“T’aep’yŏngyang Chŏnjaeng ki Hyu Pot’ŭn ŭi tae Il chŏngch’aek kusang kwa Han’guk munje insik” [Hugh Borton’s ideas on Japan policies and understandings of the Korea problem during the Pacific War period]

This paper deals with Hugh Borton and his policy recommendations regarding Korea. Hugh Borton was an expert on Japan at the Department of State during the Pacific War and prepared several papers for Korean trusteeship. He came to Japan as a Quaker missionary in his youth, and returned to the U.S. for Japanese Studies. During and after the Pacific War, he actively participated in making policies toward Japan. He tried to get rid of Japanese militarism while preserving the emperor system. His policy recommendations was almost fully adopted by the U.S. government. After he returned to Columbia University, he tried to establish Japanese studies in a higher education. It is not well known that he wrote many papers related to postwar policy toward Korea. He analysed in his papers Korean politics, economy, and society. The conclusion of his researches is that considering Korean total submission to the Japanese Empire, the U.S. government should secure some period for the trusteeship by the international organization before Korean independence. He did not belittle Korean capacity for independence but thought that it was very hard for Korean people to have a autonomous system in politics and economy. As his case shows, some experts on East Asia in the U.S. had the relation between the Japanese Empire and colonies in their minds.