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This paper investigates the new phenomenon that occurred during Myungjong’s early reign in 13th century Goryo, regarding contesting and competing for the merit for the status. The worthiness to hold a certain status had been linked to the contribution to the dynasty since its foundation. Contribution-reward mechanism consisted of the core principle of the official election system of the Goryo dynasty. This paper argues that this principle was basically observed also after the 1170’s Military Officials’ Revolt. Jung, Joongboo and the revolt leaders had themselves invested as the most meritorious subjects, which justified their act as a huge contribution to the dynasty. Other officials were also bestowed rewards by their or even their descendants’ status according to their contributions. However, this principle led to a grave question: Were Jung, Joongboo and his colleagues worthy of the meritorious subjects? The worthiness of status always had been an important political agenda, but it was more so since Injong’s reign. Kim, Bodang, a high-ranked official, raised an army against the Military Regime first, claiming they were traitors and not worthy. It failed, but the wave spread wider, generated from diverse social points. As time went, more people, not just high-ranked officials, involved themselves in the matter of the proper merit and worthiness for the status in the public realm. Military officials in power pulled the contribution-reward principle to their interest. They counted the contribution to their interest, not to the dynasty, and rewarded it by the status. Many lower-ranked military officials actively offered their contribution to the regime and were rewarded, in many cases involving violence. Furthermore, they claimed their merit and worthiness for certain status themselves, publicly announcing their demand. The standard of contribution was pluralized by diverse members of society for their own interests.

This article examines the historical context of Kim Si-seup(金時習), who was established as one of the Saengyuksin(生六臣) in the late Joseon Dynasty. Kim Si-seup is a unique writer and thinker of the early Joseon Dynasty, and research about him has been accumulated from various angles in the field of literature and philosophy. However, the aspect of being a member of the Saengyuksin has been shunned in the study of Kim Si-seup since modern studies were established. This is because it was critically viewed as politically abused in the late Joseon Dynasty as the representation of Saengyuksin. However, the worship of the royalists in the late Joseon Dynasty needs to be understood in the historical context of society at the time. As the historical re-evaluation of King Sejo’s reign in the late Joseon Dynasty progressed, Kim Si-seup was a very useful object due to his literary reputation. Accordingly, many of the stories in which he appeared. On the other hand, the historical meaning of Kim Si-seup needs to be discussed in terms of socializing with young scholar-official, Sarim(士林) in King Sungjong’s reign. Recently, new studies on how to define Sarim continue to emerge. In the process, it is emphasized that critical historical perception of the King Sejo’s regime was an important factor in forming the identity of Sarim. In that context, it can be thought that Kim Si-seup’s presence, such as a representation of resistance to the King Sejo’s regime of the time, would have had a great influence on young scholar-official, Sarim in King Sungjong’s reign. Kim Si-seup was one of the actual models that demonstrated how he could criticize the unjust Sejo regime in the process of going to the ideal politics that young scholar-official, Sarim in King Sungjong’s reign yearns for. And because of that status, it is believed that he was able to become a representative figure of the late Joseon Dynasty and the protagonist of numerous legends.

After the opening of the port in 1876, the Joseon government found that the Japanese secretly sailed to Ulleung Island(Ulleungdo) to collect products there. The Joseon government sent an official document to the Japanese one to protest against illegal travel by the Japanese people and demand an investigation and crackdown on violators. The Japanese government imposed a ban on people from Ulleungdo and dispatched Higaki Naoe(檜垣直枝), an official of the Home Ministry, to the Island to evict the Japanese. In this paper, we reviewed the process of return of the Japanese who crossed into Ulleungdo and their situation on the way home, focusing on official reports and newspaper articles. The newspaper article contained various information related to Higaki and Japanese workers who sailed to Ulleungdo. After the Japanese eviction measures, disputes arose over the right to own and dispose of timbers from Ulleungdo, which were taken out to Japan before the outbreak of the Gapsin Revolution in 1884. It was a lawsuit between an American trading company that signed a contract with Kim Ok-kyun and Japanese workers having sailed to Ulleungdo to collect wood. During the trial, information was known such as the regular dispatch of inspector by the Joseon government and the ownership of products in Ulleungdo by the Joseon dynasty. Since the late 1880s, the number of Japanese who entered the Joseon coast increased, and so did the number of conflicts with Koreans. The Joseon government asked Japan to investigate and punish the illegal activities of the Japanese people based on the Regulations under which Japanese Trade is to be Conducted in Korea(朝日通商章程). On the one hand, officials were dispatched to strengthen the management and supervision of Ulleungdo. At this time, it is also noteworthy that there is a marine products company(海産會社) that introduced new fishing technology and tried to generate profits in coastal fishing by hiring foreigners. However, the Joseon government abolished the company due to considerable problems in the operation process. In this article, the activities of the marine products company were examined based on official documents and articles in Japanese newspapers at the time. Through this analysis, from the late 1880s to the early mid-1890s, it was possible to confirm the Joseon government’s involvement in development of Ulleungdo and coastal fishing.

In 1914, Japanese Empire wholsale adjusted the administrative districts of Joseon. The main point was to merge the existing 329 counties into 12 Bu(府, city) and 220 counties, and 4,300 myeons into 2,500 myeons. As a result, the administrative districts of Joseon were reduced to 67% in the 2nd level(Gun, 郡) and 58% in the 3rd level(Myeon, 面). Although this alteration of administrative district was an wholsale event unprecedented since the Joseon Dynasty, studies on it mostly remain in the perspective of institutional history. However, since administrative districts are basically spatial information based on polygons, so this paper basically pays attention to the spatial approach and spatial change of this event. GIS software was used as an important tool for basic analysis in this study, and for spatial analysis, restoration maps of administrative districts up to the unit of Myeon were first produced through the establishment of a property/spatial DB of Myeon from the 18th century to 1914. The standard for merge and abolition applied by the Japanese Empire was 40 bangri(里²) in area and 10,000 households in Gun, and 4 bangri in area and 800 households in Myeon. Chungcheongnam-do has the lowest survival rates in both counties and myeons, at 37.8% and 44.5%, respectively, but there were generally more fluctuations in the southern Korea than in the northern Korea. The consolidation principle was not absolute. Immediately after the reorganization, 85 Bu/Guns still had an area of less than 40 bangri, and 68 Bu/Guns had less than 10,000 households. The reorganization in 1914 was not just a simple adjustment of administrative districts, but also an important event in terms of a major disruption to regional traditions or traditions of regional awareness. The one of the reasons why Joseon was able to maintain a rural community for more than 500 years was that the fact that blood relatives armed with Neo-Confucianism based on regional relationship(Jiyeon, 地緣). Under these circumstances, the disappearance of the county, which was the basis for the spatial and regional existence of blood relatives including themselves and their ancestors, was a considerable shock to them. This severance continues to this day, and in order to fully understand the beginning of the severance, the positioning process of the new county office, cases of consolidation after division of sub-regions within the county rather than full-scale merge and abolition at the county level, and exceptions to the application of standards are examined and researched more closely at the national level.

In 1930s, the Association for Movement of Jeonnam mainly engaged in the socialism ideology movement and revolutionary farmers union movement. The Association for Movement of Jeonnam and its affiliated Preparatory Establishment Committee for Red Farmers Union placed its importance in political struggles together with economic struggle, such as, the farm tenancy dispute and land struggle in the southern region where the landlord system is advanced. While protecting the economic interests, the Association for Movement of Jeonnam further purported to resolves the tasks involving in national and class revolution as well as accomplishing its aspiration for independence, and it has substantial influence in the local communities by encountering with the local farmers in ordinary affairs through night school and others. This characteristic could be found not only in Jangheung but also in Wando, Haenam and others where the Association for Movement of Jeonnam was actively engaged in. Jangheung had inactive farmer’s movement in 1920s, but it successfully organized the revolutionary farmers union in 1930s. In addition, With the Association for Movement of Jeonnam related activities following the movement line from the base, it enabled to come up with a significant number of youth activists in the local communities as the farmers who were educated under the socialist ideology. The Association for Movement of Jeonnam and Preparatory Establishment Committee for Red Farmers Union kept on the activities after the key participants arrested by invoking reconstruction movement of the Association for Movement of Jeonnam in Jangheung that the pertinent activities were sustained up to around 1939 in the war-time period. Within the space at the liberation period, a number of people in the Jangheung area set out the symbolism as the participants in the Association for Movement of Jeonnam in a way of succeeding the movement spirit by participating in the socialist line of social movement, such as, the Korean Establishment Preparation Commission, People’s Committee and so forth.

This paper examined how red ginseng exports were carried out from liberation to the 1950s. During the U.S. military administration, exports of red ginseng were very sluggish due to a combination of factors such as the U.S. military government’s passive trade policy and the ban on imports of red ginseng from mainland China. The newly established government took over more than 100,000 pounds of red ginseng that was manufactured during the U.S. military regime but failed to export. The red ginseng was expected to contribute greatly to the government’s finances. However, the Rhee Syng-man administration went through trial and error over how to export red ginseng. After many twists and turns, red ginseng was offered to Baek Nak-seung’s Korean Culture Propaganda. The Korean Culture Propaganda Company brought more than 30,000 pounds of red ginseng to Hong Kong and tried to sell it, but it failed to sell it properly. So the monopoly agency broke the contract in 1952. During the war in the early 1950s, red ginseng production and exports were difficult. However, red ginseng began to be exported again in June 1953 at the end of the war. By 1954, nearly 30,000 pounds of red ginseng were exported twice. Nevertheless, more than 35,000 pounds of red ginseng remained. The government selected Korean Industries in Seolgyeong-dong as the company to sell the red ginseng. In the process, there were controversies and disputes over preferential treatment. Korean Industrial showed a slump in sales of more than 10,000 of its 35,000-geun red ginseng. Red ginseng exported from 1958 was manufactured during or shortly after the war. At that time, the amount of red ginseng produced was around 1,000 roots, which was very small compared to the previous one. Therefore, these red ginsengs were sold by selecting companies through open bidding every year. Meanwhile, as Korean red ginseng production plunged in the late 1950s, competitive products expanded their presence in the Hong Kong market and fake red ginseng, which forged Korean red ginseng, caused great concern. In response, the resale agency tried to maintain the sacred value of red ginseng by responding to the packaging method by renewing it.

This study reviewed the postwar lives of disabled soldiers who were permanently damaged during the Korean War. Disabled soldiers were honored as national heroes early on. The Syngman Rhee government established a support policy to help their lives, but wanted to quickly make the disabled soldiers self-reliant in order to reduce the resulting financial expenditure. Accordingly, the disabled soldiers found a way to get a job through the job reporting service of the support policy, or to make a living through disabled soldiers’ organizations or networks. Meanwhile, the military government that seized power in a coup in 1961 systematized the military support policy and strengthened the duty of employing disabled soldiers by government agencies and companies of a certain size. However, many employers soon dismissed disabled soldiers, citing demands for work they could not do with disabilities or for other reasons. The Park Chung-hee government raised the visible employment rate through systematization of policies, but failed to impose sanctions on the discriminatory culture that disabled soldiers actually encountered in the workplace. The Park Chung-hee government expected the disabled soldiers to show themselves as exemplary men who diligently work on the ‘modernization of the country’ as war heroes. However, socially, there was a perception that they were victims and disabled people who returned from war, and there was discrimination accordingly. In the midst of this contradictory perception, disabled soldiers lived in society appropriately utilizing the identity of male/veterans or disabled soldiers who needed help from the support system.