혼종 식민성(Hybrid coloniality): 탈식민주의로 바라본 한국의 외교안보정책

Abstract

본고는 탈식민주의(postcolonialism)라는 이론적 시각을 통해 한국의 탈식민 역사과정에서 발생한 국제정치적 사건들과 한국정부의 대응이 한국외교안보(정책)에 어떤 영향을 끼쳤는지를 “식민성”(coloniality)이라는 측면에서 비판적으로 살펴본다. 이를 위해 우선 탈식민주의 이론은 무엇이며 어떤 시사점을 함축하고 있는지에 대해 설명한다. 이를 바탕으로 한국은 탈식민 과정에서 물리적이고 인식적인 측면에서 식민성이 생성되는 역사적 경로를 걷게 되었음을 논한다. 특히 1950년대, 미소의 글로벌한 균열구조로써의 냉전이 동아시아라는 지역적 맥락을 거치고 이것이 한반도의 민족적 경험과 한국의 국내정치적 이해관계로 다시 한번 필터링 되면서 식민성은 혼종된(hybrid) 형태로 내면화 되고 한국의 외교안보영역에 배태되었음을 상술한다. 어떻게 극복할 수 있을까? ‘혼종 식민성’의 발생기원이면서 지금까지도 작동하고 있는 한반도 냉전의 물리적 기제인 정전협정이 평화협정으로 전환될 필요가 있다는 것은 자명하다. 그러나 본고는 이와 함께 ‘인식적’ 측면에서의 주체성 회복이 혼종 식민성 극복에 매우 중요하다고 판단한다. 이를 실현하기 위한 방안으로써 최근 주목받고 있는 “글로벌 국제관계학”(Global IR)과 “버내큘러”(vernacular) 안보의 지역비교연구를 연구프로그램으로써 제언한다. 부족하나마 본고의 분석과 제언, 특히 ‘혼종 식민성’이라는 개념과 “버내큘러” 안보라는 연구프로그램이 한국외교안보의 (탈)식민성에 관한 학술적 논쟁을 촉발할 수 있는 계기가 되길 바란다. From the theoretical perspective of postcolonialism, this article examines the postcolonialsing processes of Korea since its liberation in 1945 and takes a close look at the ramifications of the international events at that time, such as the 1945 division of the Korean peninsula, the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, and the 1950-1953 Korean War, for South Korea’s foreign and security policy thinking and behaviour in the postwar period. In doing so, the article shows that how “coloniality” has been embedded in South Korean foreign and security policy thinking and behaviour in its postcolonialising processes. To elucidate this point, the article first discusses postcolonialism theory explicating its manifold meanings and implications. Based on this theoretical discussion, the article notes that Korea’s liberation did not lead to restoring postcolonial subjectivity in the realms of foreign affairs and national security. Rather, coloniality at both material and socio-epistemic levels remains deeply entrenched in Korean foreign and security policy thinking and practice. This is mainly due to the international and domestic political events that Korea has gone through since its 1945 liberation, especially during the cold war period. More specifically, the cold war, as a structural divide at the global level, unfolded in a very different manner in Asia as compared with Europe, which has resulted in a US-Japanese centered regional security system of anti-communism. This system was, once again, consolidated through the Korean War, and then filtered into the domestic politics of South Korea ruled by military dictatorial regimes, who were seeking their political legitimacy from American recognition or approval. Ultimately, the combination of these global, regional, and domestic dynamics has brought about a ‘hybrid’ coloniality to South Korea’s external behaviour. The problem is this ‘hybrid’ coloniality in which South Korea for itself contemplates its foreign policy actions and makes moral judges about those actions either on the basis of ‘American’ positions and values or within the context of the relationship with the US remains prevalent even after the collapse of the (global) cold war system in 1990. How to overcome this? As postcolonialism theory points out, the ways to address a hybrid coloniality should be met with the processes of emancipation from the coloniality of episteme/knowledge; and these emancipation processes ought to point toward pluralism in making truth claims and recognising diverse subjectivities and modernities. Considering this, the article offers pathways to overcome South Korea’s hybrid coloniality by building on and expanding the insights of “Global IR” and the emerging field of “vernacular” security studies.