레토릭으로서의 ‘미래지향적 한일관계’의 원점

Abstract

The term “future-oriented Korea-Japan relations” has the characteristics of a rhetoric that is fundamentally difficult to achieve. In this article, the attributes of the rhetoric, future-oriented Korea-Japan relations were inspected in the Roh Tae-woo administration, where the original form was formed, and the following conclusions were gained. First, the term “future-oriented Korea-Japan relations” first appeared in President Roh Tae-woo’s speech at departure to Japan in May 1990. Second, the meaning can be summarized as “Korea-Japan relationship that promotes mutual understanding and leads the Asia-Pacific era together on reflection of the past in coming the 21st century”. Third, but they understood differently in promoting reflection and mutual understanding of the past. Japan emphasized cultural exchanges focusing on promoting mutual understanding. And Korea emphasized Japan’s apologizing for past colonial rule. As long as Korea and Japan fail to overcome their distrust of past reflections, the future-oriented Korea and Japan relations will inevitably be shaped as a retrofit.