‘제국의 브로커’ 아베 미쓰이에(阿部充家)와 문화통치

Abstract

In this paper, Abe’s activities and viewpoint of governance of Joseon as ‘a broker of the empire’ were examined with focus on the early days of 1920s after 3.1 independence movement. With the recommendation by Tokutomi, the president of Kukmin Newspaper, Abe played the role of an unofficial political adviser of General Saito using his information network that he had established while working as a political journalist, and his human network he had set up while working as a president of Kyungseong Ilbo and Maeil Sinbo. Abe went to Joseon 2 or 3 times every year, met Koreans, caught their secret movements, and reported to the governor the movements among Koreans and Koreans studying in Japan and the situation in the central political circles through letters or interviews. Abe went around all the regions in Joseon as Saito’s personal political adviser in 1920 for almost 2 months, met many Koreans, recognized that Joseon independence theory had been developed into the competence cultivation theory, and suggested the governor the reinforcement of political propaganda, stricter supervision on Koreans studying in Japan and young students, and inducement to the competence cultivation theory. On the other hand, Abe not only helped Choi Nam-seon and Jin Hak-mun to publish a newspaper and a magazine, but also played the role of mediating and intermediating the press in Korea and the colonial power. As the journalists he worked with in KyungseongIlbo or MaeilSinbo, or the ‘neo-intellectuals’ whom he helped to make a debut as a writer, or interacted with, such as Choi Nam-seon, Lee Kwang-su, and Jin Hak-mun, played the leading role in the foundation of DongaIlbo, Joseon Ilbo, SidaeIlbo and JungoeIlbo in 1920s, Abe became closely related to the media in Joseon. The Japanese Government-General of Korea trained the press of Joseon through censorship, suspension of sale, prohibition of publication and etc., and when their criticism of the rule over Joseon went beyond ‘the critical point’, the Japanese government coped with them by confiscation, imprisonment of journalists, and suspension of publication, but it couldn’t discontinue the issue of Joseonae Newspaper, the symbol of cultural governance. The media of Joseon forced to suspend publication developed suspension lift movement through Abe, and Abe, who had been asked for suspension lift movement by DongaIlbo and JoseonIlbo, urged the authorities of the Japanese Government-General of Korea to lift the suspension of publication as the channel of suspension lift. The press of Joseon needed ‘a broker of the empire’ as a kind of insurance against the suppression by the colonial power. Abe mediated the asymmetric and unfair ‘infighting’ and negotiations between the media of Joseon and the colonial power as ‘a broker of the empire’ in the colonial political space in 1920 where resistance and cooperation were mixed. In addition, Abe played the role of as the channel of petition as ‘a broker of the empire’ mediating capitalists of Joseon and the colonial power. Abe induced Korean capitalists and influential persons to ‘autonomy movement’, and important Koreans also negotiated with the governor through Abe regarding the matter of ‘self-government of Joseon’, and had ‘infighting’ and ‘close combat.’