1947년 조선산악회의 울릉도학술조사대 파견 경위와 과도정부의 역할

Abstract

In August 1947, Corean Alpine Club (hereafter CAC) and the Korean Interim Government conducted a scientific research on Ulleungdo and its annexed island, Dokdo. However, the background and process of the dispatching of this Research Team has not been studied in detail due to lack of references and resources. This article aims to introduce and analyze newly-discovered documents related to the scientific research, with the goal of revisiting the dispatch process of the CAC’s Ulleungdo Scientific Research Team and evaluating the roles of the Interim Government. Since the fall of 1946, the CAC was already planning to dispatch the Ulleungdo Scientific Research Team. In April 1947, the reorganization of the CAC, conducted after the regular assembly meeting, provided a momentum and it made efforts to send the research team as part of its summer project in the same year. As Japan’s provocation on Dokdo emerged as a social issue in late June 1947, the Korean Interim Government paid close attention to the Dokdo issues. Since the end of July in 1947, the CAC’s efforts for dispatching the Ulleungdo Scientific Research Team went into full swing. The 1947 research of Ulleungdo and Dokdo was made possible thanks to the preemptive planning and leadership of the CAC, along with the active support and cooperation of the Interim Government. In addition, the Interim Government expressed its will and commitment as the sovereign state of Dokdo and exercised its soverign functions by organizing a Dokdo search committee, dispatching a Dokdo Investigation team, and operating the Coast Guard’s navigation to Dokdo. In this regard, The official documents containing the records of the military governor of USAMGIK which permitted Korean officials’ business trip to Dokdo particularly has great significance in proving that Dokdo was under the jurisdiction of the USAMGIK or Korea.