일제하 조선인 '高文' 합격자들의 학교·관료생활과 시대인식

Abstract

The higher bureaucratic examination(‘高文’) during the Japanese colonization of Korea was a gateway for the restricted “successful life” for gifted Korean youth. Taking the bureaucratic examination acknowledged colonial rule, but also offered an elevation of status that was expressed through the term “successfullife.”The students who took this examination advocated both the protection of their countrymen interests as well as the capacity cultivation theory, however consciousness as subject of the movement to bring the independence needed to realize the ability to cultivation was never achieved. For the Korean bureaucrats, in the end the any credit in the struggle for liberation were unjustly taken. As elite bureaucrats the Koreans were still left “out in the cold,” facing glass ceiling expressed through discrimination in wages, advancement and placement. As a result, these individuals were only able to advance as “puppets” for Imperial Japan. Japan’s defeat was“ a prospect that made one shudder to imagine.” Among the successful taker son the bureaucratic examination some, following liberation, came to regard their life in the government as an embarrassment while others shelved their bureaucratic careers. However, the majority continued to take roll forward in their advantageous position. Regardless of the views and actions of these individuals during the colonial period were positive or negative, after liberation their influence in Korea society was in no way, slight.