Tuesday, February 21, 2006

On the road to the annexation---Korea

Awakening of the People
Independent club

So Chae-p'il (Philip Jaisohn) processed in 1884 from asylum in Japan to America and studied medicine. On his return to Korea in 1896, he resumed leadership of the nation's modern reform program. Appointed a consultant to the Privy Council,・・・・・i
 The Independence Club, which So helped to found, was formally activated in July 1896, with Minister of War An Kyong-su as president and Foreign Minister Yi Wan-yong as chairman
 So Chae-p'il did his best to awaken the public to the needs of modernization. He asserted that the following steps were vital to national development: mass education, road construction, commerce promoting national wealth, women's education, the promotion of Han-gul for mass education, currency in domestic transactions, wide circulation of both domestic and foreign newspapers, exploitation of mining resources and the establishment of a congress・・・・
The people were united in condemning the King's flight to a foreign legation and the continuous granting of economic concessions to foreigners and their outrage coalesced in the Independence Club's campaign. As a result, Kojong moved out of the Russian legation to Kyong-un-gung (today's Toksugung) palace in February 1897link

The first chairpserson of excutive comitte was Lee Wan yon.p175[1]

In 1898, Feb.9th, Independent club hold the street oratory convention called all people's meeting.It demanded to the government that transfering the right to foreign
nations,the establishment of Korea-Russian Bank be stopped, the soverignty infringed
by Russian advisors to fainance and army be recovered. Henceforth, civilians members of Independent club promoted the activity mainly against the government, but the members of government officials such as Lee Wan yon were against such activities.The gevernment expelled the sustansive leader So(徐載粥) to the United States,and helped conservatives to form Imperial society to oppose the club. Some members were imprisoned, and others were forced to flight exile. At the end of the year,the independent club perished completely.
p178




Rightous troop


The movement of anti-Japan rightous troop is the anti-Japanese armed force originating from the earier movement of rightoust troop, which revolted militarily in 1890's, advocating Confucious, anti-Japan, anti-Russia.p184

There are no cases in which the large scale of rightous troop with thousands soldiers fought with Japanese army except one case. Only once ten thousands of rightous solodier asseembled in 1907, December.The Rightous soldiers from all of the county planed to advance into Soeul, but failed because Japan knew this plan and the Army could not withstand the Japanese counter-offensive.Henceforce, the Righteous Army split into small bands of guerilla.p186[2]


.
Between 1905 and 1910, uprisings and rebellions erupted frequently throughout Korea. Japan crushed them with efficient savagery. The Koreans had few weapons, and Japan was a powerful and merciless nation. According to Japanese statistics, 14,566 Korean "rebels" were killed between July 1907 and December 1908. By 1910, when Japan formally annexed Korea, little open resistance remained in the land; and no Western nation spoke out against Japan's seizure of the peninsula.
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/pd-c-01.htm


Anthony Carty, University of Derby, offered archival materials from British government files of letters and reports from Korea during the period just before, during, and after the annexation. British embassy officials seemed to have reached the conclusion that the Japanese take-over was a fait accompli, and that there was little or nothing in the form of popular or other noticeable protest against it at the time.link


Iljinhoe

The Iljinhoe (meaning Progress Party) was a political organization formed in the Korean Empire on August 8, 1904. It claimed that Korea could not develop capitalism on its own, and demanded a merger with the Japanese Empire. It cooperated with the Imperial Japanese army during the Russo-Japanese War.
Hangul: 일진회
Hanja: 一進會
Revised Romanization: Iljinhoe
wiki
一進会/dreamtale (in Japanese)宋秉畯/dreamtale一進会/dreamtale in Japanese


Lew p239:
“Japan attempted to rally public support for a protectorate treaty through a front organization that it created and financed, the Ilchinhoe (”Advancement Society”). The purpose of this charade was to create the false impression that a protectorate treaty was not a Japanese demand but rather a response to the wishes of the Korean people.”井の中の蛙

However, this claim is groudless.In fact, Ilchinhoe contibuted 250000 yen to the Japanese army during Russo-Japan War.
To be sure, Japanese army gave 100000 yen to this party, but it was because Ilchinhoe called Japanese army for help to supplement the red finance:Ilchinhoe expended 150000 yen to help victims of the riots throughout the country.[3]

Kim Wan sop, a Korean writer

This political party is an association of Tonghak,independent club, all the people's meeting(万民共同会)and other revolutionary parties.It was formed to civilize Korea,in solidarity with Japan, by overthrowing Korean dynasty and the reactionaries.This fact, however , is thoroughly concealed from Korean people now, and Korean govenment misrepresents this party as the pseudo-group of a few pro-Japanese.
Isshinkai is the largest political party ever formed in Korean history, to revolutionalize Korea in the begging of 20 century. And it was formed by every revolutionary forces and it is an association of a hundreds of thousands of revolutionary army. p266 [4]


呉善花 a Korean professor

The number of members was claimed by its party to be a million but the government-general office reported that it was 140000 at the time of annexation. Some speculates that there were 2000000 or more when the activity was at its best, Suppose it was 1400000.Still it was the largest political party and no other political party could be cmpared with it.
Considering the fact that the population at the time was 1300000, we can not ingnore it as a handful of pro-Japanese reactionaries."p190[5]



The gate on the photo says, isshinkai Iljinhoe, WELCOME
 

Duus p216
“In August 1904, probably as a means to mobilize laborers for the construction of the military railway between Seoul and Ûiju, Song [Pyŏng-jun] organized the Yushinhoe (Restoration Society). To expand its numbers, the group merged a few days later with the Chinbohoe (Progress Society) led by Yi Yong-gun, a former Tonghak leader…In a fawning letter sent to Japanese officials…the new organization, called the Ilchinhoe (Restoration Society) offered its support to the Japanese efforts against the Russians…From the outset the Japanese authorities viewed the Ilchinhoe with considerable ambivalence…The strongest Japanese supporters of the Ilchinhoe were Japanese patriotic societies and chauvinist groups looking for allies in the pursuit of their pan-Asian dreams…” Mentions an alleged 1 million membership for the society.

Schmid, Andre Korea Between Empires, 1895-195 (2002) p88
“Pan-Asianist ideas also found many advocates in Korea. Most notorious was the Ilchinhoe, a political society established in 1904 by Yi Yonggu and Son Pyŏnghûi [sic: isn’t Son a Ch’ŏndogyo leader and co-founder of the anti-Ilchinhoe newspaper Mansebo?] which made unity of the yellow race a central tenet of its collaborationist activity…”

Conroy, Hilary The Japanese Seizure of Korea 1868-1910 (1960) p415
“Exactly how this relationship [between Tonghak rebels and Japanese reactionaries] developed is not clear, but the “Secret History” tells us that the Ilchin Hoe (Japanese Isshin Kai), the society which linked the Japanese reactionaries with their Korean comrades during the 1905-1910 period, was “a changed form of the Tonghak Party.” One of the main changes seems to have occured during the Russo-Japanese War when the Japanese army in Korea began to subsidize the society to encourage its pro-Japanese proclivities.” Cites Nikkan Gappō

Cumings p147
“Within Korea an organization called Ilchinhoe, or Unity and Progress Society, enrolled large numbers of Koreans in a new mass organization that backed Japan’s policies; one scholar [Gregory Henderson] wrote that this was Korea’s first modern political organization, uniting leaders and led and mobilizing the masses. That generalization is a bit of a stretch, but so is the subsequent attempt by nationalist historians to pretend that the Ilchinhoe’s members were few, with each one devoted to selling Korea to Japan.”井の中の蛙



A statement by the president of Ilchinhoe[6]

李容九Yi Yong-gun

Japan made Korea independent after sino=Japanese war, and saved Korea, which was about to be encroaced by Russia. But far from being greateful for it, Korea donned this country and that, as a result, she was deprived of the right of the diplomacy, but it is our own fault.we had to conclude 丁未 treaty* because we caused Hague incident.we should keep it mind that Hirofumi Ito watched us Korean nationals warmly and lead the Crown Prince in the right direction for the benifit of Korea. Harbin incident having taken place,we do not know what's coming to us.It is we Koreans who caused all of this.・・・・・therefore rather than living as a inferior nationals receiving protections, let's choose to live as first class nationals equal to Japanese,constructing a great empire, by merging with Japan.

Yi Yong-gun
A million of members.
*丁未 treaty1907.7.24

Other intellectuals

李成玉 an ambassador plenipotentiary
During Yi dynasty period, 李成玉 visited the US as an ambassador plenipotentiary , and was shocked to know that Koreans were more despised than American Indians by Americans, and were inferior to the race of Mexico and India.He said,

The present Korea national has no power to make our country independent. It is inevitable that Korea perish. To avoid it, we had to be annexed. And no other counry is more right to annex Korea than Japan.While Western people consider Koreans as a dog or a pig, Japan does not. I do not like the way Japanese scold us, imposing Japanese ethics, but this is because they see us as the same kind.And Japan is the right country to lead us to participate in the world civilization. Besides that way, there is no way we can eonjoy the happiness as human beings, escaping from the situation like a pig.I don't see why the annexiation is the problem. My view on annexisation is the result of consideration based on the way western people see Koreans.
[7]


金文輯 a writer
Reflecting upon the thousands years of the Korean hisotry, or just thinking of 500 years of history of Yi dynasty, it is common sense of Korea herself that indenpendence without help is just a dream. What is more, looking at this 50 years of international relations, and the future historical perspectives which are growing for the worse, it is nonsense for Korea to become independent with the weakness as it is. If so, the only way is to become assimilated to Japanese and enjoy the same right and obligation as imperial Japanese.[8]


李完用 Lee Wan-yong. prime minister
Before we pitched the net, a fish jumped into the net," said Midori Komatsu, who was the foreign affairs director at the Office of the Japanese Resident General in Korea, recollecting the eve of the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910.
let us find out who chased the fish - annexation - into the net. Choson, or Korea, suggested annexation to Japan first. Lee Ik-jik was a secret envoy of Prime Minister Lee Wan-yong.

Does this make Lee Wan-yong a traitor who stands out in thousands of years of history?
He passed a government examination to become a public servant in 1882. During the "days of enlightenment" of Choson, he learned English at Yukyeong Gongwon, the nation's first language school. He served as a charge d'affaires to the United States for two years from 1888. With Yun Chi-ho and Yu Gil-jun, Lee, one of the very few Koreans who could speak English, first was known as pro-American. In 1894, he declined to take office as a charge d'affaires to Japan, citing mourning for his mother. Unlike Song Byeong-jun, a devoted member of a pro-Japanese group, Lee never learned to speak Japanese. Surprisingly, he was the founder of the Independence Club established in 1896.

In fact, Seo Jae-pil's Dongnip Sinmun (Independence Newspaper) never wrote a single line of criticism against Lee Wan-yong2001.08.30joong ang daily




Treaty of Annexation
・・・・・・
In order to maintain peace and stability in Korea, to promote the prosperity and welfare of Koreans, and at the same time to ensure the safety and repose of foreign residents, it has been made abundantly clear that fundamental changes in the actual regime of government are absolutely essential. The Governments of Japan and Korea, being convinced of the urgent necessity of introducing reforms responsive to the requirements of the situation and of furnishing sufficient guarantee for the future, have, with the approval of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan and His Majesty the Emperor of Korea, concluded, through their plenipotentiaries, a treaty providing for complete annexation of Korea to the Empire of Japan. By virtue of that important act, which shall take effect on its promulgation on August 29, 1910, the Imperial Government of Japan shall undertake the entire government and administration of Korea, and they hereby declare that the matters relating to foreigners and foreign trade in Korea shall be conducted in accordance with the following rules:

・・・・・・
In faith thereof:

Resident General Viscount Terauchi Masatake

Prime Minister Yi, Wan-yong


We should also note:

p196 Professor Treat commments,".....every step in the process was 'correct' diplomatically, and the final annexation was consummated by....treaty , not proclamation."As a matter of record, Japan's annexation of Korea had considerably more "legal" documentation than most of the empire-building of the Western Powers.
Mirror for Ameriacans--Another perspective on the Pacific War

Even Mackenzi,who was the most critical of Japanese rule, wrote in the preface of Tragedy of Korea,
No unbiased ovserver can deny that Korean owes the loss of her independence mainly to the corruption and weakness of her old national administration. It is equally true that the Japanese policyon the peninsula has been made more difficult by the intrigues and obstinacy of the old Court party.

See also
Korean King in 1910

And Kingo wrote
To follow is my past posting from another topic of this site. The Korean Emperor admitted the annexation. He had to do so.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Here is a copy of an Imperial mandate by Korean emperor 純宗皇帝 when Korea was to be annexed;

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
皇帝、若(ここ)に曰く、
Emperor says here,

朕否徳にして艱大なる業を承け、
I suceeded a profession of non-virtue and hardship,

臨御以後今日に至るまで、維新政令に関し承図し備試し、
Until today, I ordered and tried new government ordinances,

未だ曽て至らずと雖も、由来積弱痼を成し、疲弊極処に至り、時日間に挽回の施措望み無し。
it was not yet completed but weakness of this country increased and it is exhausted, and there is no hope to regain power.

中夜憂慮善後の策茫然たり。
Day and night I worried but there is no policy available and I stood absent-mindedly.

此に任し支離益甚だしければ、終局に収拾し能わざるに底(いた)らん。
If we lose lots of benefits, we can’t settle them at the end.

寧ろ大任を人に託し完全なる方法と革新なる功効を奏せいむるに如かず。
Rather we’d better entrust it to others in order to get complete way and innovative result.

故に朕是に於いて瞿然として内に省み廊然として、自ら断じ、
Therefore, I thought calmly by myself and decided myself,

茲に韓国の統治権を従前より親信依り仰したる、隣国日本皇帝陛下に譲与し、
外東洋の平和を強固ならしめ、内八域の民生を保全ならしめんとす。
I am going to give the sovereignty of Korea to the neighbouring country Japan’s His majesty the Emperor, whom I have been looking up from bottom of my heart, in order to strengthen peace over the far east and to protect public welfare around the area.

惟爾大小臣民は、国勢と時宜を深察し、
煩擾するなく各其業に安じ、日本帝国の文明の新政に服従し、幸福を共受せよ。
So all the people of Korea should think about the situation about this country, do one’s job without anxiety, obey the new cultural policy of Imperial Japan and enjoy happiness.

朕が今日の此の挙は、
爾有衆を忘れたるにあらず、
My decision today doesn’t mean that I forgot the people of Korea,

専ら爾有衆を救い活かせんとする至意に出づ。
it is due to the intention to relieve and let live the people of Korea.

爾臣民は朕の此の意を克く体せよ。
So all the people should remember my will.

隆煕四年八月二十九日

御璽pacifist at oocientalism



As for the signature
http://bbs.enjoykorea.jp/tbbs/read.php?board_id=thistory&nid=1600143
ソウル大学国史科・李泰鎮教授
「東大生に聞かせてやった韓国史」
純宗皇帝の署名が確実なものは、1910年8月22日に韓国併合条約が強制されたとき、皇帝が李完用に全権委員として任命したという委任状に署名したものを挙げることができます。

Seol University Professor Lee Tae-Jin
Book title: ” My Lectures to the Students of Tokyo University”
The most undisputably authentic signature by King Sunjong can be found on the letter of attorny commissioning full powers to Lee Wan-yong when the treaty for the annexation of Korea was forced upon her in August 22,1910.two cents at occidentalism


[1]
日韓併合への道
執行委員会初代議長は李完用だった。p175
1898年2月9日、独立協会はソウルの鐘路交差点で万民共同会と名付けた街頭演説大会を開き外国への利権委譲を辞めること、韓露銀行設立を中止すること、ロシアからの財政顧問軍事顧問の解雇侵害された主権の回復などを厳しく政府に要求した。・・・・以後独立協会の民間会員たちは政府批判を中心に活動しようとするが、李完用ら政府官僚の会員たちはそれに強く反対してことごとく脱会してしまった。
・・・・政府は独立協会の実質的リーダーである徐載粥を策謀をもってアメリカに追いやると守旧派を集めて皇国協会を作らせ対抗させた。・・・・あるものは投獄されたあるものは逃亡亡命を余儀なくされ年末に至って独立協会は完全に破滅してしまった。p178

[2]
反日義兵運動は日清戦争後の1890年代に衛正斥邪反日反露を掲けて武力蜂起を行った初期義兵運動を継承した反日武装グループである。1907年8月に韓国軍隊の解散命令がだされて以降とくに活発化し、全国各地で徹底した抗日ゲリラ線を繰り広げた。
p184
義兵たちは何千名規模をもって日本軍と衝突したケースがないのである。
 ただ一度だけ1万名規模の義兵の結集をみたことがある。それは1907年12月に全国の義兵が連合部隊を結成してソウル進攻を計画したときである。この計画は事前に日本に察知され、ソウルに迫ろうとする2000名の先遣部隊が日本軍の先制攻撃を受けて敗退したため実現しなかったとされている。・・・・以後地域を越えた大規模な連合が形成されることはなかった。・・・日本軍の兵力増強以降義兵闘争は分散化されゲリラ化していったと言われる。p186

http://www.kimsoft.com/KOREA/chundo.htm

[3]
http://www31.ocn.ne.jp/~matsuo2000/D/Kaihosha4.htm日本統治時代の朝鮮/一進会の1905年の会計報告を見ても、収入41万円(個人の拠出―14万円、会費―16万円、借入金―11万円)であり、日本からの援助金はなかった。それだけではない。一進会は日露戦争への日本軍に対する支援金25万円が拠出している(万円以下の端数省略)。さらに朝鮮各地での暴動の被害者救援金として15万円も支出しており、たちまち財政難に陥った。そこで、日本陸軍に支援を求め10万円の援助を受けた。それでも日本軍への援助は15万円もの赤字となっていた。
http://www31.ocn.ne.jp/~matsuo2000/D/Kaihosha4.htm
http://homepage1.nifty.com/y-kan/hibisiryou.HTM

[4]

この団体は東学Tonghak, or Eastern Learningと独立協会、万民共同会など朝鮮のあらゆる革命団体が連合したものであり、朝鮮王朝と反動勢力を転覆させ日本との連帯のもとに革命の課題である文明開化をなしとげるために結成された。しかし、このような事実は、韓国社会では徹底的に隠蔽され、韓国政府は一進会について日本が少数親日派を糾合して結成した似非団体のごとく歪曲して教育している。p265
一進会は20世紀初頭朝鮮革命のためにあらゆる革命勢力が連合して結成された、朝鮮史上最大の政治組織であり数十万軍革命家の結社である。

[5]p190 韓国併合への道
一進会の会員数は自称100万だが、併合時の総督府の資料で約14万と報告されている。最盛時で20万から20数万はあったのではないか推測もあるが14万としても当時の韓国では他に比較するもののない最大勢力だったことになる。
 当時の人口1300万、一握りの「親日反動分子」の動きとしてすますわけには行かないのである。(善花 文春新書)

(1910年9月一進会は解散させられた。寺内正殻総督としてはこれおを強大で全国的な政治団体が存在するとうことはみずからの統治権に重大な脅威になりかねないためやむえず解散させたのであった。p280)


[6]
日本は日清戦争を通じて韓国を独立させ、日露戦争でロシアに食われかけていた韓国を救ってくれた。それでも韓国はこれをありがたく思うどころか、あの国にくっつき、この国にくっつきし、結局は外交権を奪われることになったが、これは我々が自ら招いたことである。丁未条約を締結することになったのも、やはりハーグ事件をおこした我々に責任がある。伊藤博文公が韓国国民を見守ってくれ、太子を導いて我々韓国のためにごされたことは忘れられない。にもかかわらずハルピンの事件がおきてしまった以上、今後いかなる危険が到来するのかわからない。これもまた韓国人自らそうしてしまったのである。(中略)それゆえ劣等国民として保護されるよりは、いっそ日本と合邦し大帝国をつくって世界の1等国民として日本人とまったくおなじ待遇をうけながら暮らしてみよう。
1909年 12月4日 一進会(百万の朝鮮人会員)

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/韓日合邦を要求する声明書


[7]
朝鮮時代、全権大使としてアメリカに渡った李成玉が各民族に接してみると、朝鮮人は米国人に軽蔑されているインディアンより劣り、その他メキシコ、インドなどの民族より劣っていることを知り、衝撃を受け、次のように述べている。「現在の朝鮮民族の力量をもってすれば、とても独立国家としての体面をもつことはできない。亡国は必死である。亡国を救う道は併合しかない。そして併合相手は日本しかない。欧米人は朝鮮人を犬か豚のように思っているが、日本は違う。日本は日本流の道徳を振り回して小言を言うのは気に入らないが、これは朝鮮人を同類視しているからである。そして、日本人は朝鮮人を導き、世界人類の文明に参加させてくれる唯一の適任者である。それ以外に我が朝鮮民族が豚の境涯から脱して、人間としての幸福が受けられる道はない。日韓併合が問題になるのは、変な話だ。我輩の併合観は欧米人の朝鮮人観を基に考察したのだ。」
朝鮮全権大使 李成玉 「李完用侯の心事と日韓和合」

[8]
「数千年にわたる過去の朝鮮史、ことに李朝五百年史だけをとりあげてみても、完全な独立の道などは一場の夢に過ぎないことはわが朝鮮自身の常識である。いわんや最近五十年の国際状況、特に日増しに険悪の度を増すこれからの世界史相を展望するとき、朝鮮が微弱なままに一度自立してみようというのは最初から問題にならないのである。してみると、今我々に残された唯一の道は、肉体的にも精神的にも内地人と同族になって、一切の権利と義務を同一に享受しようとする皇国臣民の道である。」
金文輯 「朝鮮民族の発展的解消論序説」


http://konn.seesaa.net/article/11408909.html
http://konn.up.seesaa.net/image/sankikyukoutou.jpg

[9]We might as well note what Makenzie had to say about dessidents amoung Koreans.
He focused on the dark side of the early period of the colonization.
He wrote in the preface to "Tragedy of Korea"
No unbiased ovserver can deny that Korean owes the loss of her independence mainly to the corruption and weakness of her old national administration. It is equally true that the Japanese policyon the peninsula has been made more difficult by the intrigues and obstinacy of the old Court party. .....
i, for one, am convinced that we owe it to ourselves and to our ally, Japan, to let it be clearly known that a policy of Imperial expansion based upon breaches of solemn treaty obligations to a weaker nation, and built up by odious cruelty,by needless slauter and y a wholsale theft of the private property rights of a dependent and defenceless peasantry, is repugnant to our instincts and cannot fail to rob the nation that is doing it of much of that respect and goodwill with which we all so recently regarded her.

For instance,
p123
When Japanese who went there first were largely men who wanted to get rich quickly , and who had no scruples with regard to methods.The mmigrants not only cheated the natives when they had opportunity, but relying upson the absence of legal contro, often illtreated them personally and deprived them of their property by force.The Japanese authorities, of course, disapproved of this and did what they could to prevent it; but fifty of sixty thousand immigrants scattered over a counrty more than twice as big as Indiana,....are not to be controlled by half dozen consuls.

Other examples of Japanese unfair treatment of Koreans is depicted in Korea's Fight for Freedom

Assesment of the treaty.
There are a few scholoars who consider it illegal , but
Professor John Van Dyke, of the University of Hawaii, gave a paper on the current claims and counter-claims regarding the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands. The example was most instructive, and suggested that continuing negotiations between Korean and Japan, as between Hawaii and the United States, should be pursued.

Anthony Carty, University of Derby, offered archival materials from British government files of letters and reports from Korea during the period just before, during, and after the annexation. British embassy officials seemed to have reached the conclusion that the Japanese take-over was a fait accompli, and that there was little or nothing in the form of popular or other noticeable protest against it at the time. Professor Carty’s paper suggested to this observer, at least, that it would be worth the effort to pursue the issue of Korean popular feelings about the annexation, rather than continuing to worry the bone of official government records and archival materials.link

And
だが、
同教授は、「強制されたから不法という議論は第一次大戦(1914~18年)以降のもので、
当時としては問題になるものではない」

Translation
It was after WWⅠ(1914~1918) that the treaty was illegal because it was forced.
Hence the logic does not apply to the treaty in quesion.
And as for 1905 treaty King Kojong was acting along with 5 ministers around him , to make a compromise with Japanese:The fact was confirmed by the newly discomvered document.(the below)
それは、「青丘学術論集」という
論文集の2004年の第24集に掲載されたもので、
「第二次日韓協約調印と大韓帝国皇帝高宗」という題の論文である。

この論文によれば、
第二次協約の調印のときに高宗という王と、
その周りに5人の大臣たちがいたが、その5人の大臣たちが、すべて終わった後に王に上奏文を提出した。

その史料はこれまで埋もれていて、研究されたことがあまりなかったのだが、
原田教授はそれを初めて評価され、同協約の締結に関して韓国の高宗皇帝が、
日本側の協約案を修正し調印する方向に、すなわち交渉妥結ということで一貫した行動をとったということを実証された。

したがって、
第二次日韓協約は韓国の高宗皇帝の意図に沿って
行なわれたものだったということが分かってしまったのである

参考で、この『日省録』、『承政院日記』の件については、
原田環氏が「韓国・北朝鮮の嘘を見極める」 文春新書 p88 で以下のように述べている。

当時の大韓帝國では「大韓国国制」(1899年)によって皇帝が独裁権を持っていたので、第二次日韓協約が勒約かどうかは、この条約に対する高宗皇帝の対応を見ればよい。
高宗の対応を明らかにする史料としては、先に言及した朴斉純、李完用等五人の大臣の「五大臣上疏文」がある。
「五大臣上疏文」は大韓帝国の『日省録』、『承政院日記』、『高宗実録』等の公文書に収められている。
いずれの公文書の「五大臣上疏文」もソウル大学の李泰鎭教授が言うように、基本的内容は変わらない。

李泰鎭教授は、日本人が編修に大きく関わった事で知られる『高宗実録』の「五大臣上疏文」を用い、1905年11月17日の御前会議で第二次日韓協約の日本案に反対することに決まったと、事実とは異なる解釈を示した。
これは「五大臣上疏文」の誤読によるものであった(『世界』2000年6月号、274ページ)。

ところが筆者が高宗皇帝の言動を明らかにするには皇帝の公式日記がよいだろうという理由で、皇帝の公式日記の『日省録』所藏の「五大人上疏文」を用いて第二次日韓協約締結における皇帝高宗の積極的役割を明らかにすると(前掲 拙稿)、李泰鎭教授は一転してこれらの公文書の記録には日本の影響が及んでいるとして、『日省録』のみならず「五大臣上疏文」そのものの史料的価値を否定し、第二次日韓協約締結における皇帝高宗の積極的役割を否定するに至った(「1905年『保護条約』に対する高宗皇帝の協商指示説批判」2005年3月)。



toron


"Before we pitched the net, a fish jumped into the net," said Midori Komatsu, who was the foreign affairs director at the Office of the Japanese Resident General in Korea, recollecting the eve of the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910. His remarks are sinking deep into our minds, and we again confirm that 91 years ago we surrendered our country to the Japanese colonial government due to our hopeless ineptitude. On Aug. 29, 1910, the imperial government of Japan promulgated that it had taken over the entire government and administration of Korea, and Wednesday was the anniversary of the national humiliation. In studying this history, let us find out who chased the fish - annexation - into the net. Choson, or Korea, suggested annexation to Japan first. Lee Ik-jik was a secret envoy of Prime Minister Lee Wan-yong.

Does this make Lee Wan-yong a traitor who stands out in thousands of years of history? The truth is not as simple as an elementary school textbook. "A Critical Biography of Lee Wan-yong," by Yun Deok-han, published in 1999, shows the complicated truth. "Until now, we have simply created an image of a betrayer of our country and joined in drubbing of the person."

First, we cannot say that Lee was a born Japanese sympathizer. He passed a government examination to become a public servant in 1882. During the "days of enlightenment" of Choson, he learned English at Yukyeong Gongwon, the nation's first language school. He served as a charge d'affaires to the United States for two years from 1888. With Yun Chi-ho and Yu Gil-jun, Lee, one of the very few Koreans who could speak English, first was known as pro-American. In 1894, he declined to take office as a charge d'affaires to Japan, citing mourning for his mother. Unlike Song Byeong-jun, a devoted member of a pro-Japanese group, Lee never learned to speak Japanese. Surprisingly, he was the founder of the Independence Club established in 1896.

In fact, Seo Jae-pil's Dongnip Sinmun (Independence Newspaper) never wrote a single line of criticism against Lee Wan-yong. Now, how should we interpret Lee, who has fallen from a foreign affairs expert with a broad scope to a traitor after the Eulsa Protectorate Treaty between Korea and Japan was signed? Maybe, he symbolizes our modern history, which we have ruined due to confusion and lack of ability.

Debates over pro-Japanese groups rise often in the political arena these days. And then they are easily forgotten. That is shameful. "Pro-Japanese group" is not an insult against others; it is a mirror reflecting us. Furthermore, isn't the net of history stretched in front of us? I am puzzled.



The writer is an editor of the JoongAng Ilbo publications.


by Cho Woo-suk

日韓協約関連史料』

韓国側や良心的日本人の言う強要された第二次日韓協約ですが、ちゃんと李載完が報聘大使として明治帝に謁見してますが、何か?と。
一方、伊藤博文は高宗と謁見し、「官吏を任命するに当たっては、人物選択に心を砕き、同時に官吏自身に充分責任を負わせ、政務改革をしよう」と至極真っ当な忠告。
/dreamtale

韓国地方政況ノ概要/dreamtale

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