개항장 도시의 스포츠 이벤트와 민족의 지리학 -일제시기 원산지역을 중심으로

Abstract

The major sports events enjoyed by the community of Koreans in the Wonsan area under Japanese colonial rule included a ssireum (Korean traditional wrestling) competition held during the Dano festival, school sports meets, and citizens’sports meets. As seen by the dual structure of professional sports associations in Wonsan with the ity had Wonsan Atheletic Organization and the Wonsan Atheletic Association, sports events in the port c national division from the organizers to sponsor institutions to spectators. Since school meets were held according to the school systems separated between Koreans and Japanese, it was rare for students from these two ethnic communities to face and compete against each other in the stadium. The occasions when ordinary Korean citizens encountered Japanese residents were the Open Port Anniversary and Citizens’ Meet, but the scope of contact remained local as only a limited group of Koreans participated in those events, compared to citizens’ sports meets. Although a number of sports events might have been held as competitions between the Korean and Japanese at the nationwide level, the situation at a more local level showed a different tendency. The Wonsan Congress did not in fact encompass the entire region; instead, it was mostly in the form of “Korean Congress in Wonsan” or “Japanese Congress in Wonsan.” The wrestling matches and citizens’ sports meets during the Dano festival were often held in the stadium located in Gwangseok-dong, in Dongrakjwa (used as a motion-picture theater and an auditorium), and in the stadium in front of the Wonsan Youth Association premises. Later, as social organizations began to organize those events and their scale grew larger as a result of media publicity, the venue moved to larger schoolyards of public schools, the square in front of Wonsan Station, and the open space in the coastal reclaimed land. The venues of sports events clearly demonstrate the symbolic proposition about spatial division within a colonial city. Since spectators as well as event organizers and participating athletes were divided into two ethnic groups, the venues for the sports gatherings were strictly divided in terms of location. In this regard, the venues for sports events can serve as a spatial metaphor of colonial rule inherent in the world of life in Wonsan.