프랑스 소재 외규장각 도서반환 협상 과정 및 평가

Abstract

The Korean manuscripts (Oe-Kyujanggak Books), in total 297 books, which were stolen by the French Navy during the French invasion of Kanghwa Island in 1866, have come back to Korea after 145 years' of being in France. It is not that the French government is returning the manuscripts to Korea, instead, they are on loan to Korea on a 5-year renewable basis. According to Korean public opinion, many are not satisfied with this loan system. However, from the perspective of diplomatic negotiations, this system is seen asa successful negotiation by the fact that the Korean and French governments have taken one step forward and have made a breakthrough in the 20-year long stalemate. Moreover, it is understood by both parties that this loan can be interpreted as a de facto return. The basic principle of this final negotiation is based on the agreement of ‘exchange and loan’formula made between President KIM Young-sam and President François Mitterand, during the latter's visit to Seoul in September 1993. Meanwhile, there were many negotiations at the governmental and private-expert level, but both parties could not narrow the differences of opinion so they agreed to the basic principle of 1993. The French side has argued that even though the Oe-Kyujanggak Books were stolen by the French Navy, they have become a part of French cultural heritage after long years of French possession and, for this reason, cannot be returned back to Korea. Whereas, Korea’s view is that since the Korean manuscripts were pillaged illegally by the French navy, they are not subject to extinctive prescription according to international law and returning them without conditions will be the only just course of action. Due to this significant difference of opinion, there seemed to be no solution whatsoever in the foreseeable future. However, this thorny issue, which has persisted for the last twenty years, came to a historic conclusion at the G20 Summit Meeting held in Seoul in October 2010. President Lee Myung-bak and President Nicolas Sarkozy shared the view that to establish the Global Partnership for the 21st Century declared by both countries in 2004 and to pave the way for a future oriented bilateral relationship between Korea and France, the issue of returning Korean manuscripts should not stand in the way as an obstacle. This particular Korean-French negotiation goes down on record as one of the longest negotiation cases in the diplomatic history of Korea. It is expected that, with the return of the Oe-Kyujanggak Books, bilateral relations between Korea and France will further develop not only in the field of political and economic affairs, but also in the field of cultural and artistic affairs.