관동대학살에 대한 조선인들의 인식과 대응 ― 사건 이후 조선에서 결성된 단체를 중심으로 ―

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to establish Koreans' actions against the Kantou Massacre and its characteristics. The Kantou Massacre is the generic term for the Great Earthquake occurred in September 1st, 1923 and the massacre of Koreans carried out thereafter. Related preceding studies revealed Koreans' methods of actions and their outputs, through analyzing the organizations of Koreans formed after the Kantou Massacre. Those studies, however, couldn't establish how this incident was widely known to general Korean society, the way Koreans tried to intervene in that incident in the process of the spread, and how the intervention differed in the type and characteristic from others. The news about the Kantou Massacre was conveyed to Korean people in time lag. At first, it was mainly about the natural disaster [the earthquake] due to media blackout imposed by the Japanese colonial power. So Korean people's reaction was also directed toward the disaster. But as the news about the massacre of Koreans had been reported since September 5th, 1923, the reaction of Koreans to the incident had been changed from ‘the problems of natural disaster’ into ‘ethnic issues’. Immediately after the incident, relief activities were deployed under the supervision of the Japanese Government General of Korea. Two conflicting opinions, however, had emerged on the charity cases since Korean people were informed of the news of the massacre of Koreans. One was ‘comprehensive relief’ that both Koreans and Japanese should be included as the relief cases, and the other was ‘preferential relief for Koreans’ that Koreans should be relieved preferentially. The relief organization of Koreans representing the former was ‘the Association of Collection of Subscriptions for Relief(義捐金募金助成會)’, and that representing the latter was ‘the Association of Relief for Korean Victims in Tokyo suffering from Calamities(東京地方罹災朝鮮人救濟會)’ Both organizations had different views on the incident. The organization insisting on ‘comprehensive relief’ interpreted this incident as one of natural disasters, urging people to take the lead in relief activities from the standpoint of love for mankind. On the other hand, the organization asserting ‘preferential relief for Koreans’ regarded this incident in terms of nationalistic viewpoints, emphasizing national fraternity. They also differed in their methods of activities because of these differences in viewpoints. While the former actively responded to the relief works led by the Japanese Government General of Korea, the latter wanted to participate in the relief works preferential to Koreans with the investigation activities of Koreans in the earthquake-ravaged areas. By the way, as the news about the massacre of Koreans spreaded across Korea, and the ethnic conflicts and tensions between Korea and Japan built up, the Japanese Government General of Korea actually ‘broke up’ ‘the Association of Relief for Korean Victims in Tokyo suffering from Calamities’, and ‘shut out’ the Korean intervention in the issue of the massacre of Koreans.