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국내 유일 현존 고구려 석비(石碑), 충주 고구려비
Chungju Goguryeo Monument, the Only Stone Goguryeo Monument Remaining in Korea This year marks the 40th anniversary of the discovery of the National Treasure No. 205, “Chungju Goguryeo Monument.” Discovered in 1979 in Chungju, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, the monument is currently being preserved in the Exhibition Hall of the Chungju Goguryeo Monument. At the time of its discovery, it was difficult to figure out when the monument had been built and what its epitaph meant due to abrasions all over its form. However, through the rubbing of the inscription and precise deciphering work, the monument was identified as a memorial stone built in Goguryeo. Speficially, the monument was able to be identified through the verification of the country name, “Goryeo,” and Goguryeo’s official ranks and public offices such as “Daesaja,” “Balwisaja,” “Daehyeong,” and “Dangju.” Source: Cultural Heritage Administration
충주 고구려비의 등장과 고구려사 연구
Appearance of Chungju Goguryeo Monument and Research on Goguryeo History On April 8, 1979, the stone that stood in the flower garden at the entrance of the present Ipseok Village in Yongjeon-ri, Jungangtap-myeon, Chungju-si, came to us as the Chungju Goguryeo Monument (hereafter abbreviated as, “Chungju Monument”). After more than 1,500 years of being forgotten, the monument was uncovered by Professor Chung Yeong-ho of Dankook University. The Chungju Monument was originally called the Jungwon Goguryeo Monument in 1981 when it was designated as a national treasure, but was renamed in 2012. In February of the same year, members of the Yesung Club, currently the Yesung Culture Research Society, looked into the standing stone of the Ipseok Village. At the time, the club failed to identify if there were letters inscribed on the stone, however one of the club members informed Mr. Chung about a possible inscription on the stone in late March. This is what sparked the change of the standing stone of the village to become the Chungju Monument, a national treasure. Mr. Chung visited the site on April 5 and was able to identify letters and words such as, “Daewang (大王),” “Gukto (國土),” “Dangju (幢主),” “Silla-tonae (新羅土內),” “Saja (使者),” and “Sangha (上下),” by touching the moss-covered stone or performing stone rubbing. Knowing intuitively that it was a memorial stone from the Three Kingdoms Period, Mr. Chung informed the faculty of Dankook University’s Department of History and the school’s administration authorities and decided to conduct further research on April 7-8.
Chung Un-yong(professor of the Division of Cultural Heritage Convergence at Korea University)
고구려에서 보내 온 타임캡슐, 고분벽화를 말하다
Discussion on the Ancient Tomb Murals and the Time Capsule from Goguryeo The most difficult problem that presents itself when studying Goguryeo history is that there is not a lot of primary written data remaining from this time. Thus, the Goguryeo tomb murals that display images from everyday life at this time and their concepts about afterlife become the most valuable materials in Goguryeo historical research. Professor Jeon Ho-tae, who recently published the book Meeting with Goguryeo Tomb Murals at the Northeast Asian History Foundation, has studied Goguryeo tomb morals for 30 years and become a worldwide authority on murals. Professor Jeon won the fifth academic award presented by the Association of Koguryeo Balhae earlier this year for his research, Aesthetics of Koguryo People and Tomb Murals. Senior Researcher Ko Kwang-eui, who had been responsible for the digital restoration of Goguryeo tomb murals at the Foundation, met with Professor Jeon to talk about the professor’s new book and research on Goguryeo tomb murals.
Interviewer(Ko Kwang-eui, senior researcher at the Institute on Pre-Modern Korean History, Northeast Asian History Foundation)
벽제관 전투를 통해서 본 조명 군사 협력
Joseon-Ming Military Cooperation Seen through the Battle of Byeokjegwan During the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, there were fundamental differences in opinions between Joseon and Ming on the subject of military cooperation. Troops from Ming, who had entered Joseon after crossing the Liaodong Peninsula where the eastern-most line of defense against the Jurchen army had been established, had no reason to fight at the risk of their lives. The royal government of Ming also had no reason to fight hard in other countries either, even with the risk of creating more damage than necessary, with Jurchen's front lines behind the boarder of the Liaodong Peninsula and deep in their southward advance. This was because the starting and ultimate points of Ming’s military deployment were its own security. In fact, since its defeat in the Battle of Byeokjegwan on January 27, 1593 (of the lunar calendar), the Ming dynasty led the war into a stalemate by stopping the fighting Japanese troops and beginning peace negotiations. What efforts did Joseon make at a time in which it could not stop military cooperation with Ming?
Lee Jeong-il(researcher at the Institute on Pre-Modern Korean History, Northeast Asian History Foundation)
문서 너머의 기억과 마음으로 엮다
Written from Memories and Minds, Going Beyond Documents The Chuuk Islands (Truk Islands) in the middle of the Pacific are situated to the south of Japan and were called the “South Sea Islands” during Japan’s colonial period. Japan had governed over the Chuuk Islands since World War I under the name of mandated rule. After the late 1930s, Japan sought to build military bases on the islands and use them as the center for its Pacific defense. The Chuuk Islands, which had been a base for Japan’s combined fleet during World War II, lost its function as the forward base due to massive air strikes by the U.S. Armed Forces in February 1944. The islands had been under Japanese occupation until Japan surrendered, but the nearby sea was being controlled by the U.S. Given that Japan stationed “comfort women” in all places in which it was in a state of war, Joseon comfort women would have also been placed in the Chuuk Islands. However, there was not enough evidence. Joseon comfort women in the Chuuk Islands appeared in memoirs written by Japanese soldiers or Japanese comfort women at time.
Park Jung-ae(researcher at the Research Center on Japanese Military Comfort Women, Northeast Asian History Foundation)
‘레이와令和’, ‘아름다운 조화’의 시대가 열릴까?
“Reiwa (令和)”: Will the Era of “Beautiful Harmony” Begin? Japanese emperor Akihito’s abdication on April 30 and crown prince Naruhito’s ascent to the throne on May 1 are Japanese events that made history. More than anything else, the meaning of the Japanese emperor’s abdication during his lifetime is all the more special as it comes 200 years after Meiji. On April 1, one month before Naruhito’s ascent, the announcement of a new era name was scheduled. All regions of Japan twinkled with excitement before the announcement was made. Then, the broadcasting of the announcement was the hottest media. At 11:10 a.m. on April 1, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga appeared on TV to announce that the name of the new era was “Reiwa” and held up a frame on which “Reiwa” was written while facing the camera for about 2 minutes. The viewing rate of NHK’s Kanto region at 11:00 on that day reached 19.3%, which represented a surge of 10 times compared to the average viewing rate of the last four weeks. Japan’s enthusiasm did not show signs of easing up, even after the announcement of the new era name. People rushed to grab extra newspapers published that day and Manyoshu, the reference for the era name, sold out.
Lee Myong-chan[researcher at the Northeast Asian History Foundation dispatched to Japan (visiting scholar at Keio University)]
1,039건의 자료가 말하는 일본군‘위안부’ 제도의 실상
The True Picture of Japanese Military’s “Comfort Women” System Revealed Through 1,039 References At the National Diet of Japan in June 1990, Tsudao Shimizu, director-general of job stability at the Japanese Ministry of Healthy, Labour and Welfare, made a statement that articulated that the “comfort women” were used and carried out by private contractors who were not related to the military and thus, a factual survey would be impossible. Victim Kim Hak-sun testified in August 1991, but written materials that could bring to light the relationship between Japanese military comfort women and the military were nowhere to be seen at the time. However, Kim Hak-sun’s testimony allowed researchers and civic groups to find the related materials without fail. As Professor Yoshimi Yoshiaki of Juo University discovered and disclosed materials verifying comfort women’s relationship with the military at the library of the Defense Agency in January 1992, the Japanese government acknowledged the fact that the government and the army were involved in the use of comfort women. Since then, the Japanese government has conducted its own surveys twice to reveal relevant data, but materials were far from reaching the truth. After that, the truth behind comfort women began to be uncovered through testimonies from Japanese people and other materials.
Cho Youn-soo(researcher at the Research Center on Japanese Military Comfort Women, Northeast Asian History Foundation)
유관순 열사의 ‘부활’을 위하여
For the “Revival” of Patriotic Martyr, Yu Gwan-sun Patriotic martyr Yu Gwan-sun seemed to come alive this year with the occasion of the centennial of the March 1st movement and the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. This is because Yu Gwan-sun is the very symbol and epitome of the March 1st Movement. Therefore, a growing number of media outlets, symposiums, and special events have been shedding light on Yu Gwan-sun. In particular, A Resistance, a film inspired by Yu Gwan-sun, was released in late February and generated fairly positive reactions. It was a low-budget movie but attracted a nearly 1.15 million-person audience. The government also conferred the top-ranked “Republic of Korea Medal,” which is higher than the previous Order of Merit for Grade 3 Independence Medal, on the movie in honor of patriotic martyr Yu Gwan-sun. This honor would have been impossible to receive without the specific occasion of the centennial of the March 1st Movement.
Chang, Se-yun(head of the Office of Operation and Planning, Northeast Asian History Foundation)
재단 뉴스
NAHF News The Foundation took part in the book exhibition at the 2019 AAS Annual Conference held in Colorado. U.S., on March 21 to 25. The Association for Asian Studies (AAS), the largest academic group for Asian studies in the U.S., holds the conference annually. Western scholars, as well as those from Korea, China, and Japan majoring in Asian studies, meet to promote academic exchange and to share knowledge and information, while organizing a book exhibition as an auxiliary event. This year’s AAS Book Exhibition saw participation by 97 academic institutions and publishing companies from Japan, China, the U.S., Britain, Taiwan, etc. to display and sell a variety of publications. Aside from the Foundation, Korea’s National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, Literature Translation Institute of Korea, and private publishing companies also participated in the exhibition. The Foundation shared a booth with the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History to create a one stop shop at which participating scholars could attain information related to Korean studies and other publicized Korean studies by exhibiting books published by the Academy of Korean Studies. The Foundation used the exhibition as a chance to actively advertise its publication projects by distributing multi-language leaflets and lists of English books, as well as exhibiting published books and fostering understanding about its overall activities. Meanwhile, the books on display were donated to Duke University.
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