[KS] Re: Still doubting about the rendering of Korea prior to

[Frank Hoffmann]

At 10:09 PM +0800 5/16/00, Richard C. Miller wrote:
>I by no means deny, by the way, that by 1910 the evidence for Japanese
>government attempts to erase Korean national identity is overwhelming--what
>else would annexation represent? Before that point, however, I think the
>historical record shows much less coherence in actual Japanese government
>practice, despite the presence of a large group of politicians/military men
>who clearly wanted total control of the penninsula, with or without the
>current inhabitants. I do not believe that any of that evidence points to a
>specific Japanese government concern with anything as trivial as where the
>countries' names fell in the roman alphabet.


For those who have any problems with Richard Miller's argument above, 
there is a wonderful study by Peter Duus, _The Abacus and the Sword: 
The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895-1910_ (U of California Press, 
1995). Duus looks at all the Japanese materials from this period and 
comes to the same result: there was no such coherence in Japanese 
government practice in the late 19th century that would have allowed 
them to come up with a conspiracy plan .... and I think it would be 
MUCH more unlikely that a Japanese government institution (or 
institutions) would even be as sophisticated OR unsophisticated 
(whatever view you may have on this issue) to develop a conspiracy as 
trivial as this.

Frank
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Frank Hoffmann * 4903 Manitoba Dr.#202 * Alexandria, VA 22312 * USA
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