메이지유신(明治維新)과 대한제국의 군제개혁 －일본 메이지 신정부와 대한제국의 헌병 설치 과정에 대한 비교를 중심으로－

Abstract

A series of rebellions of the old Samurai class and the ‘movement for liberal civil rights following the Meiji Restoration in Japan raised a need to reform the disordered military system by introducing the military police. Therefore, the military police was organized as part of an effort to reform the police and the military system. The Japan’s military police system imitated that of France and thus established the military police as part of the army with broad police rights that cover the administrative and judicial policing as well as military policing granted to them. Japan followed the military police system of France as it was an exemplary military police system that represented Europe back then, and the fact that many bureaucrats in military, police, and judicial system studied in France following the Meiji Restoration also encouraged the Japan’s adoption of the French military police system. Meanwhile, Korea actively pushed ahead with the introduction of a modern military system from the Gabo Reform of 1894 up until the formation of the Daehan Empire. However, the Daehan Empire experienced a severe confusion of switching the military system within a short period of time as it introduced the Japanese military system in early stage but switched to the Russian military system after the incident of Korea royal refuge at the Russian legation. This inevitably spurred the already disordered military discipline at the time. As a corrective measure, major general Baek Seong-gi raised a need for military police. It is an undeniable fact that the Daehan Empire followed the example of the Japanese military police in that the Daehan Empire’s military police borrowed a Japanese newly coined term of ‘Heunbyeong’, or military police and that the Army Military Police Ordinance of the Daehan Empire borrowed the key stipulations and Chinese words as they are directly from the Japanese Military Police Ordinance. Japan was the only country back then that ran the military police system among the East Asian countries under the influence of Chinese culture, which seemingly left no other choice but to follow the Japanese footsteps for the Daehan Empire that was eager to immediately introduce the military police system at the time. In retrospect, the French military police system was eventually transplanted to the Daehan Empire through Japan.