대한민국정부 수립 후 안재홍의 민족통일론

An Jae-hong’s Theory of National Unification in the Period Following the Establishment of the Republic of Korea

In this paper, we explore An Jae-hong’s theory of national unification as a first step to investigate the national movement of the Centrist faction who were in favor of building a ‘unified democratic nation-state’ following the establishment of the government of the Republic of Korea. An Jae-hong recognized that the essential responsibility for the North-South division of the Korean people lied in the two powers of the United States and the Soviet Union, especially in the communist Soviet Union. Therefore, the cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union was an absolute prerequisite for the Korean unification, and contended that significant concessions by the Soviet Union were necessary in the cooperation. At the same time, he emphasized that the Republic of Korea, having been legitimately established on the basis of the United Nation’s resolution, set forth on the task of completing the national unification. He advanced a ‘principle of peace through strength’ and a ‘principle of democracy’s bastion’ as a way to unify the Korean people. The ‘principle of peace through strength’ was a plan where the U.S. block acquired an absolute advantage over the Soviet block in all aspects including military power, South Korea held a corresponding dominance over North Korea, and as a result the Soviet Union could be led toward a peaceful solution. ‘Strength’ in this principle meant not only for military power but also for a sense of solidarity, accompanied by political and economic strengths, among the international democratic nations. In addition, An Jae-hong suggested that international nations including the Unites States should aid and support the Republic of Korea in order for her to develop into a true ‘bastion of democracy’. The democratization of the Republic of Korea was a starting point of the ‘principle of peace through strength’ and the ‘principle of democracy’s bastion. The union of these two principles was a ‘true democracy’. An Jae-hong acknowledged that the Korean unification depended on the international relations of the United States and the Soviet Union, but he never ignored the need for Korean’s own independent efforts toward unification. He suggested that Koreans should realize their own conditions for unification internally and respond timely to changing international conditions. This at once extended to his contention that the Republic of Korea would play a leading role in Korean unification by developing into an undisputed ‘true democratic nation’ and securing her ‘political superiority’ over North Korea. The democratization of the Republic of Korea, or the establishment of a democratic government, was a premise as well as a principal means for Korean unification in his theory of national unification.