KJCKorea
Journal Central

This article analyzes late Joseon’s political thinker Kim Yunsik’s diary <Sokeumcheongsa>centeringaround the records about his exile in Jido, considering the lives of exiles in islands and the change ofsociety during the early 20th century. Kim Yunsik was exiled at Dungok Village in Jido from 1901till 1907. This period is highly noticeable because Jido-gun was established in 1896 and it was rightafter Mokpo Port was opened in 1897. Kim Yunsik had no inconvenience for the supervision orcontrol, but there were two things that made his exile different from that of others. First, though helived closely with the people of the island, he neither cultivated disciples nor formed friendship. It wasbecause his ideas were rather contrastive with the academic lines of Jido people. This is a verymeaningful example that shows exchange between island people and exiles was not unilateral then. Second, to earn money to live in the place of exile, he developed commercial activities aggressively. He used salt or croakers, specialty products of the region. This is fairly different from other islandexiles who had been there before. With <Sokeumcheongsa>, the study also examined how the islandsociety changed in the early 20th century. After Jido gun was established, the residents’ livingconditions became even poorer. There were the ‘Jidogyoan’ in 1901 and the Imjado Uprising in1902. Meanwhile, opening the port of Mokpo did influence the island people’s lives significantly. There were a lot of comings and goings between Jido and Mokpo, and also modern goods weresupplied. And the most symbolic change was the building of Jimyeonghakgyo, a modernizededucational institution. This is very contrastive with just 10 years before when Oh Hoengmuk, thefirst gunsu, made all efforts for Hyanggyo.

Kim Yunsik, Sokeumcheongsa, exile, Jido, opening the port of Mokpo, Imjado Uprising, island