뉴스레터

Choi, Seo-myeon, the head of the International Institute of Korean Studies 

(1928~2020)

Almost all newspapers published in Seoul in May 2020 covered the death of a person. He died at 92, and he was described in the obituary notice as follows. ‘the authority of the study on the relationship between Korea and Japan’, ‘the elder who worked behind the scenes of diplomacy between Korea and Japan’, ‘authority on the study of modern and contemporary history including Ahn Jung-geun and Dokdo’. Many people still study the relationship between Korea and Japan. But how many people will be evaluated after death? Who is he? He is the head of the International Institute of Korean Studies.

Choi lays the groundwork for his study of Korea-Japan relations in Japan, which was his asylum

Choi has many achievements, but life is dramatic. He was born in Wonju, Gangwon Province in 1928 and was liberated during his studies at Yeonhee College. At that time, he was the chairman of the Korean Student Federation(Korea Independence Party) who supported Kim Gu and campaigned against trusteeship. He went to the Soviet-occupied North and delivered a letter to Cho Man-sik, the leader of the Joseon Democratic Party. It was written by Kim Gu, saying, “Let's join the movement against trusteeship.” In 1947, he was sentenced to death in a US military trial for his involvement in the assassination of Jang Duk-soo, and was released from Daegu prison. Since then, he has been renamed ‘Seo-myeon’. The name was made by Lee Si-young(first vice president of the Republic of Korea), saying, "Stop politics and work hard on study and research." He ran an orphanage in Busan, a refuge during the Korean War. As the touching and beautiful story becomes known to people, he works as director of the Catholic General Affairs Office. He then became the closest aide to Jang-Myun, who was secretary general. Since then, the Rhee regime has tried to arrest Jang's group in order to eliminate those who are politically opposed to themselves. So he defected to Japan in 1957.

Choi Seo-myeon, a 29-year-old boy. For him, Japan was an uninhabited island with no one to rely on. But the island he was abandoned had a huge historical record of his country. He was anxious about permission for temporary stay. However, he searched and read the data related to Korea at the Diplomatic Archive of the Japanese Foreign Ministry. The result was surprising. He discovered and introduced the autobiography 《History of An Eung-chil》 written by Ahn Jung-geun in prison, the record of Supreme Court related to Lee Bong-chang, the 〈Honil Gangri Yeokdae Gukdo Jido〉 made by Joseon as the oldest map in the Orient, and the rubbing of Tomb of King Gwanggaeto. And he has set up a plan to return the ‘Bukguan Daecheopbi’(Monument to mark great victory in hamgyeongdo province) left in TWS to Korea. In addition, he brought the autographs of Ahn Jung-geun(National Treasures 「國家安危勞心焦思」 ,「爲國獻身軍人本分」)* and the picture book of Chusa Kim Jung-hee to Korea.

* ‘國家安危勞心焦思’ means that worried about comfort and crisis of the country, ‘爲國獻身軍人本分’ means that the duty of a soldier is to give his life for the country.

Meanwhile, Choi founded the Korea Research Institute in Tokyo in 1969 and published the official magazine <Han(韓)>. He translated and introduced Korean papers in Japanese, and introduced papers related to Korea published in Japan. Choi laid the groundwork for academic exchanges between Korea and Japan. He also established the ‘Joint Research Center on International Relations’ and the ‘International Council of Research Institutes on Korea’, contributing to the globalization of Korean studies. He also established 'Research Society on Kim Ok-gyun' and 'Research Society on Ahn Jung-geun', which influenced the positive evaluation of Kim and Ahn in Japan. Choi collected 200,000 historical data on Korea-Japan relations and donated them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, and Yonsei University in 1988. He also compiled 50,000 pieces of data that Japan had, and published it as 《A List of Historical data related to Korea: Owned by the Diplomatic Archive of the Japanese Foreign Ministry(1875∼1945)》(the National Institute of Korean History, 2003) so that researchers could easily use it. He was an expert on Ahn Jung-geun and a researcher on Dokdo, which everyone recognizes. He saw that old maps were important to defend territorial sovereignty. So he collected data related to it and laid the theoretical basis for the sovereignty of Dokdo. And in recognition of his contribution, he received the Order of Civil Merit(Moran medal) in 2010. It is the first national medal related to the sovereignty of Dokdo.

Hidden Messenger Between President Park Chung-hee and Japanese Politics

Choi met President Park Chung-hee with the introduction of Kanayama Masahide, the Japanese ambassador to Korea. Since then, he has had a private meeting with President Park and has maintained a strong relationship. And he has made special connections with Japanese titans, including Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke, Fukuda Takeo and Masayoshi Ohira. He demonstrated his ability not only to negotiate in the normalization of Korea-Japan diplomatic relations, but also to calm the anxiety that Japan showed after the 7·4 South and North Korea Joint Statement. Above all, he played a major role in solving the worst situation since the kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung.

Japan also pays attention to his efforts and contribution. Kohari Susumu, a professor at University of Shizuoka, interviewed Choi for 17 times(70 hours) from April 2011 to January 2018 on the budget of the Japanese government. In Japan, these interviews were published in a book. In April of last year, I translated the book into Korean under the title 《60 years of Korea-Japan relations; listen to the story of Choi Seo-myeon》 (Book 1, 2; Nanam Publishing Company) and distributed it to Choi's acquaintances and related researchers(Not For Sale).

Choi Seo-myeon talks with Takeo Fukuda during his stay in Japan

His greatest achievements include 'academic attitude' and 'attitude to deal with Korea-Japan relations'

I am a person who has often met him, and I want to evaluate Choi as 'attitude' rather than 'achievement'. Korea and Japan wanted to hear his opinion as a specialist in Korea-Japan issues. The reason is that his perception of the current issues between Korea and Japan, his way of finding solutions, and his view of Japan were different from that of others.

Choi suggested the basis whenever he claimed something. He was not a man who jumped on the bandwagon for fear of criticism. He always showed his attitude of studying, and he did not lose his sense of humor. Some say of Choi's attitude: It is because of 'awe of history', 'respect for the other', 'sharp but warm warning', 'attention to pride and congestion'. Such an attitude seems to have been expressed through his mouth as follows. “When you criticize someone, you have to consider the other person’s thoughts and positions”, “The basis is abundant and the interpretation is minimal.”, “Japan remembers only what they apologized for, and Korea remembers what the other party denied.”, “The word ‘Dokdo is not Japanese’ does not mean it belongs to Korea.” So his criticism was not expressed as 'strong' or 'weak'. Those who were pointed out the weakness or unguarded moment from him were 'hit'. And his comment was not 'right' or 'wrong', but 'new'. There is a lot of temptation for someone with great achievements. But he refused to enter the political world, enter the public post, and financial bait. Choi's boss, Jang Myun, promised him a position after winning the regime. But he did not return to Korea. And President Park Chung-hee tried to give the capital to the Korea Research Institute in Tokyo. Choi then asked: "Give me the budget that passed the National Assembly."

Since returning home in 1988, the only title he has used is 'the head of the International Institute of Korean Studies'. Usually, celebrities emphasize 'position' rather than 'achievement'. However, Choi was the only person who had more 'achievement' than the number of 'position' among the resumes I saw. Someone is likely to say, "You are so glorifying of him." However, it is true that his flexible attitude stands out nowadays when strong remarks are made in both countries if the Korea-Japan issue arises. So I wrote in the preface of the translation of 《60 years of Korea-Japan relations; listen to the story of Choi Seo-myeon》. I hope readers and researchers who read this book will not judge Choi Seo-myeon from the perspective of 'patriot' or 'nationalism'. He is the one who regarded Korea and Japan as lifelong research fields. I expect to evaluate him from the perspective of 'scholar' and 'internationalism' that aimed at coexistence between the two countries. It is not to blame for the fact that “he is too glorified of his achievements.” The problem is that there is no good junior scholar with the achievement and attitude that I want to beautify.