대한제국군과 육군무관학교의 민족군사(民族軍史)적 의의

Abstract

Korean Empire refused the invasion of Japan, the maritime power of that time, and attempted its independence from China that had been regarded as the suzerain state for long historically at the same time to go for Russia, the continental power, which led to the loss of national sovereignty after all. However, the historical evaluation that emperor Gojong caused ‘the failure of Korean Empire by going for Russia’ in the era of Korean Empire needs to be reexamined. Paying attention to it, this author has drawn the ethnic army historical significance of the army of Korean Empire and the Korean Empire military academy based on the discussion on the characteristics of Korean Empire. It is summarized as follows : First, the scale of military budget in Korean Empire to strengthen its military power, rearrangement of military organizations, and the enhancement of military power were the products of Gwangmu Reform as those were the issues of core policies for the sake of national prosperity and military power. Second, from the perspectives of the history of anti-Japanese independent movement and military history of ethnic army, today’s Republic of Korea armed forces has originated from the army of Korean Empire, loyal army, army for national independence, and Korean liberation army ; therefore, to discuss the root of Republic of Korea armed forces, we have to go down to the army of Korean Empire. Third, the reformation of the military system in the army of Korean Empire was done in the autonomous standpoint in order to establish a modern military system. Regarding the reexamination of emperor Gojong’s reign and evaluation of Korean Empire, both positive and negative opinions have kept arising up until now while the theory of internal development and that of colonial modernization coexisted. In the viewpoint of ‘ All history is the present history’, evaluation on the era of emperor Gojong’s reign and Korean Empire should be re-spotlighted from the perspective of ethnic army history, not remaining in that dichotomous thinking. Also, because the history of the Korean people did last even in the Japanese colonial period, it needs to be reestablished that Republic of Korea armed forces is the army transmitting the legitimacy of ethnic armed forces by extending it up to the army of Korean Empire.