시무(時務)의 연구자, 강덕상(姜德相)의 조선사 연구

Abstract

In this article, the trajectory of life of Korean historian Kang Deok-sang (1931-2021) was reviewed. Kang Deok-sang laid the foundation for the study of Korean history in Japan, especially modern history. It presented the true meaning and direction of Korean history research in Japan, including the activities of <The Korean Modern History Research Association(朝鮮近代史料 硏究會)> based on the Friendship Association(友邦協會). This was his researching path as a historian of the mission of the times(時務). Kang Deok-sang’s life was the ‘fighting history’ as a korean in Japan. In colonial-era as a colonized boy, Kang Deok-sang had a faint perception on his country. Through the appearance of a colonized boy, Kang Deok-sang, who has Korean’s mind but is forced to fulfill his loyalty to Japan, it is possible to understand how imperial citizenship’s policy could distort human mind. Kang Deok-sang’s wandering and anguish continued even in his youth. Prejudice and discrimination against Korean people in Japan were so harsh. It was after the ‘Korean Declaration’ that Kang Deok-sang restored his national identity. After entering the graduate school, Kang Deok-sang devoted himself to researching modern history. He played a key role in the formation of the <Korean History Research Association(朝鮮史硏究會)>, a national academic society for Korean history research in Japan. In the field of personal research, he tracked the intrinsic development of Korean through the collection and analysis of data related to economic history, and also drew attention from academia through the debate on national representation in the study of the 3.1 movements. In this process, Kang Deok-sang shared the problematic consciousness of the history of the Mission of the Times. It led to the study of the massacre of Koreans in the Great Kanto Earthquake, a representative study of Gang Deok-sang. Kang Deok-sang presented a new field of study called ‘Korean history in Japan(在日史學)’. He emphasizes that the discovery of hidden history which the Japanese did not mention is the main body of ‘Korean history in Japan.’ It is important to raise a problem that the Japanese did not deal with and they wanted to avoid. This also presents the problems of recent Japanese research on Korea and future tasks.’ Kang Deok-sang consistently emphasized the importance of the people. It predicts the direction of unification and overcoming the division of the two Koreas. Under this awareness, a lingering study was conducted. The ultimate purpose of Kang Deok-sang’s writing of critical biography of Yeo Woon-hyung is that only through a proper evaluation of Yeo Woon-hyung, psychological unification of the divided Korean Peninsula’s national consciousness is possible. It suggested the prospect that Korean’s independence and unification could only begin through a re-evaluation of Yeo Woon-hyung’s ideas. Kang Deok-sang has devoted his entire life as a researcher of the mission of the times.