Kyongsong Imperial University Medical College

Kee, Chang Duk

Abstract

Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and with the promulgation of the Chosen Kyoyuk Ryong(the Korea Education Decree) in 1911, it began to conduct education for the Korean people. However, this was only a matter of formality and a policy for liquidating the spirit of the Korean people. It finally resulted in the uprising of March 1, 1919 of the Korean people that has a cultural tradition of a high level. This event served as a cause of widely spread censure among the Korean people as well as the people of the whole world. Even in Japan voice of criticism rose high. Such being the situation Japan amended the Korean educational law under the pretext of shifting to a so-called civil-rule policy. The Japanese authorities adopted the same educational system as was practiced in Japan proper, for primary and middle school education. As for higher education, they placed under a strict control the educational facilities already established by Korean people and foreign missionaries, suppressing even minor expansions of existing facilities. However, the movement by some Korean educators to establish a private university and efforts by some missionaries to integrate the existing educational organizations into a university made it inevitable for the Japanese authorities to set up a university of their own in Korea. Thus, they hurriedly established the Kyongsong Imperial University in which was included a medical college that was an indispensable organization for colonial education. They professed that the medical college was established for the purpose of providing equal opportunities and privileges to Korean and Japanese students, but, on the contrary, the operation of the college was done strictly under their colonial policy. The system of the Kyongsong Imperial University was enforced according to the Japanese Imperial University Law, and all the faculty members and the administratial officials were Japanese. As for Koreans, a few graduates of the university was named nonpaid deputy assistants, and graduates of other colleges were employed as nonpaid subdeputy assistants. In most cases, Koreans, finally handicapped compared with Japanese, could not continue their study and research. A few of them who could conduct continued study and research were placed under strict restraints ant accordingly, their opportunities to achieve academic and social promotion were quite limited. During the history of 20 years of the Kyongsong Imperial University Medical College Yun Il Son and Ko Yong Sun served as assistant professors for 13 months and three days respectively. In addition, there were 12 Koreans who worked as temporary assistants, the periods of their service varying from two days to 10 years. The rate of graduates for Koreans was less than 30% and the rate for Koreans who received a degree of doctor of medical science was only 25%. From 1940, the course of the medical college was shortened to three years and same months under the war-time system and with Japan's unconditional surrender to the Allied Forces on August 15, 1945, the entire faculty of the medical college was discharged by the U.S. Military Government on November 5, 1945.