식민지 과학기술을 넘어서

Beyond the Colonial Science and Technology: Korean Evolution of Modern Science and Technology

The purpose of this paper is to identify the legacy of colonial science and technology in the historical flow of Korea’s modern science and technology and to illuminate its position and meanings. Has the legacy of colonial science and technology been the basis of the development of modern science and technology? Or has modern science and technology been attained because the colonial legacy had been hurriedly cleared away? Colonial legacy is a complex issue that should not be judged only on some parts of science and technology or on whether they have been in existence. This paper proposes to examine the legacy of colonial science and technology from the aspects of time, objects, and status macroscopically, and also from institutional, human, material, and intellectual aspects in detail. In other words, it is necessary to understand the colonial legacy of science and technology by appropriately positioning it in the historical and social context of South Korea. In this paper, I used the concepts of national scientific and technological system and scientific community to appropriately grasp the unique aspects that were revealed in the development of Korea’s modern science and technology. This analytical framework shows how modern science and technology has developed in South Korea, and in this process, what role has the legacy of colonial science and technology played. In conclusion, this paper argues that the development of Korea’s modern science and technology has been achieved because unexpectedly it surpassed the historical limits in new ways rather than because colonial legacy has been in existence or cleared away. The main point is that the emergence and transition of new scientific and technological system and the reorganization and expansion of scientific community have been the core sources of making Korea’s science and technology leap over the colonial legacy.