Government of China refused to participate in the Pacific Conference and turned around. Therefore, the Korean problem was not selected as a topic at all. The aftermath was fierce. Confusion and conflict around the Korean Provisional Government, which had slowed down for a while, were reenacted and intensified again. As a result, Shin Kyusik who had usually suffered from illness, rapidly weakened and died. His diplomatic activities against the Guangdong Government of China were the last winning move. He cried out that the Korean Provisional Government should be saved until the moment he took his last breath. That was the reason why the Chinese newspaper evaluated his death as a “Martyrdom for country.”