한독관계사, 회고와 성찰

Korea-Germany relationship history and the reflection on it

In this article, the Korea-Germany relationship history (1884 to present) was reflected and the future prospect was suggested to celebrate the 130 anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations. So far, the relations between Korea and Germany have not been studied very well. Thus, the necessity on the further study and the collection of necessary materials were suggested as the most urgent task. In the late period of Chosun, a few German people including Möllendorff participated in strengthening the Korea-Germany relationship in the areas such as diplomacy, education, and economic policy. In the Japanese colonial period when there was no official diplomatic relation, only Benedict church participated in the Korean modernization project in the areas of Christian mission and education and there were few Korean students studying in Germany. In between 1945 and 1990, South Korea, West Germany and North Korea, East Germany had a strong relationship with each other since they were the divided countries in the world. In the period between Korean War and German reunification, the two Germanies supported the two Koreas through technical collaboration and loans. Specifically, the collaboration between Korean and German churches and the economic support have substantially contributed to the success of the democratic movement in Korea. Since the German reunification in 1990, Korea has learned a lot of know-hows and many research activities are running. In terms of scale, economic collaboration (e.g., trade) was not a major one in the Korea-Germany relationship. Rather, a cultural collaboration was the major. Philosophy, literature, medicine, and music of Korea accepted and appropriated the German culture. And dispatching Korean nurses and miners introduced Korea and Korean cultures. Recently, there are more chances of collaboration between the two countries in the areas of social welfare expansion and employment equity. Lastly, beyond description of the existing Korea-Germany relationship history, a new necessity of research is arising focusing on the role as a balancer of Germany and German people in the modern history of Korea.