일본의 동아시아 지역 침략전쟁을 통해 본 군사사상의 전통과 함의

Abstract

Historically, in East Asia, powers surrounding Korea never ceased to bring on wars as well as interventions. Japan’s first participation in war was the Battle of Baekchon River to support Baekje, but Japan started its invasion of the continent decisively from Imjinwaeran (Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592). After that, Japan’s continent-oriented military thought continued to be exhibited through its war of aggression in East Asia, and up to now, there have been conflicts and confrontations uprising in East Asia on account of Japan’s distortion of history to deny what it did in the past. The thought that Japanese had in the past can be the mirror to reflect the inside of those living in that era and also the basis that forms the thought of the future; therefore, it is possible to understand Japanese military thought by figuring out its traditional thought rooted in its history as well as the Japanese national character. Also, military thought is grounded on its national thought that has been from the ancient times, so understanding military thought should be started from figuring out the national thought. Accordingly, this author has examined Japanese’s traditional thought and their characteristics and performed historical consideration on its war of aggression in East Asia including the Chino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese Wars, First World War, invasion of Manchuria, the Sino-Japanese War, and Second World War, and so on in order to draw the roots and tradition of its military thought and its implications. What brought the most significant change to the people of Japan in the modern times was the establishment of the absolute Japanese Emperor(てんのう)system. Especially from the 19th century, the ideology of the Emperor system was always at the top of its national ruling system as the ruling ideology to create a new, modernized state and dominated the mentality of its people. Also, in the process of its modernization, the warrior's code became a symbol of Japanese militarism, and Japan Self-Defense Forces can be said to have been carrying on the spirit of it. At the Restoration of Meiji(めいじ), Japan rose as the one and only rising power in Asia and strengthened its forces and began to attack nearby countries based on that. After winning in the Chino-Japanese War, Japan concluded Treaty of Shimonoseki and created modernized international relations in East Asia centering about Japan successfully. Moreover, through Russo-Japanese Wars, it succeeded in making Chosun one of its protectorates. Japan’s continental expansion policy was disguised as ‘solidarity in Asia’, and in the 1940’s, it appeared again as ‘the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’. Considering the directions of Japan’s current foreign policy grounded on the presentness of history, we can see that its foreign expansion policy that was promoted up to the Second World War from the Restoration of Meiji has never ceased to end up until now, and its national behavior in early Meiji is appearing now again in similar ways. Taking the wars in East Asia into account, we can conclude that it is needed to pay attention to Japan’s continent-oriented military thought when its military power is becoming stronger than its surrounding nations’.