일본육군 참모본부의 ‘군사조사’ 활동과 식민주의 역사학

Abstract

The ‘Military Investigation’ of the Japanese Army General Staff and Colonialist History Yun, Hae-Dong [Abstract] This article traces the relationship between the military investigation conducted by the Japanese Army General Staff and the historical view of 'Manchuria-Joseon' in order to explore the origins of Japanese colonialist history. While the staff organization of the Japanese Army was becoming increasingly westernized since 1871, the system of military attaché to the legation began to be implemented in 1875 and the ensuing signing of the treaty of Kanghwado gave a boost to the Japanese Army's investigation of Joseon. In 1878, the Army General Staff was set up, whereby the Japanese Army gained supreme command, isolating the cabinet from military power and providing for the Army's unrestricted advancement of war. 1882 was particularly significant, since it was the year in which Joseon was firmly established by the Japanese Army as an object to conquer while Japanese military spying activities within Joseon took root as well, marking it as a twofold 'year of transition.' Starting in 1882, spying operations inside Joseon were carried out mostly by dispatched officers from Japan. The Joseonjijiryak, which was written using the accumulated results of those spying activities as well as Joseon's traditional historical geography books, was distinctly military in its nature, with a focus on topographical features. Based on this book, by the late 1890s, the land survey department was able to produce a secret military map, which was a topographical map. In 1884, Sako Kagenobu, an officer of the Japanese Army General Staff, returned to Japan with an ink rubbing of the Gwanggaeto Stele, and inscription research was immediately launched by the Japanese military. Inscription research of that time was an outgrowth of the Japanese imperialist historical research on ancient Korea-Japan relations and was intricately linked to the continental policy of the Japanese Army General Staff. After the Sino-Japanese War, Japan's continental policy took the direction of 'defend the north and advance to the south.' However, after the Boxer Rebellion, the policy again changed its focus to 'advance into northeast Asia.' This served as a momentum for the theory of Unity of Manchuria-Korea to prevail over the doctrines of the exchange of Manchuria for Korea and the division of the Korean peninsula. While Joseon had been a source of profit to Japan, the theory of Unity of Manchuria-Korea took a step further and placed it under Japan's sovereignty, in line with the assertion that Japan should open the Russo-Japanese War. That the historical view of Manchuria-Joseon emerged full force after the Russo-Japanese War was a natural course for Japan, which was striving to develop itself into a continental state. (Hanyang University, Research Institute of Comparative History and Culture / geobookz@gmail.com)