近代朝鮮の政治外交と社会－「韓国併合」を考える－

この講義が集中して取り上げるのは朝鮮近代の政治外交史であるが、それは単に過去の史実について知識を深めることだけを意味しない。過去の歴史問題が、現在どのように認識されているのか、それが日韓関係はじめ東アジア国際関係にどのような影響を与えているのか、広い視野から歴史学にアプローチする姿勢の獲得を目指す。
受講生は、自分は何を知っていて（学んできて）、何を知らないのか（学んできていないのか）について考えながら受講して欲しい。そして、多様な歴史解釈があることを踏まえた上で、それらについて自分はどのように考えるのか、自分の言葉で説明できるようになることを目指す。

Today, the Republic of Korea has achieved democratic reforms and economic development, and it is a member of the OECD, like Japan. On various occasions, Koreans have claimed damages from Japanese colonial rule, such as for forced labor or being forced to become ”comfort women.” These claims are based on the assumption that Japan’s rule over Korea was illegal, because Japan forced the Korean Empire (1897–1910) to conclude treaties that led to its annexation.
Since the 2000s, Japanese and Korean scholars have discussed whether these treaties were, in fact, illegal. Despite conferences and the unveiling of new documents that raise new points, they reject each other’s positions. Today, Japanese–Korean relations are delicate and lack mutual trust.
It is difficult to discuss the treaties’ legitimacy, because the historical documents are not uniform. While Japan only sued to become a modern country that Westerners recognize, Korea not only sued to become a modern independent country, but also to be the successor to the Sino-centrism. Therefore, Japanese documents match Western documents, which are readable, but the Korean documents require a knowledge of Chinese history to understand them properly.
This lecture aims to rethink the road to Japan’s annexation of Korea, focusing on the differences in the political cultures of Japan and the Korean Empire.