재일동포사회의 통일운동 흐름과 새로운 모색 ― 원코리아페스티벌을 중심으로 ―

Abstract

After the liberation, the Korean resident society in Japan has created a unified organization under common objective of ‘returning home’ and proceeded united activities. Even though the group was disintegrated not long after, until 1950s the Korean Society in Japan had the non-ideological solidarity to some extent on the basis of the shared desire for the united government. Even after the 1960s, the limited solidarity has continued. The solidarity of this period was led by the group of people separated from the Federation of Korean Residents in Japan(Mindan) who supported the democratization movement in South Korea. These people groped a new possibility of solidaratty with the affiliates of the General Association of Korean residents in Japan(Chongryon). With the appearance of this power, a generation that perceive the idea of ‘livelihood’ in Japan as more valuable than ‘returning home’ or ‘home country’ became a new dominant group. In extension of the awareness of this problem, a new form of ethnic culture festivals which emphasizes the ethnic identity(culture) were introduced in the 1980s. This was influenced by democratization movement of South Korea which made use of ethnic culture. Among them, One-Korea Festival has suggested the unification of North and South Korea and Common Community of Asia Theory as their common vision. With an atmosphere of post-cold war of Northeast Asia, this movement has opened a new possibility by getting South and North Korea and Mindan and Chongryon together through cultural events. However, the atmosphere of confrontation between South and North Korea started since 2008 harmed this movement. Not only North Korea but Chongryon stopped participating in this cultural festival. In the mean time, the Korean Wave had a role in filling the place where the culture of Chongryon had left with Korean Hallyu culture and Japanese pop culture. Meanwhile, this movement, keeping South Korea as its center, has expanded to a ‘whole world festival’ claiming to advocate the unification movement through combination of culture among 7 million Koreans all around the world. This change has a positive side such as an expansion of the movement, but at the same time suggests the distance from North Korea or Chongryon that is growing further apart. The One-Korea festival with its outcome of 30 years has encountered with the problems to resolve the crisis from inside out, which is the confrontation between South and North Korea and the change of its own characteristics.