미군정기 농사교도국(農事敎導局) 신설과 해체 과정

Abstract

This study explores establishment and disbandment of The Agricultural Extension Service In USArmy Military Government in South Korea and reviews Political and social meaning. To do so, we analyzed the US Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) documents and memorandum of South Korean agricultural officials, including the U.S. military's response to agricultural issues, discussions on the establishment of the Agricultural Extension Service and activities. A comparative study was also conducted with the agricultural policies of the Syngman Rhee regime to identify the characteristics of the Agricultural Improvement Service and the Agricultural Extension Service that USArmy Military Government established. The results of this study are as follows. First, The process of creation of the Agricultural Extension Service was a manifestation of new values that countered coloniality. But We can also see the reaction of countering the tendency. Second, the newly created agricultural experiment organization achieved a qualitative strengthening of rural leaders along with a quantitative strengthening, including the expansion of rural leaders, which laid the foundation for the achievements of the Agricultural Extension Service. Third, the establishment of Syngman Rhee's regime brought about a major change in the perspective and operation of agricultural extension, which led to the atrophy and disappearance of the Agricultural Extension Service and the emergence of the legacy of colonial agriculture into the mainstream of Korean agricultural administration. The creation and activities of the Agricultural Extension Service were process of the spread of American values that emphasized procedural democracy. Not only that, The establishment of The Agricultural Extension Service was in line with the Cold War goals of the United States. It was therefore likely to be promoted by the USArmy Military Government’s rural stabilization policy. But this was qualitatively different from colonial agrarianism in that modern values based on democracy were spread to rural society.