일본 언론의 유길준 인식

Abstract

This article reconstructed the actions of Yu Gil-joon, a thinker and politician of modern Korea, through the Japanese media. Focusing on Yu Gil-joon's studying in Japan and the time of his exile, and introducing Yoo Gil-joon's actions in the viewpoint of the Japanese media, I examined how Yu Gil-joon was portrayed in the gaze of the other. Yu Gil-joon pursued ‘modernization’ and ‘civilization’ across Korea, Japan, and the United States, from before and after opening ports in 1876 to the end of 1910, when Korea was forced to merge. Yu Gil-joon has tried to realize his dream world in real politics as an intellectual representing the rehabilitation ideology and a key brain of the Gap-o Reformation(1894-1896). His life was a process of searching for so-called ‘Korean modernity’ in eastern and western, barbaric and civilization, traditional and modern confusion. Involving in directly or indirectly in the major events of modern history, I personally experienced the aspect of ‘hope and frustration’ that Korean society have faced. The Japanese press paid attention to Yu Gil-joon's actions. Yu Gil-joon, who had a ‘deep’ relationship with the Japanese media, was extremely attractive. This perspective was related with Japan's sense of superiority as the most advanced country in the flowering of Asian civilization. That is, Japan was the pioneer of the Asian crisis awareness and the leader who can ingest new knowledge of the West. Furthermore, this was also connected to the ‘aggression theory’ that already civilized Japan civilized Korea. Especially, Japanese media paid attention to Yu Gil-joon in the process of the Gap-o reformation. A series of reformist politics was defined as ‘Yu Gil-joon politics.’ This is probably due to the high interest in how Japan's study would be unfolded in Korea. However, Yu Gil-joon politics was frustrated with the change of East Asian situation surrounding Korea. His exile to Japan was not a frustration of reform that Yoo Gil-joon sought, but a choice for contemplating concrete ways of promoting reform. At that time, Yu Gil-joon not only pursued unconditional follow-up to Japan, but also sought a possibility of independent modernization ‘by Korean people’. Yu Gil-joon's consciousness system could not escape from ‘the category of Japan’ basically. Yu Gil-joon's human network was mainly concentrated on Japan. Japan also, like Yu Gil-joon, had no choice but to pursue the Chosun policy through people who had a ‘good feeling’ for Japan. In short, Yu Gil-joon's studying in Japan and his exile can be regarded as a reflection of the failure and success of Japan's Chosun policy complexly.