金允植의 外交論에 대한 國際法的 검토

Kim Yun-Sik(1835~1922) is treated as a member of the Progressive group in the study of the modern Korean history. He was most acquainted with diplomatic affairs among other Progressive group members. In 1882, he had led the establishment of the Joseon-America Treaty. Later, he took office as Minister of the Department of Foreign Affairs from December 1884 to June 1887 and from June 1894 to February 1896. Lastly, until he passed away in 1922, he was incessantly interested in the Protection, Annexation, and Independence of his nation. His theory of diplomacy is represented by his “Theory of serving two ends(兩得論)”. The gist of the theory is that “If Joseon(朝鮮) remains as a subject state(屬邦) of the Qing(淸) but is sovereign(自主) with respect to other nations, it can serve two ends since it does not lose sovereign right and does not betray her feudal duty for Qing”. This almost literally agrees with Qing’s Li Hong-zhang’s “Theory of subject state with sovereignty(屬邦自主論)”. However, appearing to say the ‘sovereignty’ of Joseon, Li in fact pursued Joseon’s status as a dependent/semi-sovereign state(屬國･半主之國) in accordance with Elements of International Law(萬國公法). Kim believed that a traditional subject state(屬邦) could retain its sovereignty but a modern dependent state(屬國) couldn’t. However, with the status as a dependent/semi-sovereign state, which Li Hongzhang pursued, Joseon can retain her rights, though limitedly, such as rights of negotiation and treaties and of legation according to Elements of International Law. Thus, a ‘modern dependent state without sovereignty’ did not exist based on the international law. In the same logic, ‘a traditional subject state with guaranteed sovereignty’ was difficult to expect at that time considering the fact that Qing tried to take Joseon as her dependent/semi-sovereign state based on the international law. Accordingly, we can see that it was meaningless to distinguish between a modern dependent state and a traditional subject state.