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본고는 1930년대에 조선총독부가 실시한 농촌의 치안유지정책의 한 사례로 함경북도에서의 사상정화공작을 분석ㆍ검토한 것이다. 1930년대부터 40년대 초에 걸쳐 함경북도 남부 3군(명천, 길주, 성진)에서는 좌익적인 농민운동이 활발하게 전개되었다. 조선총독부는 이들을 탄압하고 농민운동의 기반을 소멸시키기 위해 사상정화공작을 전개하였다. 이를 위해 당초 농촌 원로들이 중심이 되는 향약을 이용해 농민운동에 가담하는 청년을 지도하고 농촌을 안정시키려 했지만, 유교 이데올로기를 바탕으로 한 향약으로는 농민운동을 막을 수 없었다. 경찰 당국은 1936년경부터 향약이 아니라 자위단 조직에 치중하게 되었다. 자위단은 원래 조선과 만주의 국경지대에서 일부 조선인 청년을 가입시켜 경찰지원활동을 하는 조직으로 존재하였으나, 이것을 농민운동이 한창인 지역에서도 조직하여 경찰 지도하에 치안 유지와 농촌 진흥에 이용하려 했던 것이다. 자위단은 주민들 가운데 거의 모든 청년 남자를 가입시킨 것으로, 향약과 달리 경찰의 직접적인 지도를 받아 농민운동을 진압하는 데 어느 정도 효과를 거뒀다. 자위단은 남부 3군뿐 아니라 함경북도의 다른 군에서도 조직되면서 농촌진흥운동과 전쟁 시기의 노동 동원에도 이용되었다. 그러나 남부 3군에서의 농민운동은 1940년대에도 계속되면서 자위단을 역으로 이용하는 움직임도 보였다. 일본 패망과 조선 해방 후 조선 각지에 보안대 등 지역 주민 자위조직이 만들어졌고 조선 북부에서는 이것들이 인민위원회를 뒷받침했다. 함경북도에서는 식민지 지배 말기에 만들어진 자위단이 자주적 주민자위조직으로 이어진 사례를 볼 수 있다.
This article analyzes and evaluates operation of thought purification in North Hamgyong Province as one example of the peace preservation policies the Government-General of Korea implemented in rural communities during the 1930s. From the 1930s into the early 1940s, left-wing peasant movements grew increasingly active in the three southern counties of North Hamgyong Province.(Myongchon county, Gilju county, Songjin county) In response, the Government-General of Korea initiated efforts to suppress these movements and erode their base of support. To this end, the authorities initially sought to utilize the hyangyak (village codes) to have village elders provide guidance to the youth involved in peasant movements, and thereby restore stability to the rural communities. Yet, it was not possible to control the peasant movements using hyangyak , which were rooted in Confucian ideology. On the other hand, from around 1936, the police began to stress the role of local self-defence corps rather than hyangyak . These self-defense corps were originally organizations formed to provide support for police activities in regions along the Korea-Manchuria border, and included some Korean youth as members. They were also organized in regions with robust peasant movements, where they were used for the purposes of peace preservation and rural development under the direction of the police. Self-defence corps, which were joined by nearly all young male residents of these communities, proved effective to some extent in controlling peasant movements because, unlike the hyangyak , members were directly subject to police guidance. Self-defence corps were formed not only in the three southern counties but other counties in North Hamgyong, and also used in the promotion of the Rural Development Campaign and for wartime mobilization of labor. Nevertheless, peasant movements continued into the 1940s, and in some cases these movements even co-opted self-defence corps for oppositional ends. Following Japan’s defeat and Korea’s liberation in 1945, autonomous self-defense organizations, including squads of security guards, were formed throughout Korea. In the northern regions of the Korean peninsula, these organizations became an important source of support for the People’s Committees. In North Hamgyong, there are cases of the self-defence corps created in the final years of Japanese colonial rule ultimately evolving into these autonomous local self-defence organizations after liberation.
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North Hamgyong Province, peasant movement, operation of thought purification, hyangyak(village codes), self-defence corp
