在日朝鮮人 '多樣化'의 一背景

Historical Background and 'Diversification' on the National Identity of the Koreans in Japan

The Korean existence in Japan are more and more diversified since they already have more than 100 years' history of crossing the strait and living in the unfamiliar and sometimes antagonistic land. Recently, many researchers tend to regard them the biggest ethnic minority group and the part of Japanese local society. That kind of insistence reflects the change of the time and in influenced by the trend of post-nationalism. However, it is necessary to understand their orientation toward Korean peninsular that still regulate the consciousness of Koreans living in Japan. They are not only residents in Japan to cooperate with other Japanese in order to abolish discrimination against them, but also the national community to seek for their 'fatherland', which was aborted to construct because of the division of the country. And whether Koreans in Japan realize the fact or not, the two subjects are related with each other. In this paper,　I reviewed historical background on why Koreans settled in Japan - in some respects, they continued to stay in Japan in spite of their desire to return to Korea after the liberation - and on how they struggled to obtain their national and social rights against the imperialism and the cold war system. In order to explain the process, I introduced the concept, 'the forced disconnection of the living field of Koreans' - disconnection of the relationship with the kindred homeland or the idealogical homeland. While Koreans welcomed changes in many aspects with the end of the cold war, they still suffer legacy of the past. It is important to support their struggle to live as equal citizens in Japan. But it is also important to help the restoration of the full relationship between Koreans in Japan and the Korean peninsular. We should understand that the two purposes ahead of Koreans living in Japan would be ultimately achieved through the unification of Korea and peace of the North-east Asia.