[Kim Heeyoon's Bookshelf] The People of the Korean Peninsula Born from the March 1 Independence Movement

The Birth of the Nation: Structural Changes in the Colonial Public Sphere

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Although Joseon disappeared 10 years ago, the death of the former monarch awakened the people, the subjects, into citizens. After the forced annexation of the Korean Empire on August 29, 1910, Japan suppressed the entire Joseon Peninsula through military rule. The state in reality had collapsed, but the spiritual nation remained alive in the hearts of the citizens. The ‘orphan consciousness’ triggered by the monarch’s death soon transformed into a sense of agency and exploded. The March 1st Movement, the largest independence movement of the Korean people, was a major event that separated the monarch from the state and called citizens to become the people who are the subjects of the nation.

“Today, we declare that Joseon is an independent country and that Joseon people are the owners of this country.” Although the people were born, there was no state. Japan’s colonial rule took root cruelly and persistently on the Korean Peninsula, suppressing the thoughts of the masses. Based on the 1911 Joseon Education Ordinance, the Governor-General issued textbooks for all subjects except the Korean language in Japanese. Administrative and legal documents were also required to be written in Japanese, stripping Hangeul of its status as the national language. This was Japan’s ambition to dominate our language and script. In response, the stateless people fled into literature, religion, and social movements to barely defend against the colonization of their spirit. Independence activists who fled overseas established the Provisional Government in Shanghai, China, outside the occupied territory, as a spiritual nation. The people, embracing this intangible nation, sought to establish their identity through the press and religion. The experiences and aspirations of the citizens made them aware of their status as the people after the March 1st Movement.

Inoue Kakugoro, a politician from Japan’s Meiji Restoration period, revealed in his book “The Remaining Dream in Seoul (漢城之殘夢)” that the background of Japan’s invasion of Joseon was the theory of national power expansion. “Recently, I have heard discussions that China will be divided by Western powers. In such a situation, what is the way to protect our small island nation? If we do not establish a foothold on the continent and drive out Western powers, our country’s independence may be in danger. The first step in establishing that foothold is to place Joseon within our sphere of influence.” Japanese intellectuals argued that the only alternative to resist the invasion of great powers was national power expansion through the invasion of Joseon. This imperialism played a part in the background of the birth of the people through independence movements rather than war or revolution on the Korean Peninsula.

Song Hogun, a distinguished professor at POSTECH, began a “Birth Trilogy” exploring how Korea’s modern state and people were formed. Following The Birth of the People in 2011 and The Birth of the Citizen in 2013, The Birth of the People, released after seven years, records the process by which Joseon’s people transformed from individuals in modern society to citizens who are the subjects of the state. The author analyzed the emergence of the people in modern Korean history through German sociologist J?rgen Habermas’s public sphere theory. He focused on overseas independence organizations centered on the Provisional Government and the largest religious groups at the time, Cheondogyo and Christianity.

Religion was almost the only comfort and refuge allowed to the stateless people. With the power of religion, which had solid doctrines and organizations, the people were able to express their will, even if only slightly. The people endured Japanese oppression through prayer and faith. Their devotion also assigned religion the role of a civic religion that spread morality and conscience. Overseas independence activists, yearning for a united nation, engaged in social movements. Though their bodies were outside the Korean Peninsula, their hearts and minds were always there. They sent declarations and appeals to countries around the world. These became the vanguard in exposing Japan’s atrocities. Their appeals also nourished the dignity of the homeland’s people, helping them not to lose their identity.

In today’s Korean Peninsula, where polarization and endless competition have cut off communication, the process of creating a public sphere and the emergence of the people in such a miserable reality delivers a profound message about the meaning of the state and the people.

The Birth of the People / Song Hogun / Minumsa / 28,000 KRW

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