제2공화국의 ‘한일경제협조론’과 청구권 문제

International Journal of Korean History > Volume 1(1); 2000 > Article

Articles

International Journal of Korean History 2000;1(1): 191-221.

太田修

일본 早稻田大学 강사

ABSTRACT

The central focus of diplomatic policies towards Japan during the Chang My?n regime was the 'Korean-Japanese Economic Alliance.' This alliance, based on the adopted platform of "economy first" (ky? ngje cheil chu?i), might also be said to have been a reason for the regime's downfall. Immediately after the April Revolution (April 19, 1960) that overthrew the Syngman Rhee government, the Chang My?n regime promulgated "economy first" in response to popular demands for self-sustained economic growth and state demands to consolidate government land for commercializing the economy ahead of North Korea. Thus, the economic alliance was a campaign with strong democratic overtones. In the national assembly, the first to handle issues of Korean-Japanese relations, the minority party fiercely criticized the government's 'Korean-Japanese Economic Alliance' as a form of collaborative pro-Japanese diplomacy. In the economic sphere, the Korea Economic Association (Hanguk ky?ngje hy?p ?ihoe) showed positive support of it while the Korea Foreign Trade Association (Muy?k hy?bhoe) and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Taehan sanggong hoe?lso) were unsupportive. In discussion forums the Tonga Ilbo gave its support while the Chas?n Ilbo took a stance as critical as the minority party on this issue. Chang My?n regime's 'Korean-Japanese Economic Alliance' thus did not receive unanimous support domestically. Amidst all this, the Japanese, focusing on this economic alliance suggested by the Chang My?n regime, unofficially proposed a strategy to settle the question of Japanese restitutions for colonizing Korea through economic collaboration between the two countries, and as a result of the disputes over legislation and evidence in the fifth Korean-Japanese talks, the Koreans considered abandoning restitution demands. The Chang My?n regime initially did not have any intention of accepting 'economic collaboration' as a substitute for restitution. However, in the process of conducting debates on economic alliance, the regime began to pursue a course that made it impossible to avoid economic collaboration. Furthermore, in the fifth conference, Japan demanded that they present legal evidence and basis for Korea's restitution demands, putting them in a position where they could only but agree to 'political compromise.' Therefore, the 5th conference put both parties on a road to compromise on the restitution issue, settled through economic collaboration, and although the Chang My?n regime's economic alliance theory never intended to be used to resolve the restitution debate, ultimately it became a catalyst in facilitating the adoption of economic collaboration.