著者

朴 宗根

出版者

JAPAN ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

雑誌

国際政治 (ISSN:04542215)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.1963, no.22, pp.50-68,L4, 1963-07-25 (Released:2010-09-01)

参考文献数

113

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The Kapo Reform of 1894 occupies a significant place, in various ways, in the modern history of Korea. It has warranted differring interpreations regarding its historical importance. As a prerequisite for the proper evaluation of the Kapo Reform, the author, focusing his view point on the Kunguk Kimuch'o, analized historical changes involving that office along with the pivotal role it played in carrying out the reform program.In the fall of 1894, the Japanese troops in Seoul engineered a palace coup, and after occupying the palace they brought the Taewongun into power, hoping to over-throw the anti-Japanese Min faction and to provoke the Chinese into a war. The Taewongun, though anti-Min at heart, demonstrated his anti-Japanese attitude. The purpose of the establishment of the Kunguk Kimuch'o, therefore, was to check the power of the Taewongun and to carry out Japanese plans in Korea. Key roles were played by the members of the Japanese Legation in the establishment of that office, and the administration of its functionswas in the hands of the members of the pro-Japanese reform faction along with a few neutralists and those Taewongun faction members who were outside the Min faction.The Kunguk Kimuch'o was delegated a broad power to administer national affairs through a majority vote of its members. Although the theory of majority rule was applied, in reality, the main purpose of voting was to deprive the Taewongun of power through concentrated manipulation of the strength of the pro-Japanese faction.Following the establishment of the Kunguk Kimuch'o, hostility between the Taewongun and that office grew bitter, and as a result, most of the reform programs adopted by that office became either nullified or ineffective. Instability within the government and the stagnant state of Japanese policies in Korea resulted in the extremely disadvantageous diplomatic position of Japan. Her war with China also made her standing diplomatically unfavorable.The Japanese Government, finding itself in an uneasy and embarrassing situation, dispatched Inoue Kaoru, one of the most influential and able statesmen, to Korea as Minister, instructing him to purge the Taewongun and abolish the Kunguk Kimuch'o. His coming to Seoul was followed by the restoration of political power to Uijongbu, the Council of State, as before.From the foregoing analysis it can be concluded that the Kunguk Kimuch'o deserves no positive credit as an autonomous reform organ. Furthermore, although partial success resulted during the Kapo Reform under that office, it made rather negative contributions when one considers the broader aspects of the modernization attempts made in Korea since then. In other words, the Koreans after 1894 came to regard “modernistic” reform as “alien aggression” and resisted any such process. Moreover, the Kapo Reform lacked legitimacy either in its techniques or in its methods, and consequently failed to transform the people's energies into justifiable historical advancement and development.