임진전쟁 전반기, 가토 기요마사(加藤淸正)의 동향 - 戰功의 위기와 講和交涉으로의 가능성

Abstract

Kato Kiyomasa(加藤淸正) was a Japanese general in the 2nd Corps that invaded Joseon during the Imjin War(壬辰戰爭: 1592～1598). Upon landing Joseon, he started the most vehement acts of invasion. He even moved up to Hamgyeong Province(咸鏡道) and captured the party of a Joseon prince. In later days of the war, he exerted huge influences on every aspect of the war including battles and peace negotiations. However, he has been considered only as a Japanese commander who was "warlike" and consistently opposed "peace negotiations" both in Korea and Japan. His actions have been interpreted based on such a simple character description as many of the studies on Imjin War focused on the analysis of battle patterns over time. This study adopted a framework of "military merits" and "peace negotiations" and made an attempt for alternative narration to analyze his actions in the overall context of time and space throughout the war, not being lost in character analysis. He was determined to lead the war in many aspects and achieve his own military merits all the time. He continued his march north even after reaching Hamgyeong Province because he wanted to capture the Joseon king and explore a route to Ming Dynasty. He also made his way into Yeojin(女眞) after capturing the party of a Joseon prince in Hoeryeong(會寧) because he was obsessed with achieving more remarkable military merits than others. It was through his military merits that he demonstrated that he was successfully implementing the orders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi(豊臣秀吉) such as "lay up provisions" and "bring Joseon people back(to live)" in addition to battles. He, however, was soon faced with a crisis. In fact, he was one of the Japanese generals that felt a crisis in an earlier and more urgent way than others. He was put in a basic crisis in a war operation, having problems with provisions and military strength and facing resistance from common people. As a matter of fact, the loss he caused outnumbered the loss caused by those who stopped their march in Pyeongyang(平壤). The damage to his pride was unbearable since he had the most desire for and pride in his military merits. Even though he was not in a position to insist on a quick operation, he had no intention to join his rivals, who were working on peace negotiations. His determination became even stronger when the Joseon prince, who was his only military merit, was sent back by his rivals as a means of promoting peace negotiations. Refusing all the peace efforts, he devoted all the military power under his supervision to the Jinju Fortress(晉州城) battle and tried to have his military merits recognized, only to fail to achieve satisfying results. He then fell into despair for a while. In the end,he began his own peace negotiations under the name of "Hideyoshi's true intention" as a way to achieve a military merit in his situation. He was a "three-dimensional" character who engaged in various deliberations to lead the war in many aspects consistently and achieve more outstanding military merits than others.