[Citizen College Season 3] Historical Origin of the Korea-Japan Conflict

On September 28, 2019, Course of Citizen College Season 3 < the Citizens and the World: Peace on the Korean Peninsula and International Politics > started at Korea University’s Political Science & Economics Bldg. 101, co-hosted by the Seongbuk-gu Office and the Korea University Institute for Peace and Democracy. The first class of the 12th class was held by Park Hong-gyu, a political science professor at Korea University.

Under the title, “The Historical Origin of the Korea-Japan Conflict: Focused on the a land of gods Ideas,” the lecture was about examining the history of the current conflict between Korea and Japan on economic and security levels, and exploring the flow and characteristics of the land of gods, which is a major element of the conflict between Korea and Japan. The land of gods means a country of gods and has been used mainly to refer to Japan as its own. The idea of a land of gods has an invasive nature. Until the term ‘a land of gods” first appeared in the Japanese library and was completed by the Motorori Norina and Yoshida Shoin, the invasive nature has changed. Through the Middle Ages, recognition of the superiority of the land of gods and pride about land of  gods increased. At that time, the land of gods Idea did not include aggression. However, with the end of the National Era and Toyotomi Hideyoshi starting the Japanese Invasion of Korea, the invasive land of gods Idea was used as a justification for the Joseon invasion. In the 18th century, Motorori Norinaga claimed the idea of land of gods  as the only true idea in the world, which led to the existence of super-impressive superiority, dominance and non-authoritative character. In the 19th century, Yoshida Shoin presented political system of theory and Joseon conquer theory in a specific way. Shoin’s “Joseon conquer theory” reveals the invasive land of gods idea, and can be seen as the starting point of Japanese imperialism.

After examining the history of the land of gods idea as a major element of the conflict between Korea and Japan, we had a time to listen to the participants’ opinions on how to resolve the current conflict between Korea and Japan. The speaker concluded the lecture by emphasizing that the conflict between Korea and Japan has been long-standing because Korea and Japan have different history and consciousness.