朝鮮藥學校로 보는 韓日共學의 실제와 졸업자의 사회 진출

Abstract

This study aims to capture the complexity between different ethnic groups and the tendency of changes between them to broaden the understanding of the colonial period in Korea by reviewing the student organization at the Chosen Pharmacy School, and their advancement into society. Under the colonial situation, opportunities to grow into a professional worker were only available to an extremely small number of Koreans. The Koreans who received higher education within the educational system of the Japanese Government General of Korea obtained a qualification certified by the Japanese Government General of Korea and settled down as an elite group after gaining superior social status as a professional. These students not only took the lead in the formation of public opinions in the Korean community, but also performed roles in various forms in the process of modernization and imperialist colonial power. In this sense, one can shed light on Korea's class structure and the formation of elite groups beyond the simple research of higher education history by looking into what work they did and where. Conceived by this problematic consciousness, this study focuses on a group that made efforts and engaged in activities to become pharmacists during the colonial period in addition to attending Chosen Pharmacy School. Founded in 1918, the school was classified under private miscellaneous schools within the colonial educational system. It was upgraded to the Specialized Pharmacy School of Gyeongseong in 1930 and functioned as the colony's only institution to cultivate pharmacists until Joseon's liberation. The school produced a total of 354 graduates (135 were Korean, and 219 were Japanese). These students received a professional education and obtained a pharmacist license recognized by the Japanese Government General of Korea. They were able to earn a relatively high and stable income thanks to this license, and they also engaged in activities in the colonial society with this background. This study closely examines the Chosen Pharmacy School, which had not yet attracted attention from academic circles, and looks into the employment of its graduates who served the colonial society as a group of professionals; in addition, the study explores the differences and discriminations between ethnic groups. The study first traced the cooperation between Koreans and Japanese in the establishment process of the school and the changing patterns of its system after its incorporation into the colonial educational system under the category of private miscellaneous schools to understand its overall characteristics. The study then reviewed the school register to look for patterns of student migration within the school as it was run as a joint school between Korea and Japan. Finally, the study attempted a microscopic analysis of its graduates' advancement into society. This total examination provides some grounds to examine the perceptions of a professional group that was active in colonial society and offer a peek at some aspects of the colonial elites that completed and lived as members within the imperial power.