An Archeological Approach to the Birth of the Gungmin in the Republic of Korea

Abstract

This study conducts an archeological analysis of the notion of gungmin, and focuses in particular on how the term gungmin used to indicate the sense of belonging to a group has ensured its own identity amidst an intense competition with various other identities. A review of the history of notions is also implemented herein from the standpoint of the political history of identity. In the case of the Republic of Korea, the people of Korea only became gungmin of the Republic of Korea after having gone through a process that saw them be identified as inmin of the Joseon dynasty, sinmin of the Daehan Empire, and sinmin and gungmin of the Japanese empire. The concept of minjok can be regarded as having been the most important psychological resource used during the process of creating the identity of the Republic of Korea. Here, the notion of minjok can be seen as having played as important a role in the politics of identity in Korea as the notion of gungmin. Not only has North Korea made frequent use of the notion of one minjok (nation) as part of its united front approach to South Korea, but the latter has also employed policies that have been based on this same notion in its dealings with the North. As such, viewed from the standpoint of the politics of identity, the notion of gungmin in Korea can be said to have been routinely confronted by, and interacted with, the notion of minjok.