한반도와 일본은 현해탄을 마주보며 오랜 역사 속에 함께 살아왔습니다. 불행했던 역사적 경험도 있었지만, 양국은 상호 교류하며 좋은 이웃이고자 노력해왔습니다. 해방 이후 한반도와 일본은 치유되지 못한 역사문제로 많은 갈등을 겪어왔습니다. 하지만 양국은 갈등이 파국으로 끝나지 않도록 노력했으며, 그 결과 만족스럽지 못했지만 화해와 협력을 조금씩 이루어오고 있습니다. 이렇듯 갈등은 동전의 양면처럼 협력을 추동했고, 한반도와 일본은 더 높은 수준의 화해와 협력을 위해 부심하고 있습니다.

앞으로 한반도와 일본은 더욱 협력해야합니다. 저출산·고령화의 구조적 전환에 직면한 한국과 일본은 그 경험을 공유하며 이들 문제를 해결하는데 협력해야 합니다. 북한의 비핵화 및 개혁·개방 그리고 한반도 평화구축은 북일 국교수립과 연동되며 진행될 것입니다. 동아시아 평화와 번영을 위한 ‘한일+α(북)’의 협력은 지근거리로 다가오고 있습니다.

이러한 인식에 바탕을 두고 국민대학교 일본학연구소는 보다 보편적인 관점에서 객관적, 과학적 일본연구를 지향하고자 2002년 설립되었습니다. 저희 일본학연구소는 인문학과 사회과학의 학문적 융합을 통해 일본의 정치·외교, 경제, 사회, 문화, 역사를 객관적이며 실천적으로 분석하기 위한 노력을 경주해왔습니다. 그 결과, 저희 일본학연구소는 김영작 교수님(1대 소장). 한상일 교수님(2대 소장) 등 전임 소장님들의 헌신적인 노력으로 세계적 일본학연구소로 자리매김해왔습니다.

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  김영작 명예교수

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  한상일 명예교수

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  이원덕 교수

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  최희식 교수

이러한 전통을 이어받아 저는 향후 두 가지 문제에 주안점을 두는 일본학연구소가 되도록 최선을 다하고자 합니다.

이를 위해 저희 일본학연구소는 연구과제에 맞게 국내 연구자들을 유기적으로 연결하는 네트워크를 구성하고, 일본연구 관련 자료와 지적 자산을 교환하고 공유하는 장이 되고자 합니다. 한 걸음 더 나아가 국내는 물론 영미권의 연구자 및 일본연구 기관과도 활발한 교류와 네트워킹을 확대하여 일본연구의 국제화를 구현하고 세계적인 일본연구 센터의 하나로 성장해 나갈 것을 다짐합니다. 여러분의 따뜻한 격려와 지도, 편달을 부탁드립니다.

일본학연구소장 이 원 덕

About KOOKMIN UNIVERSITY and THE INSTITUTE OF JAPANESE STUDIES

Shortly after the end of World War II, upon return from exile, former members of the Korean Provisional Government set about the lofty goal of nurturing young talent for their newly liberated motherland, leading the way for the foundation of Kookmin University in 1946. Today, above and beyond that initial goal, Kookmin stands as one the nation’s premier institutions of higher education, boasting an array of joint research and student exchange programs with well more than 100 universities worldwide. There, Kookmin undergraduates are exposed firsthand to the country of their interest while, on home campus, they have daily opportunities to share their thoughts with students from overseas. The same can be said of Kookmin’s resourceful graduate student body, whose international profile and research agenda have become an integral part of the University’s commitment to the imperative of understanding the rest of the world.

So close yet so far, Japan in particular remains an elusive country for many Koreans, in whose view, even after over a half century of diplomatic normalization, Japan is yet to come to terms with the past. Study of Japan in Korea then abounds in sharply divisive issues. While those thorny issues still haunt the relations between the two countries (and among Koreans themselves), it behooves professional researchers to opt for reason over emotion and explore new possibilities of intellectual inquiry in approaching Japan. Founded in 2002 under the firm initiative of the venerable duo of Kim Young Jak and Han Sang Il, and fully fledged under the unwavering leadership of Lee Won Deog, the Institute of Japanese Studies at Kookmin University has accumulated a number of critically acclaimed projects ranging from primary source compilation to multidisciplinary analyses of Japanese society.

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  Dr. Kim Young Jak

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  Dr. Han Sang Il

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  Dr. Lee Won Deog

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  Dr. Choi, Hee Sik

In recognition of its proven track record and further academic promise, the Institute has been christened "Priority Research Institution" by the National Research Foundation of Korea. Under the Foundation's sustained support, the institute’s researchers thoroughly catalogued and examined massive documents on the Korea-Japan normalization talks. Its five-volume, annotated bibliography of those documents was hailed by the Foundation as "Model Research in Social Science." In tandem, the Institute has made a foray into source material on the Japan side. Funded by the Northeast Asian History Foundation, the Institute’s researchers have systematically scrutinized declassified Japanese archives to show the intricate inner workings of Japanese foreign policy. Funding sources outside Korea such as the Japan Foundation and the Japan World Expo Fund Project have also made generous contributions for the Institute’s numerous publication and translation projects on contemporary developments surrounding Japan. In recent years, with younger researchers newly on board, the Institute has incorporated their research interests in revisiting Japan’s socioeconomic situation and its comparative significance.

Instead of staying within the confines of an ivory tower, researchers at the Institute strive to respond to the demands of popular audiences and policy makers by putting together some of the most cutting-edge academic work in an accessible language on its biannual journal Japan Space while sharing their work with other professional circles through open conferences, ad hoc colloquia, press interviews, and the like. Along the way, the Institute has helped forge a collegial platform for spirited dialogue among Japan specialists far beyond the national border. We are prepared, as in the past, to put our findings to the test with the same rigor by working with fellow researchers from all over the world. As we greet interested members of the online community at our website, all of us at the Institute renew our fidelity to judicious scholarship in pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.

国民大学日本学研究所の歩み

植民地支配から解放された直後の1946年、国民大学は大韓民国臨時政府の指導者らによって、戦後初の私立大学として誕生した。現在、国民大学は建国の人材育成という設立趣意を取り入れつつ、世界中の数多くの教育機関と姉妹提携及び学術交流協定を結び、今やグローバルな共同研究をリードする教育機関として発展した。

日本学研究所が所属する日本学科は、1998年に新設された地域学部（2000年に国際地域学部、2003年から国際学部）の日本学専攻として出発し、2017年度からはグローバル・人文学部の日本学科となり、日本に関する総合的な知識を備えた地域専門家の養成をめざしている。その付属研究所として2002年に発足した日本学研究所は、韓国における日本研究の先駆者である金栄作博士、韓相一博士の後を引き継いだ李元徳・第３代所長のリーダーシップの下、日韓関係及び日本に関する様々な研究プロジェクトを行いつつ、成長を遂げ、現在に至っている。

設立直後から4年をかけて完成した論文集『日本型システムの動揺と新しい模索』、及びその続行研究の『日本型システムのグローバル化』は、1990年代以後の日本社会におけるグローバルスタンダードの選択的導入と抵抗の様相を明らかにすると同時に、関連政策の決定要因まで解明した学際的共同研究の秀作と評価されている。

引き続き韓国研究財団の支援を受け遂行した「韓日関係史資料集発刊および学術研究」は、9年にわたる大規模なプロジェクトであり、その中間報告として出版された『韓日会談外交文書解題集』(全5巻)は、同財団によって「社会科学分野における代表的な優秀研究成果」に選ばれるなど、韓国内外の学界から注目を集めている。また、東北亜歴史財団の研究支援を受け、日本外務省が順次に公開している日韓会談に関する外交文書をも分析することで、日韓両国の国交正常化交渉を総合的に究明してきた。

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  金栄作 名誉教授

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  韓相一 名誉教授

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  李元德 教授

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  崔喜植 敎授

その他にも日韓国交正常化時の「未解決課題」に関する研究に取り組み、当時の政策決定過程の解明だけでなく、両国間で葛藤を引き起こしてきた過去の問題処理の方向性を模索する作業を進めてきた。これらのプロジェクトは、日本政治・外交の総体的な記述にとどまらず、長期的には両国の相互理解と友好関係にも寄与するものと言えよう。また、近年は、高齢化問題など日本国内の論点をより幅広く取り入れている。

本研究所のメンバーらは、一般大衆や関連政策立案者側の需要にも応えるべく、国際学術会議、セミナー及びマスコミ·インタビューなどを通じて積極的な活動を展開している。年２回発刊する機関紙『日本空間』を通じ、学界の最新動向を分かりやすい言葉で伝える一方、多様な共同研究作業の場を設けることで、研究成果の検証と学術交流にも取り組んでいる。今や国民大学日本学研究所は、韓国の日本学を世界に発信し、国内外の専門家をつなぐ日本研究の拠点になっている。