제국 일본의 식민지 도시 건설과 전통 사회의 변화

Abstract

This material covers from the opening of a port during the Joseon dynasty to around the 1930s, at which time licensed red-light districts were becoming popular. I will examine how red-light district culture took root, particularly in Gun-san. At the beginning of 1900s, red-right district industries were booming, feeding off the economic benefits created by prostitution. The red-light districts widely spread across Joseon by Japan had a great impact on Joseon's gisaeng system. Furthermore, such districts meant economic abundance for the areas settled by Japanese. One local city, Shinheung-dong in Gun-san, benefited financially by building a Japanese settlement and red-light district. One aspect of this was the geographic discrimination between Shinheung-dong, the Japanese settlement and Gaebok-dong, where native Koreans resided, and the creation of red-light districts in each area catering to either Japanese settlers or Korean locals. From the research material, including photographs, it was found that the sex industry in Gun-san was as quite big as in larger cities, Similar to what Imperial Japan did to other fields of industry and activity in Joseon, the Japanese settlers worked to obliterate the traditional culture and replace it, in this case, with Japan's version of red-light culture. Such a change placed financial motives over cultural imperatives. This transplanted red-light culture did not wither and die when Korea was liberated in 1945. It continues today as a system of brothels, including those which were established near American military bases. In looking at how red-light districts figured into Japanese colonization plans and goals, I would like to show how local communities in Joseon were affected and traditional customs changed by cultural hegemony.