In what follows, I will look into the historical flow of Korean Diaspora’s political movements for restoration of the sovereignty of Korea in Korean society of Yunhaju from a perspective of a Korean who became a naturalized Korean-Russian.
The new governor of Priamur-Province沿黑龍州 Unterberger reinforced Russia’s colony policies some of whose particulars were closely related to rejection of Koreans could be subdivided largely into three types: The first was a policy to expulse Koreans from the labor space they shared with Russians, and was designed to encourage colonization of Russia’s own people by increasing job opportunities out of banishment of Koreans from normal economic activity.
The second was abolishment of the Vladivostok free port which was typical of a port of entry. Such a policy came out of an intention that an increase in internal revenue by imposing heavy tariff on imports might be helpful in developing the domestic industry and, thus, in making it easy for Russia’s own people to colonize Yunhaju. Additionally, the abolishment could be utilized as a method to keep Russia’scontroloverthosewhocameandwentfreelyYunhaju. As a result, prices of Yunhaju skyrocketed, and which made a great deal of impact on the economy activity of Koreans living there.
The third was an operation of conscription not meaning that it placed the duty of obligatory military service simply on Koreans who became naturalized Korean-Russian; in fact, what it really aimed to accomplish was to achieve a thorough ‘Russianization’ them. In response to this policy, 大東共報 DaeDongGongBo or Korean Communication, a Korean news paper published by a Korean association in Vladivostok on Nov. 18, 1908 for the first time, argued, after due consideration of Koreans’ relationship with Russia, that Korean young people accede to it; yet, what is not to be overlooked is that at the bottom of the argumentation there was an hidden strategy that, by observing the duty, Korean young generation could develop their physical strength to be used for restoration of the sovereignty of Korea in future.
As Russia’s colonial policies were operated more rapidly, it is needless to say that not only Koreans who became naturalized Korean-Russian but also those who remained Korean, both of who worked in various work places for living, could not help but get involved in trouble. For figuring out some measures to solve such difficulties, they looked for a method which was finally shaped into the Vladivostok 居留民會 GeoRyuMinHoe, a regular meeting for Koreans living and settling in Vladivostok. And this was characteristically different form the old one having the same name. To be more specific, since it was established with the approval of the authorities of Russian, in terms of how to administer it, Russia’s intervention was inevitable.
At any rate, the major businesses of GeoRyuMinHoe were education and sanitation. For education, normally it built schools, and collected money from Korean residents to maintain them; but unfortunately all of such its works were customarily intervened by Russia. What is worse, when receiving the approval from Russia to establish schools, a proposal of integrating all schools in Vladivostok was presented; what Russia really wanted to do with such a proposal was to get a much easier control over Koreans scattered in various areas in Vladivostok.
As soon as GeoRyuMinHoe was established, DaeDongGongBo praised it as birth of the first Korean autonomous organization. Put a step further, it recommended Koreans to participate altogether in some businesses pushed forward by GeoRyuMinHoe. However, in disaccord with DaeDongGongBo’s anticipation, GeoRyuMinHoe was not able to take any reaction to a command of Russia that, owing to hygiene problems, all Koreans living in Vladivostok move to other areas. It could be interpreted as an omen of frictions arising between DaeDongGongBo and GeoRyuMinHoe.
The historical flow of Korean Diaspora’s movements for restoration of the sovereignty of Korea in Korean society of Yunhaju could be divided generally into two: while one was a mass-education drive that stressed on education and the media so as to cultivate competence of Korean immigrants, the other was to unfold an army campaign in the cause of justice on the basis of armed fight. Although such movements seem to be on the same line with the racial movements that took place frequently in the Korean Peninsula in those days, in fact their true picture was quite different.
When it comes to a mass-education drive, it was performed from the very early time when Koreans moved to Yunhaju forcefully as well as intentionally; education activities through the mass media usually aimed at ‘civilization and enlightenment,’ and interestingly which was connected to the circumstances where Koreans who became naturalized Korean-Russian citizens. Put differently, by taking account of their distinctive background that they were ethnically Korean but nationally Russian, it is feasible to see that the ‘civilization and enlightenment’ movements for Korean-Russians were an means for chasing two hares (ethnicity and nationality) at once. In contrast, in order to put into effect an army campaign in the cause of justice clearly different from such publicity campaigns, it was necessary to take into consideration what the Russian government regarded it as.
By taking account of the flow of an ideological struggle against Russia of Koreans who became naturalized Korean-Russian and Russia’s colonial policies especially in Vladivostok, the historical phases of political movements for recovering the sovereignty of Korea in Korean society of Yunhaju were gradually to become two major parties, the radicals and the gradual-progressives. Whereas the former took a position mainly for armed struggle by taking DaeDongGongBo as a principal base, the latter, along with those who became naturalized Korean-Russian(typically participants in GeoRyuMinHoe), made efforts to actualize the restoration of the sovereignty of Korea with several more gradual measures such as education and the mass media, etc.
But what was a major difference between both was that, although the gradual-progressives were usually those who attained a socio-economic foundation as well as social reputation at a proper degree, the radicals did not. Moreover, Russia’s colonial polices being, bit by bit, strengthened and the news of the Russia-Japan agreement came to make up circumstances disadvantageous, by degrees, to the radicals. At the time of the agreement to be accomplished, DaeDongGongBo reported an article to give weight to the necessity of armed struggle everyday ; but, because of such its efforts’ not working well as anticipated, what they had to do was merely to wait for another good timing in future.

본 논문에서는 연해주 한인사회의 국권회복운동의 흐름을 러시아 귀화한인의 입장에서 고찰하고자 하였다.
운떼르베르게르가 연흑룡주 총독으로 부임하게 되면서 러시아의 식민정책이 강화되고 있었다. 러시아의 식민정책과 그에 수반한 한인 배척은 크게 세 가지 형태로 나타났다. 첫째 노동공간에서 한인을 추방하는 정책이었다. 이것은 한인을 배척함으로써 직업의 수효를 늘려 러시아 본국인의 식민을 장려하기 위한 것이었다.
두 번째는 블라디보스토크 자유항 철폐였다. 블라디보스토크는 전형적인 수입항이었다. 따라서 무거운 관세를 부과하여 조세 수입을 늘림과 동시에 자국의 산업을 발전시켜 연해주에 자국인 식민을 용이하게 하려는 의도에서 나온 것이었다. 또한 자유항을 철폐함으로써 자유로이 연해주를 왕래하는 이들을 단속하고자 하는 속셈도 있었다. 이에 연해주의 물가는 크게 상승하여 일반 한인들의 경제생활에도 크게 영향을 미쳤다.
세 번째는 징병령이다. 징병령은 단순히 러시아 귀화한인에게 병역의 의무를 부과하는 것만을 의미하지는 않았다. 러시아 귀화 한인을 ‘러시아화’하려는 의도가 담겨있었던 것이다. 이에 󰡔대동공보󰡕에서는 러시아와의 관계를 고려하여 징병령에 응할 것을 주장하였는데, 거기에는 병역의 의무를 준수함으로써 훗날 국권회복을 위한 체력을 기를 것을 요구하는 속내가 있었다.
러시아의 식민정책이 가속화되면서 귀화한인뿐만 아니라, 각종 노동공간에서 생업에 종사하던 비귀화한인도 역시 곤란에 빠질 수밖에 없었다. 이에 러시아와 소통할 수 있는 창구가 필요하게 되었는데, 이에 성립한 것이 바로 블라디보스토크 거류민회였다. 하지만 이때 성립된 거류민회는 이전의 ‘거류민회’와는 성격이 다른 것이었다. 즉 러시아의 인가를 받는 형태로 성립되었을 뿐만 아니라, 그 운영에 있어서도 러시아의 간섭을 받을 수밖에 없는 구조였던 것이다.
거류민회의 주된 사업은 교육과 위생이었다. 교육 활동은 주로 학교를 설립하고 한인 거주자들에게 학교 유지를 위한 의무금을 수금하는 것이었다. 하지만 이 역시 모두 러시아의 간섭을 받는 형태로 이루어져 있었다. 또한 학교 설립에 관한 인허를 받으면서 블라디보스토크의 각 학교를 통합하기로 결정한 것은 각 지역에 산재한 한인들을 러시아 측에서 쉽게 통제할 수 있다는 것을 의미하였다.
󰡔대동공보󰡕에서는 거류민회가 설립한 것을 두고 처음에는 자치기관이 탄생한 것이라고 하면서 크게 찬양하였다. 또한 거류민회가 추진하는 사업에 한인 거류민이 다함께 동참할 것을 권고하기도 하였다. 하지만 󰡔대동공보󰡕의 기대와는 달리 거류민회는 위생문제를 이유로 한인거주지를 다른 곳으로 이전하라는 러시아의 명령에 대해 아무런 대책도 세울 수 없었다. 이는 곧 󰡔대동공보󰡕와 거류민회의 알력이 발생하고 있음을 의미하는 것이었다.
연해주 지역 한인들의 국권회복운동의 흐름은 크게 두 가지 흐름으로 나타났다. 하나는 교육과 언론활동을 중시하면서 민족의 역량을 키우려고 하는 계몽운동의 입장이며, 또 다른 하나는 무장투쟁을 기본으로 의병운동을 전개하는 것이었다. 그러나 겉으로는 한반도 내에서 벌어졌던 민족운동의 흐름과 궤를 같이 하는 것처럼 보이기는 해도 실상은 그렇지 않았다.
계몽운동의 경우는 한인들의 연해주 이주 초기부터 나타나고 있었다. 교육과 언론활동은 ‘문명개화’를 목표로 하고 있는 것이었다. 이것은 러시아 귀화한인의 상황과도 관련되어 있었다. 즉, 종족(ethnic)적으로는 한민족이었지만 국민(nation)적으로는 러시아인이었던 귀화 한인에게 ‘문명개화’를 위한 교육과 계몽활동은 양자를 모두 만족시킬 수 있는 양가적인 의미의 노선이었다. 반면에 의병운동은 계몽활동과는 성격이 다른 것이었고 또한 러시아 측의 시선도 고려해야만 했다.

귀화한인의 사상적 흐름과 러시아의 식민정책에 의해서 연해주 한인사회의 국권운동세력의 흐름은 점차 급진당과 완진당의 구도로 흘러가게 되었다. 급진당은 󰡔대동공보󰡕를 중심으로 무장투쟁을 강조하는 입장이었으며, 완진당은 귀화 한인(거류민회)을 중심으로 교육과 언론 사업 등 보다 점진적인 방법으로 국권회복을 실현하고자 하는 입장이었다.
하지만 연해주에서 사회경제적 기반과 명망을 가지고 있었던 완진당에 비해 급진당은 그렇지 못했다. 또한 강화되어가는 러시아의 식민정책과 러일협약이 체결되었다는 소문은 급진당에게 점차 불리한 상황을 조성했다. 병합이 즈음한 시점에서 󰡔대동공보󰡕는 연일 무장투쟁을 강조하는 기사를 게재하였지만 큰 실효를 거두지 못하고 훗날을 기다려야만 했다.