동학농민혁명기 在朝日本人의 전쟁협력 실태와 그 성격

Abstract

Donghak Peasant Revolution was a large-scale and long-term mass struggle which was unparalleled in world history in the 19th century, however, it ended in failure because of the political and military intervention of Japanese imperialism. But in the background of the failure of Donghak Peasant Revolution there was Japanese political and military intervention, in other words, the policy of aggression of Japanese politicians, bureaucrats and military personnels was an important factor in the failure of Donghak Peasant Revolution, however, ordinary Japanese who cooperated with Japanese government and army, and supported Japanese invasion of Korea and suppression of Donghak peasant, that is, the Japanese invaders from the bottom played a significant role in Japanese suppression of Donghak Peasant Revolution. In the article, I examined the rapid population growth trend of Japanese in Korea who supported the Japanese invasion of Korea and suppression of Donghak Peasant army with their various war support before and after times of Donghak Peasant Revolution, and then studied historical background which led to such Japanese population growth in Korea. And I examined the real condition concretely in which way Japanese in Korea cooperated in the Japanese aggressive war and suppression of Donghak peasant army. Japanese in Korea not only petitioned the dispatch of Japanese troops to Korea during times of Donghak Peasant Revolution but also offered every convenience including providing them with accommodation, meals, and others to the Japanese soldiers dispatched to Korea. Many Japanese served in the war as interpreters and not a few Japanese cooperated with Japanese government in military procurements as suppliers of government service. Also Japanese in Korea, who were former ronins, actively participated in illegal occupation of the Korean royal palace by Japanese troops and took the lead in the course of “Gyeongbok Palace coup” which ousted anti-Japanese bureaucrats and established the government of Daewongoon with pro-Japanese bureaucrats. But the most striking case among the activities of Japanese in Korea was their active participation in conducting espionage on Donghak peasant army. There were many espionage cases by the police officers of the Japanese consulate in Korea, a military attache to the Japanese legation, peddlers, Japanese students studying in Korea and correspondents. Among them, espionage of Kikuchi, the correspondent of “Kokumin Shinbun” is a new case. The article about his espionage for 41 days was printed in “Kokumin Shinbun”. The new facts about Donghak Peasant Revolution were described in the article, and the shocking point is that even the correspondents supported the Japanese aggressive war through espionage. The case of Kikuchi’s espionage which was newly discovered in this article is expected to be little clue to objectively find out the truth of Japanese correspondent’s definite whereabouts and information set of Japanese newspapers on Donghak Peasant Revolution.