『한성신보(漢城新報)』의 의병보도와 그 특징(1895~1896)

Abstract

As Righteous Armies (義兵) rose across the country after Eulmisabyeon (The Mishap in the Year of Ram (1895)) and Danbalryeong (斷髮令, 1895), Japan felt the need to thoroughly respond to these developments. Along with military suppression and conciliatory measures, Japan wanted to reduce the significance of these Righteous Armies through public opinion campaigns. Especially, when it became difficult to interfere with the internal affairs of Korea after the King"s Flight to the Russian Legation, it published reports criticizing both the “New Government” and the Righteous Armies, and tried to use Hanseong Shinbo (漢城新報) to engage in an active public opinion campaign.<BR> According to the report on the Righteous Armies, there were no reports in late 1895 right after the Eulmisabyeon, and more than 70% of the reports were concentrated in the period from February to April 1896. In terms of region, Gyeonggi Province accounted for the largest portion, followed by Gyeongsang Province, Chungcheong Province and Gangwon Province. In terms of content, there were the most reports on the current condition and the status of the Righteous Armies, followed by the suppression and the response of the Righteous Armies.<BR> According to the contents of the report, the rise of the Righteous Armies was characterized as attributable to Danbalryeong and Eulmisabyeon, but this was criticized as a nominal reason because, in substance, they were nothing but a group of robbers and rioters. Besides, while reporting the activities of the Righteous Armies of each region, there was a tendency to deliberately disparage their activities by emphasizing civilian damage caused by them, and to exaggerate or reduce the size of the Righteous Armies depending on the situation. In addition, in the process of reporting, Japan highlighted the damage incurred to the Japanese by creating an image of the innocent Japanese who was brutally murdered by the Righteous Army. With this kind of fabrication, the Japanese launched a public opinion campaign to dispel Japan"s aggression centered on the Eulmisabyeon, and to turn the Japanese into victims of good faith. This seems to have played an important role in compensating Japanese victims since that time. Through these reports of Righteous Armies, Hansung Shinbo faithfully fulfilled its role as the organ of the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Another notable point is the emergence of articles on Righteous Army activities in the Pyongyang area, which were rarely dealt with in previous studies. Although it was not a large amount of articles to carry out full-fledged research, it is regarded as meaningful since there was room to provide clues on the activities of Righteous Army in North Korea including Pyongyang.