8ㆍ15 해방 직후 조선어학회의 활동 ― 1945. 8. 15~1946. 2 ―

Abstract

The Korean Language Society(Joseoneohakhoe), which stopped its activities due to the outbreak of the Korean Language Society Incident on October 1, 1942, reestablished Directly After the Liberation in August, 1945. This society opened an extraordinary general meeting and reorganized the society on August 25, 1945. The society immediately set to work for the restoration of Korean language and the reconstruction of Korean language education. The Korean Language Society not only took steps to the Korean alphabet(Hangul) lessons for the public but also to the training of Korean language teachers. In addition, the society published Korean language textbooks, which were compiled by the society, and distributed them in the cooperation with the U.S. Army military government. Also the society launched to put together the Korean dictionary again. The leaders of these activities in the society were Lee Geuk-ro, Choi Hyeon-bae, Lee Hee-seung, Jeong Yin-seung, Jeong Tae-Jin, Kim Yoon-gyeong, and other people who had ever been imprisoned because of Korean Language Society Incident. Many members including Kim Byeong-je, Lee Joong-hwa, Jeong Yeol-mo, Bang Jeong-hyeon participate in the society’s activities positively. The society changed the regulations of the society and reorganized the leadership in its extraordinary general meeting on February 3, 1946. As all of 7 directors who were Jang Ji-yeong, Lee Geuk-ro, Choi Hyeon-bae, Lee Hee-seung, Jeong Yin-seung, Kim Byeong-je remained in office in the regular general meeting in September, 1946, they took the lead in the activities of the society until September, 1949. The work for keeping and propagation of the Korean language might have been punished as ante-nation during the colonial times of 35 years, however the society launched putting together the Korean dictionary to preserve Korean language, made a draft for unified spelling system and an orthography of adopted words, and screened a standard Korean language. The society has ever been scattered because of the Korean Language Society Incident which Japanese imperialism invented to oppress, but the devotional efforts and academic fruits of the society which preserved the Korean brothers and hoped to restore Korea could be immediately put to practical use as important resource to build modern nation after the liberation of Korea. As the draft for unified spelling system of Korean language already was made, Korean alphabet(Hangul) could be propagated a systematically and the textbook could be written under consistent standard. With the beginning of the U.S. Army military government’s rule in September, 1945, the military government took charge of reconstruction of education officially, but the Korean Language Society played the leading part in urgent pending requests like writing textbooks, training teachers, abolition of Chinese characters.