해방 후 단군 인식의 변화에 관한 연구: 단군 민족주의의 약화와 국수주의의 확산

Abstract

This paper aims to study how South Korean attitudes toward Dangun, the legendary founding father of the Korean nation, who emerged as a symbol of the nation in the early 20th century, changed after liberation in 1945. In particular, I examine how nationalism centered on Dangun weakened during this period, while chauvinism has spread more widely. Dangun-centered nationalism, which acted as a justification for the Korean independence movement during the Japanese colonial period, was subsequently used to validate the task of national unification and to legitimize the South Korean government, immediately after its establishment in 1948. This was exemplified in the fact that the South Korean government briefly adopted Dangun as its era name, while also establishing National Foundation Day on the day Dangun was supposed to have founded Korea and adopting Dangun’s humanitarian ideal as its educational ideology. This attitude toward Dangun began changing in the 1960s, however, as the division of the country settled in: Opinions differing from this attitude were widely expressed and religious organizations related to Dangun worship declined. In contrast, independent historians who focused more intensively on Dangun continued to expand their influence in society. They criticized established historiography as contaminated by colonialism, while also encouraging an attitude of chauvinism, embellishing the period of Dangun Joseon as a golden era. This attitude broke away entirely from the previous nationalist trend in which Dangun played the role of a symbol of the nation, as meeting the particular needs of the times. In the 21st century, Dangun-centered nationalism has lost most of its previous importance; however, we anticipate that it could again play a limited, albeit symbolic role, if the national task of reunification gains momentum.