The Idea on the Political Party of the Independence Club

독립협회는 정당을 자처하지 않았다는 점 때문에 현재까지도 정당사 연구에서 경시되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 다음과 같은 정황에 근거하여 독립협회가 근대적정당을 전망했음을 주장한다. 첫째, 서재필은 정치적 당파의 필요성을 의식하며독립협회를 조직했다고 회고한 바 있다. 둘째, ≪독립신문≫은 협회가 설립된직후 근대적 정당의 출현에 대해 기대감을 표명했으며, 나아가 정당의 규범을 제시했다. 마지막으로 독립협회는 유명무실한 자문기관이었던 중추원의의회제적 기구로의 개편과 전체 의석 중 절반의 선출권을 요구했다. 이상의상황에 유의하며 본 연구는 독립협회 계열 신문에서 정당에 대해 그 본의를 대중에게 공개하고 여론의 지지를 얻을 것을 요구했다는 점, 다수의 정당이 공존해야 한다고 말하면서도 개화 노선만을 善으로 간주했다는 점, 그리고 협회가 정치운동을 전개하면서 전체 인민의 대표라는 자의식을 갖게 되었다는 점에 특별히 주목하는 가운데 독립협회와 그 주변에서 모색된 정당의 像을 파악하고자 했다.

Previous studies on Korean party politics have not paid much attention to the Independence Club. Since the Independence Club never claimed itself as a political party, it has not been recognized as a subject of party politics. However, based on the following points, this study argues that the Independence Club aimed at positioning itself as a modern political party. First, Seo Jae-pil, one of the leaders of the Independence Club, recalled that when the Club was organized, he expected it to partially play a role of a political party. Secondly, in The Independent, a newspaper representing the perspective of the Independence Club, published a series of articles on the requirements of modern political parties right after the establishment of the Club. Lastly, the Independence Club suggested that the Privy Council(中樞院), which was an nominal advisory body of the government, should be reorganized into a semi-popular assembly, and that the Independence Club should have the right to nominate half of the members of the Privy Council. In this study, the following situations are particularly noted in order to identify the Independence Club’s vision of a political party. The Independent argued that political parties should gain support from public opinion by `their principles. In addition, while claiming the coexistence of multiple political parties, The Independent considered only those promoting the idea of enlightenment(開化) to be good. Moreover, it is notable that the Independence Club developed a sense of identity as a representative of the entire Korean people in the process of its political movements.