Hostname: page-component-669899f699-ggqkh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-05T15:25:59.081Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Japan in the public culture of South Korea, 1945-2000s: The making and remaking of colonial sites and memories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Jung-Sun Han
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This article examines public memory of Japanese colonial rule in South Korea by focusing on the site of the former Japanese Government-General Building (GGB) in Seoul. Completed in 1926, the GGB was demolished in 1995 when South Korea celebrated the 50th anniversary of its liberation from Japan. Reconstructing the history of the building makes it possible to examine changing contemporary South Korean society's views and attitudes toward Japan.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 12 , Issue 15 , April 2014 , e2
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2014

References

Casey, E. (1987) Remembering: A Phenomenological Study, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Ceuster, K. (2000) ‘The changing nature of national icons in the Seoul landscape’, The Review of Korean Studies, 4: 73–103.Google Scholar
Choi, B. (1993) ‘Let's demolish the GGB, the offensive remains of Japanese rule’, Kyonghang sinmun, 21 May.Google Scholar
Choi, J., Seo, K., Yoon, Y., Ahn, J. and Namgoong, W. (2011) High School, Korean History, Seoul: Bōpmunsa, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Approved.Google Scholar
Chung, J. (2011) ‘Colonialism, two memories: representing Japanese colonialism in Taiwan and South Korea’, in Shin, Gi-Woo and Sneider, Daniel C. (eds), History Textbooks and the Wars in Asia, London: Routledge, 153–172.Google Scholar
Chung, K. (1994) ‘Kwanghwamun esŏNamdaemun kaji’ (From the Kwangwha Gate to the South Gate), Munhwa kwahak, 5: 45–64.Google Scholar
Dong-a Newspaper (1982) 17 March.Google Scholar
Dong-a Newspaper (1982) 27 December.Google Scholar
Eun, J. (2005) ‘Park Chung-hee sidae sŏngyŏkwha saupeo chui wa sŏngkyeok’ (Processes and characteristics of making holy places in the Park Chung Hee period), Yŏksa munjae yŏn'gu, 15: 241–277.Google Scholar
Hankook Newspaper (1996) 15 November.Google Scholar
Hankyurae Newspaper (1996) 28 December.Google Scholar
Henry, T. (2008) ‘Respatializing Chosōn's royal capital: the politics of Japanese urban reforms in early colonial seoul, 1905-1919’, in Tangherlini, Timothy R. (ed.) Sitings: Critical Approaches to Korean Geography, Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 15–38.Google Scholar
Hobsbawm, E. (1972) ‘The social function of the past: some questions’, Past and Present, 55: 3–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hwang, S. (1997) ‘Let's get rid of iron spikes in our land’, Dong-a Newspaper, 8 January.Google Scholar
Jeon, J. (1998) ‘Mobilized nationalism and cultural policy on tradition’, Park Chung Hee rul nŏmŏsŏ, Seoul: Purunsup.Google Scholar
Joo, J., Cha, M., Baek, Y., Lee, S., Na, I., Yim, S., Ahn, H. and Park, S. (2012) Middle School, History, Vol. 2, Seoul: Chenjae kyoyook, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology approved. Joongang Newspaper. (1996) 16 November.Google Scholar
Kal, H. (2005) ‘Modeling the West, returning to Asia: shifting politics of representation in Japanese colonial expositions in Korea’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 47(3): 507–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kamijima, K. (2000) ‘The continuing legacy of Japanese colonialism: the Japan-South Korea joint study group on history textbooks’, in Hein, Laura and Selden, Mark (eds) Censoring History: Citizenship and Memory in Japan, Germany, and the United States, Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Kang, I. (1993) ‘Yet Chosŏn chongdokbu chūlgū nonjang eun wuriegae muuteul namgyŏkna?’ (What did the debate on the old GovernmentGeneral Building leave behind for us?), Wolgan Chosŏn, 163.Google Scholar
Kim, B. and Vogel, E. (eds) (2011) The Park Chung Hee Era: The Transformation of South Korea, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, D. (2007) ‘Destruction and conversion of Gyeongbokgung Palace after the Japanese colonial period’, Seoulhak yeongu, 24 (August).Google Scholar
Kim, J. (1995) ‘Architectural value of National Museum building’, in Citizens Group for Preserving National Museum Building, Why We Should Stop the ‘Demolishing of National Museum Building’.Google Scholar
Kim, J. (2000) Nam'a itnun ryoksa, sarajisms kōnmul (Remaining History, Vanished Buildings), Seoul: Daewonsha.Google Scholar
Kim, K. (1993) ‘Kyŏngbok gung bokwon eo dosigaehwekjuk eomi’ (The meaning of restoring Kyŏngbok Palace in terms of city planning), Gŏnchukka, 54–56.Google Scholar
Kim, M. (2010) ‘Collective memory and commemorative space: reflection on Korean modernity and the Kyŏngbok Palace reconstruction 1865-2010’, International Area Review, 13(4): 75–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, S. (1982) Dong-a Newspaper, 17 March.Google Scholar
Kim, S. (1993) Kyunghyang Newspaper, 2 September.Google Scholar
Kim, S. (1997) ‘A study on the spatial and formal analysis of the ex-Chosŏn Government General Building’, Journal of Architectural Institute of Korea, 13(4): 53–64.Google Scholar
Kim, W. (1999) Woori sidae gŏnchuk iyagi (Stories of Buildings in Our Time), Seoul: Yonhwadang.Google Scholar
Kyunghyang Newspaper (1993) 6 and 10 August.Google Scholar
Kyunghyang Newspaper (2012) 8 October.Google Scholar
Lee, C. (2012) Park Chung-Hee: From Poverty to Power, Palos Verdes: The KHU Press.Google Scholar
Lee, J. (2011) ‘Normalization of relations with Japan: toward a new partnership’, in By Kim, Byung-Kook and Vogel, Ezra F. (eds) The Park Chung Hee Era: The Transformation of South Korea, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 430–456.Google Scholar
Ministry of Culture-Sports, National Museum of Korea (1997) Ku Chosŏn chongdokbu gōnmul, Vols 1 and 2.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education (1987a) Middle-School Korean History Textbook, Vol. 2, Seoul: Korean Textbooks.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education (1987b) High-School Korean History Textbook, Vol. 2, Seoul: Korean Textbooks.Google Scholar
Moon, C. and Jun, B. (2011) ‘Modernization strategy: ideas and influences’, in Kimand, Byung-Kook and Vogel, Ezra F. (eds) The Park Chung Hee Era: The Transformation of South Korea, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 115–139.Google Scholar
Nam, J. (1998) ‘Kokyo kyokwaseo keunhyeondae eu sŏsulkwa munjaejŏm’ (Narratives and problems of high-school Korean history textbook), Yŏksa bipyŏng, 3: 288–318.Google Scholar
Nishizawa, Y. (2011) Shokuminchi genchiku kikō: Manshū, Chōsen, Taiwan wo aruku (Journey through Colonial Buildings: Walking Manchuria, Korea, and Taiwan), Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan.Google Scholar
Nora, P. (1989) ‘Between memory and history: Les Lieux de Mémoire’, Representation, 26: 7–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oberdorfer, D. (1997) The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History, New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Park, S. (2012) ‘Speaking with the colonial ghosts and pungsu rumour in contemporary South Korea (1990-2006): the pungsu (feng shui) invasion story surrounding the demolition of the former Japanese Colonial-General Building and iron spikes’, Journal for Cultural Research, 16(1): 21–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seo, J. (2002) ‘Hankuk kyokwasŏ ei munjae wa jŏnmang’ (Problems and prospects on Korean textbooks: focusing on modern and contemporary history), Hankuksa yōn'gu, 116: 131–161.Google Scholar
Son, J. (1973) ‘Pungsu jirisŏl I doeup hyungsŏng e michin yŏnghyang e kwanhan yŏn'gu’ (A research on the influence of Pungsu theories over city planning), Doshi moonje, 8(11): 57–103.Google Scholar
Son, J. (1996) Ilchegangjŏmgi tosisahoesang yŏn'gu (Research on City and Society of Korea under the Japanese Colonial Rule), Seoul: Iljisa.Google Scholar
Song, M. (1991) ‘A proposal for relocation of the old Governor-General Building’, Architectural Institute of Korea Newsletter, 35(2).Google Scholar
Yoon, H. (2006) The Culture of Fengshui in Korea: An Exploration of East Asian Geomancy, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar