Abstract

Abe Mitzihe(阿部充家; 1862-1936) served as the 4th president of the Keizyou Press and the 3rd for the Maeil Shinbo newspaper. He had a relationship with a large group of Joseon intellectuals, and played an instrumental and decisive role in winning them over to the authorities’ agenda. He also served as the policy officer of Governor-general Saito Makoto(齎藤實) for a long time. In this article, a memorial writing entitled “Cherishing the memory of Abe(阿部) Mubul-ong(無佛翁)[阿部無佛翁を偲ぶ]”, written by Nakamura Gentaro(中村健太郞) right after the death of Abe(1936.1, Gyeongseong Ilbo) is analyzed, to review Abe’s activities in Joseon from a new perspective. Nakamura Gentaro presented Abe as a type of person who would quietly prepare for big tasks, and put a lot of effort into the task of peacefully coexisting with the Joseon people, with an understanding of the Joseon culture, under the conviction of establishing a world where Japan and Joseon would become one. Nakamura also emphasized the fact that Abe brought order to the press community of Joseon, had an amicable relationship with the religious communities as well, and tried to bring developments to them too. The ‘new’ aspects of Abe’s personality suggested by Nakamura are as follow:First, when Abe was running the Gyeongseong Ilbo newspaper, he also led the task of ‘appeasing’ the Joseon people living in Manchu as the leader of the ‘Survey Expedition of Northern and Southern Manchuria.’ He initiated the survey of a Joseon village in Kagoshima’s Myodaecheon(苗大川) area as well. And he became the President of the National News Reporter Assembly, and tried to unify the press community of Joseon. Second, Abe maintained close relationships with the Joseon people who were responsible for the Japanese occupation of Korea. He used Bang Tae Yeong(方台榮) as his translater and secretary, and tried hard to earn the trust of the members of the old ruling class of Joseon. Especially in 1989 he even made contact and formed a relationship with both Kim Ok Gyun(金玉均) and Park Yeong Hyo(朴泳孝), who were in exile at the time in Japan. Third, Abe tried to resurrect the spiritual culture of Joseon, as he had an opened view toward Joseon’s religions. He maintained an amicable relationship with the leaders of those religious orders, and he also tried to enlighten the Yurim(conservative Confucian) figures of Joseon about the ‘misguided tendency of considering Joseon the successor of the Sino-centric East Asian culture.’Fourth, he was deeply interested in Joseon Buddhism which maintained a cultural influence and power even under severe oppression of the Joseon government. He frequently paid visits to renowned Buddhist temples of Joseon, tried to earn their trust and also to bring development to the Buddhist community, in terms of institutional renovation, provision of Buddhist scriptures and opportunities of forming relationships with the Japanese Buddhist society. Fifth, he also maintained a close relationship with the Christian leaders(尹致昊) and leaders of the Cheondo-gyo(孫秉熙) religious order, who formed a major block in the National Liberation Front’s leadership, and tried to prevent them from becoming ‘dangerous factions.’ After the March 1st movement, even with the judicial authorities keeping a close eye upon them, he tried to save some of those leaders through backstage negotiations, and tried to lead them to ‘benevolence.’In general, Nakamura seems to have considered Abe as a mediator connecting the Japanese authorities and the Joseon society, a person who wanted to serve as a safety barrier for a troubled society, and a political and cultural leader who used a supposedly benevolent(“德化”) policy in order to achieve the merging of Japan and Joseon, and bring stability to the colonized region. Hopefully in the future more materials would be explored and revealed to assist further studies of Abe’s thinking and activities during his stay in Korea.