{"title":"Note from the Editor","authors":"S. Vermeersch","doi":"10.1353/seo.2020.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2020.0010","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41678,"journal":{"name":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/seo.2020.0010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49301183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:This paper seeks to ascertain the casting dates and stylistic changes over time of gilt-bronze Buddha statues currently enshrined in North Korean temples, particularly those belonging to the mid-fourteenth-century. After examining the appearance of and relevant literature on these statues, the current state of mid- and large-size metal Buddhist statues enshrined in North Korean temples is investigated mainly through the colonial property register and gelatin dry plate negatives from the colonial period. Next, the body proportions, depictions of dress, Buddha robe (saṃkakṣikā), and metal ornaments of early and mid-fourteenth-century gilt-bronze seated Buddhas in South and North Korea are compared in order to suggest specific casting dates for extant Koryŏ metal Buddha statues in North Korean temples. Through this analysis, Buddha statues of the 1320s can be distinguished from those of the 1340s based on their body proportions, dress, and metal ornaments. Specifically, I argue that whereas the gilt-bronze Buddha of Wŏlchŏng-sa in Anak was similar to that of Sŏngbul-sa in Sariwŏn made in the 1320s in terms of body proportions and dress, the gilt-bronze Buddha of Pŏphŭng-sa in P’yŏngwŏn and of Yanghwa-sa in T’aech’ŏn were presumably made in the 1340s by the same Buddha statue maker who made the gilt-bronze Buddhas of Munsu-sa in Sŏsan and of Changgok-sa in Ch’ŏngyang, as they have identical body proportions and present specific depictions of the Buddha. Presumably these statues were made in workshops based in the capital Kaegyŏng to be transported to local temples upon completion.
{"title":"A Study on Mid-fourteenth-century Gilt-bronze Seated Buddha Statues in North Korean Temples","authors":"Sunil Choi, Chan Yong Bu","doi":"10.1353/seo.2020.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2020.0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This paper seeks to ascertain the casting dates and stylistic changes over time of gilt-bronze Buddha statues currently enshrined in North Korean temples, particularly those belonging to the mid-fourteenth-century. After examining the appearance of and relevant literature on these statues, the current state of mid- and large-size metal Buddhist statues enshrined in North Korean temples is investigated mainly through the colonial property register and gelatin dry plate negatives from the colonial period. Next, the body proportions, depictions of dress, Buddha robe (saṃkakṣikā), and metal ornaments of early and mid-fourteenth-century gilt-bronze seated Buddhas in South and North Korea are compared in order to suggest specific casting dates for extant Koryŏ metal Buddha statues in North Korean temples. Through this analysis, Buddha statues of the 1320s can be distinguished from those of the 1340s based on their body proportions, dress, and metal ornaments. Specifically, I argue that whereas the gilt-bronze Buddha of Wŏlchŏng-sa in Anak was similar to that of Sŏngbul-sa in Sariwŏn made in the 1320s in terms of body proportions and dress, the gilt-bronze Buddha of Pŏphŭng-sa in P’yŏngwŏn and of Yanghwa-sa in T’aech’ŏn were presumably made in the 1340s by the same Buddha statue maker who made the gilt-bronze Buddhas of Munsu-sa in Sŏsan and of Changgok-sa in Ch’ŏngyang, as they have identical body proportions and present specific depictions of the Buddha. Presumably these statues were made in workshops based in the capital Kaegyŏng to be transported to local temples upon completion.","PeriodicalId":41678,"journal":{"name":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/seo.2020.0002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46858721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:This paper aims to reconsider Koryŏ meat-eating culture. In the field of Korean culinary culture studies, scholars argue that Koryŏ meat-eating culture was underdeveloped or restricted due to Buddhism on three basic grounds: 1) prohibitions of hunting, fishing, butchery, and meat eating; 2) references to the aversion to killing and poor skill at butchery in the Gaoli tujing; and 3) the supposed resurrection of meat-eating culture under Yuan rule. First, Koryŏ records reveal that a minority of Koryŏ prohibitions were rooted in Buddhist thought, while the majority were rooted in rituals and principles of Confucian governance from the Book of Rites and “Monthly Ordinances.” Second, the aversion to killing and poor skill at butchery described in the Gaoli tujing reflect a compromise between the desires for meat and to avoid the responsibility of taking a life. Finally, the Koryŏ ruling class ate both livestock and game and the common people made a living through hunting and fishing and paid taxes through deer and fish prior to Yuan rule. In Koryŏ society, despite Buddhist faiths, hunting, butchery, and meat eating were universally practiced and accepted. It thus appears that Koryŏ society did not internalize and socially stratify the Buddhist prohibition of meat eating to the degree apparent in Indian and Japanese societies.
{"title":"A Reconsideration of Koryŏ Meat-eating Culture","authors":"M. Kong, Keiran Mcrae","doi":"10.1353/seo.2020.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2020.0004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This paper aims to reconsider Koryŏ meat-eating culture. In the field of Korean culinary culture studies, scholars argue that Koryŏ meat-eating culture was underdeveloped or restricted due to Buddhism on three basic grounds: 1) prohibitions of hunting, fishing, butchery, and meat eating; 2) references to the aversion to killing and poor skill at butchery in the Gaoli tujing; and 3) the supposed resurrection of meat-eating culture under Yuan rule. First, Koryŏ records reveal that a minority of Koryŏ prohibitions were rooted in Buddhist thought, while the majority were rooted in rituals and principles of Confucian governance from the Book of Rites and “Monthly Ordinances.” Second, the aversion to killing and poor skill at butchery described in the Gaoli tujing reflect a compromise between the desires for meat and to avoid the responsibility of taking a life. Finally, the Koryŏ ruling class ate both livestock and game and the common people made a living through hunting and fishing and paid taxes through deer and fish prior to Yuan rule. In Koryŏ society, despite Buddhist faiths, hunting, butchery, and meat eating were universally practiced and accepted. It thus appears that Koryŏ society did not internalize and socially stratify the Buddhist prohibition of meat eating to the degree apparent in Indian and Japanese societies.","PeriodicalId":41678,"journal":{"name":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/seo.2020.0004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49571254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:This article investigates a story regarding King Kyŏngmun of Silla found in the Samguk yusa. In particular, the research is focused on the donkey ears the king is said to have acquired after his ascent to the throne in 861, an episode that resembles the well-known tale of King Midas of Phrygia. Given the allegoric nature of the tale, I divide the article into three parts, dealing first of all with the donkey’s symbolism in ancient Eurasia. The second section shows other literary examples of kings having horse or donkey ears, including that of Midas, in an attempt at interpreting these stories. Finally, I give my personal explanation of the passage regarding King Kyŏngmun, assessing the similarities and differences with the story of Midas. In conclusion, the tale of King Kyŏngmun, an actual historical figure, appears much more tragic, since it is deeply anchored in a precise historical context, namely, the process leading to the inevitable ruin and fall of the state after a dramatic series of uprisings and revolts.
{"title":"The Allegory of King Kyŏngmun in the Samguk yusa","authors":"M. Riotto","doi":"10.1353/seo.2020.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2020.0005","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article investigates a story regarding King Kyŏngmun of Silla found in the Samguk yusa. In particular, the research is focused on the donkey ears the king is said to have acquired after his ascent to the throne in 861, an episode that resembles the well-known tale of King Midas of Phrygia. Given the allegoric nature of the tale, I divide the article into three parts, dealing first of all with the donkey’s symbolism in ancient Eurasia. The second section shows other literary examples of kings having horse or donkey ears, including that of Midas, in an attempt at interpreting these stories. Finally, I give my personal explanation of the passage regarding King Kyŏngmun, assessing the similarities and differences with the story of Midas. In conclusion, the tale of King Kyŏngmun, an actual historical figure, appears much more tragic, since it is deeply anchored in a precise historical context, namely, the process leading to the inevitable ruin and fall of the state after a dramatic series of uprisings and revolts.","PeriodicalId":41678,"journal":{"name":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/seo.2020.0005","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42372662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:The present study examines how the concurrence of multipolarity and North Korean regime consolidation in the mid-1960s pressured South Korean political elites to reconsider the isolation of the “North Korean puppet” (Pukhan koeroe) inherent to unification policy at the time. The Sino-Soviet split, American policy alterations toward China and its impending UN entry in the context of the Vietnam War, and Soviet-American peaceful coexistence ensured the rise of a “Two Korea” view internationally. Meanwhile, North Korea gained the support of nonaligned countries and the Soviet Union, positioned itself to benefit from the boon of China’s rise, and established the monolithic ideological system. These circumstances not only invalidated Seoul’s claim to sole legitimacy (“One Korea”), but fundamentally challenged the inherent premise of isolating the “North Korean puppet” to the point of collapse. In 1966, the pressing need to factor these circumstances into unification policy deliberation produced a head-on partisan collision regarding the feasibility of isolationism, if not the nature of the North Korean communist threat itself. Whereas the ruling Democratic Republication Party’s (DRP) policy of “construction first, unification later” represented a variant of isolationism, the Masses Party’s (MP) criticism of the policy did not clarify the conditions for reconciliation. From the mid-1960s, the notion of North Korea as a passing phenomenon went into irreversible decline, compelling a reformulation of unification policy with respect to anti-communist orthodoxy.
{"title":"Between Isolation and Reconciliation: The “North Korean Puppet” as a Controversy in South Korean Politics, 1966","authors":"Do Jein, Mincheol Park","doi":"10.1353/seo.2020.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2020.0007","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The present study examines how the concurrence of multipolarity and North Korean regime consolidation in the mid-1960s pressured South Korean political elites to reconsider the isolation of the “North Korean puppet” (Pukhan koeroe) inherent to unification policy at the time. The Sino-Soviet split, American policy alterations toward China and its impending UN entry in the context of the Vietnam War, and Soviet-American peaceful coexistence ensured the rise of a “Two Korea” view internationally. Meanwhile, North Korea gained the support of nonaligned countries and the Soviet Union, positioned itself to benefit from the boon of China’s rise, and established the monolithic ideological system. These circumstances not only invalidated Seoul’s claim to sole legitimacy (“One Korea”), but fundamentally challenged the inherent premise of isolating the “North Korean puppet” to the point of collapse. In 1966, the pressing need to factor these circumstances into unification policy deliberation produced a head-on partisan collision regarding the feasibility of isolationism, if not the nature of the North Korean communist threat itself. Whereas the ruling Democratic Republication Party’s (DRP) policy of “construction first, unification later” represented a variant of isolationism, the Masses Party’s (MP) criticism of the policy did not clarify the conditions for reconciliation. From the mid-1960s, the notion of North Korea as a passing phenomenon went into irreversible decline, compelling a reformulation of unification policy with respect to anti-communist orthodoxy.","PeriodicalId":41678,"journal":{"name":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/seo.2020.0007","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47790769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Na Hyesŏk (1896–1948), the so-called "Korean Nora" of colonial Korea, challenged existing patriarchal conventions and tried to dismantle androcentric myths. In her poem, "A Doll's Song" (1921), an adaptation from Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, she exclaims, "I have a divine duty, setting out on my mission to become a person." Her feminism was a common theme among Korean new-age women and her task was one shared with Japanese new women artists. Japan and Korea's new-age women had ideological ties, despite their political differences as constituents of empire and colony, a fact closely linked to the reception of "Nora" in East Asia. Korean international students in Tokyo learned and experienced Western culture via Japanese intellectuals and celebrated Ibsen's "Nora" as a role model of modern individuality. For Korean male students, being a "Nora" implied having a sense of enlightenment both as a modern person and a colonial intellectual with an awareness of nationalistic boundaries. However, Na Hyesŏk made it her priority to break with patriarchal ideology so that Korean female intellectuals could play a role equal to that of their male counterparts in modern Korean society.
{"title":"Na Hyesŏk: The \"Korean Nora\"","authors":"Jung-Ah Choi, H. Kim","doi":"10.1353/seo.2019.0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2019.0015","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Na Hyesŏk (1896–1948), the so-called \"Korean Nora\" of colonial Korea, challenged existing patriarchal conventions and tried to dismantle androcentric myths. In her poem, \"A Doll's Song\" (1921), an adaptation from Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, she exclaims, \"I have a divine duty, setting out on my mission to become a person.\" Her feminism was a common theme among Korean new-age women and her task was one shared with Japanese new women artists. Japan and Korea's new-age women had ideological ties, despite their political differences as constituents of empire and colony, a fact closely linked to the reception of \"Nora\" in East Asia. Korean international students in Tokyo learned and experienced Western culture via Japanese intellectuals and celebrated Ibsen's \"Nora\" as a role model of modern individuality. For Korean male students, being a \"Nora\" implied having a sense of enlightenment both as a modern person and a colonial intellectual with an awareness of nationalistic boundaries. However, Na Hyesŏk made it her priority to break with patriarchal ideology so that Korean female intellectuals could play a role equal to that of their male counterparts in modern Korean society.","PeriodicalId":41678,"journal":{"name":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/seo.2019.0015","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49181769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"I Met Loh Kiwan by Cho Haejin (review)","authors":"S. Vermeersch","doi":"10.1353/seo.2019.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2019.0009","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41678,"journal":{"name":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/seo.2019.0009","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44342490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The purpose of this translation is to introduce the letters exchanged between Yi I and his friend Song Ikp’il concerning the Kyŏngmong yogyŏl 擊蒙要訣 (Essential instructions on rectifying folly), thereby identifying the role Song Ikp’il played in the making of this text. Most previous translators and researchers have been unaware that the Kyŏngmong yogyŏl circulated in a draft version that Yi I revised after intensive review by his close friend Song Ikp’il. This fact is evidenced by letters exchanged between the two in which they discuss the work. I provide translations of these letters to inform readers of the issues raised in the letters and call attention to the differences between the first draft and the published work. Materials in Translation
{"title":"The Letters Exchanged between Yi I (Yulgok) and Song Ikp'il (Kubong) Concerning the Kyŏngmong yogyŏl","authors":"Sanghoon Na","doi":"10.1353/seo.2019.0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2019.0018","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this translation is to introduce the letters exchanged between Yi I and his friend Song Ikp’il concerning the Kyŏngmong yogyŏl 擊蒙要訣 (Essential instructions on rectifying folly), thereby identifying the role Song Ikp’il played in the making of this text. Most previous translators and researchers have been unaware that the Kyŏngmong yogyŏl circulated in a draft version that Yi I revised after intensive review by his close friend Song Ikp’il. This fact is evidenced by letters exchanged between the two in which they discuss the work. I provide translations of these letters to inform readers of the issues raised in the letters and call attention to the differences between the first draft and the published work. Materials in Translation","PeriodicalId":41678,"journal":{"name":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/seo.2019.0018","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48315550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Observing the English-language literature on Ch'ŏnt'ae, one might get the impression that Ch'ŏnt'ae begins and ends with Ŭich'ŏn (1055–1101). Most scholars agree Ŭich'ŏn was the founder of the Ch'ŏnt'ae school, the Korean counterpart of Tiantai, but what happened after him? The next figure about whom we have fairly substantial information is Yose (1163–1245), leaving a gap of nearly eighty years; and when Yose comes into his own, it is by founding the White Lotus society at Mandŏk-sa in 1216, reflecting a type of devotional practice not traditionally associated with Ŭich'ŏn. This shift is usually explained in Korean scholarship by referring to the historical background. Yose lived during a period of military rule (1170–1256) when many monks seem to have foregone the traditional bureaucratic institutions of Buddhism and founded their own faith-based societies; for example, Chinul's founding of Chŏnghye-sa in 1190 and Susŏn-sa (later Songgwang-sa) in 1200. In what sense is Yose's movement a departure from Ŭich'ŏn? Should we take Ŭich'ŏn's writings as the be-all and end-all of Korean Ch'ŏnt'ae? I argue that Ŭich'ŏn failed to put in place any clear structure, ideology, or training course for the school he founded, and hence disciples selected through the first Ch'ŏnt'ae examination of 1101 had to fend for themselves. Riven by conflict, they likely failed to develop a clear identity, perhaps because they were mostly originally trained in other schools. Ŭich'ŏn seems to have perceived the need to implement Pure Land societies as an essential component of the Tiantai tradition as it had formed in Song China, but it was only Yose who finally managed to integrate all the various practices of the Tiantai tradition into the Ch'ŏnt'ae school.
{"title":"Ch'ŏnt'ae after Ŭich'ŏn: The Formative Period of the Korean Ch'ŏnt'ae Order","authors":"S. Vermeersch","doi":"10.1353/seo.2019.0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2019.0014","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Observing the English-language literature on Ch'ŏnt'ae, one might get the impression that Ch'ŏnt'ae begins and ends with Ŭich'ŏn (1055–1101). Most scholars agree Ŭich'ŏn was the founder of the Ch'ŏnt'ae school, the Korean counterpart of Tiantai, but what happened after him? The next figure about whom we have fairly substantial information is Yose (1163–1245), leaving a gap of nearly eighty years; and when Yose comes into his own, it is by founding the White Lotus society at Mandŏk-sa in 1216, reflecting a type of devotional practice not traditionally associated with Ŭich'ŏn. This shift is usually explained in Korean scholarship by referring to the historical background. Yose lived during a period of military rule (1170–1256) when many monks seem to have foregone the traditional bureaucratic institutions of Buddhism and founded their own faith-based societies; for example, Chinul's founding of Chŏnghye-sa in 1190 and Susŏn-sa (later Songgwang-sa) in 1200. In what sense is Yose's movement a departure from Ŭich'ŏn? Should we take Ŭich'ŏn's writings as the be-all and end-all of Korean Ch'ŏnt'ae? I argue that Ŭich'ŏn failed to put in place any clear structure, ideology, or training course for the school he founded, and hence disciples selected through the first Ch'ŏnt'ae examination of 1101 had to fend for themselves. Riven by conflict, they likely failed to develop a clear identity, perhaps because they were mostly originally trained in other schools. Ŭich'ŏn seems to have perceived the need to implement Pure Land societies as an essential component of the Tiantai tradition as it had formed in Song China, but it was only Yose who finally managed to integrate all the various practices of the Tiantai tradition into the Ch'ŏnt'ae school.","PeriodicalId":41678,"journal":{"name":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/seo.2019.0014","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43670636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:The concept of trusteeship has played a major role in Korea's colonial and post-colonial history. Two United States presidents, Woodrow Wilson in 1918 and Franklin Roosevelt in 1941, saw the policy as a stage for occupied peoples to pass through prior to their gaining complete sovereignty. In 1943 Roosevelt specifically deemed that Korea would require a lengthy trusteeship period upon Japan's defeat. This policy, however, was never officially introduced to the peninsula. This article focuses on post-liberation attempts by the United States and Soviet Union to enact a process that would have subjected a provisional unified Korean government to trusteeship as an important step toward forming a more permanent political body. This process, decided upon in Moscow at a conference of three foreign ministers held in December 1945, faced complications at Joint Commission meetings when the Soviet Union and United States failed to agree on the interpretation of the Moscow Decision. Specifically, the two sides differed over whether to allow consultation with groups of conservative Koreans who aggressively opposed the idea of their country being subjected to a trusteeship administration. Another important factor was the generally hostile relations that were developing between the Soviet Union and United States that impacted negatively any trust that remained from their wartime alliance. Their failure to complete their task represented the last reasonable chance for North-South reunification prior to the two Koreas forming separate states in 1948.
{"title":"The Politics of Trusteeship and the Perils of Korean Reunification","authors":"Mark E. Caprio","doi":"10.1353/seo.2019.0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/seo.2019.0016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The concept of trusteeship has played a major role in Korea's colonial and post-colonial history. Two United States presidents, Woodrow Wilson in 1918 and Franklin Roosevelt in 1941, saw the policy as a stage for occupied peoples to pass through prior to their gaining complete sovereignty. In 1943 Roosevelt specifically deemed that Korea would require a lengthy trusteeship period upon Japan's defeat. This policy, however, was never officially introduced to the peninsula. This article focuses on post-liberation attempts by the United States and Soviet Union to enact a process that would have subjected a provisional unified Korean government to trusteeship as an important step toward forming a more permanent political body. This process, decided upon in Moscow at a conference of three foreign ministers held in December 1945, faced complications at Joint Commission meetings when the Soviet Union and United States failed to agree on the interpretation of the Moscow Decision. Specifically, the two sides differed over whether to allow consultation with groups of conservative Koreans who aggressively opposed the idea of their country being subjected to a trusteeship administration. Another important factor was the generally hostile relations that were developing between the Soviet Union and United States that impacted negatively any trust that remained from their wartime alliance. Their failure to complete their task represented the last reasonable chance for North-South reunification prior to the two Koreas forming separate states in 1948.","PeriodicalId":41678,"journal":{"name":"Seoul Journal of Korean Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/seo.2019.0016","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45234584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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