Ю Гильджун и его «Рассуждение о нейтралитете (中立論)»: романтический реализм в преддверии нового мира

С. 23–39.

Soloviev A.

The Korean intellectual and political figure Yu Kiljun (1856—1914)'s “Treatise on Neutrality (中立論),” written in late 1885, has hardly been referred to by Russian historiography. Nevertheless, this work appears seminal for the assessment of Korean intellectual elite perceptions of the world order and the international role of Korea in the modern era that befell the country.
Yu Kiljun was the first Korean intellectual to propose an original model of neutral status for Korea based on a distinctive synthesis of the international legal statuses of sovereign Belgium and Bulgaria, which at that time was recognized by the Berlin Congress as an autonomous (semi-independent) principality while remaining a tributary to the Ottoman Porte.

In the “Treatise” Yu Kiljun operates with terms and concepts of international affairs fluently and comprehensively, demonstrates comprehensive understanding of their essence and principles. He boldly juxtaposes the traditional canons of Far Eastern Chinese-centered diplomacy with the Western thoughts on the world order (balance of power, geopolitics) and formulates new ideas and methods of assessing the international situation. Some of those (regimes, securitization) would be formally conceptualized in international relations theory in the second half of the twentieth century only.

Keywords: Корея, теория международных отношений, IR theory, History of International Relations, "Рассуждение о нейтралитете", Ю Гильджун, Chosŏn Korea, Yu Kiljun, “Treatise on Neutrality”, история международных отношения

In book

Корея открывает для себя мир: глобальные и локальные вызовы (конец XIX — середина XX века)

М.: ООО «Адвансед солюшнз», 2024.