중일전쟁 발발 전후 신사참배 문제와 평양의 기독교계 중등학교의 동향

Abstract

This article has an aim to study how the Japanese Shinto worship issue in the 1930s produced diverse responses of the Korean community which was related to the Christian schools in Pyeongyang. The previous scholarship has mainly focused on the Japanese Shinto enforcement and Korean resistance to it rather than diverse responses on the part of Koreans and some missionaries. Pyeongyang was known as Jerusalem in the Orient since late nineteenth century, the name that showed the strong Christian population and influence. Japanese Shinto enforcement upon Koreans, therefore, brought Korean conservative"s resistance, the tension that contained the possible confrontation between Japan and the U. S.

The Chose Mission with the Pyeongyang station as a core member, decided not to succumb to Japanese demands at the expense of Christian schools. This response reflects the conservative presbyterian teaching dating from the beginning of Christian evangelism around Northwestern Korea. Consequently, the Chosen Mission decided to withdraw from secular education in Korea. This policy was not acceptable to Koreans since mission education partook at least thirty percent of the Korean education and Christian school was the only route to international community in colonial Korea. Consequently, Korean christians and some missionaries endeavored to inherit mission school from the Chosen Mission, the idea that was in vain. The Christian schools were shut down and most students were transferred to Japanese public schools.

The reason why this issue was framed as no tension between Koreans and missionaries is that Korean christians including northwesterners in post-1945 period had to cooperate with returning missionaries in education, medical works, and evangelism. During the colonial period, the Koreanization movement in educational institutions shows the nationalistic zeal on the part of Koreans regardless of whether Japanese or American missionaries supported Koreans.