영국 외교문서로 재구성한 1931년 만보산사건과 조선 반중폭동

Abstract

The Wanpaoshan Incident in July 1931 stimulated the subsequent anti-Chinese riots in colonial Korea, one of the most tragic ethnic riots in Korean history with killing more than 100 Chinese. This paper reviews the previous researches on the anti-Chinese riot of 1931, concluding that historical literature focused on the background and social structure that intensified hatred for Chinese people in Korea as the cause of anti-Chinese riots. Meanwhile, it should be pointed out that the prevailing structural approach unintentionally overlooked the thorough remorse and responsibility for the atrocities of Korean mobs. Furthermore, it has been ignored that the Pyongyang riots differed significantly in scales and characteristics from the rest of the riots, although anti-Chinese riots occurred nationwide. It suggests that anti-Chinese sentiment and hatred being widespread in Korean society could not necessarily be escalated to the large scale of anti-Chinese violence. Recent studies in sociology tried to clear out the mechanism to exacerbate anti-Chinese hatred and minor ethnic clashes into the level of ethnic slaughter. For future research on the 1931 anti-Chinese riot, this research proposes not only the adaption of sociological approaches but the comparative perspective from global history between immigrants and violence. The sociological approach was tried to reconstruct the 1931 anti-Chinese riot process in this paper by examining neutral narratives written in the British Foreign Office documents on the events as a third party. In conclusion, two main arguments are stated. Firstly, the change of high-ranking officials' term of the Government-General of Korea caused the reluctant attitude of the authorities to make a bold decision like mobilizing troops to suppress the riot. Secondly, the neglect of duty and inadequacy of the officers in Pyongyang played a critical role in escalating the minor clashes to the large-scale massacre of Chinese people therein.