Abstract

In spite of the successful industrialization and democratization, the Korean society has still suffered a lot of social conflicts. In order to escape from this situation, we should establish the state identity and solve the social problems under the rule of law. From the foundation of Republic of Korea, we have recognized a democratic republic as our state identity. The democratic is not combating with the republican, but there are indisregardable differences between the two. While the democratic pursues the realization of the popular sovereignty and the direct rule of the people, the republican emphasizes representation and juridical deliberation, and wants to remove the danger of the democratic tyranny. At the very end of the 19th century, the enlightened Korean reformists tried to establish a self-generated republican state through the activities in The Independent. The republican characteristics shown in The Independent were the integration of the people, the communication between the government and the people, and the rule by law for guaranteeing the liberty and equality of the people. On the other hand, The Independent had also such shortcomings as the lack of power distribution for the people, the ignorance of the method for the integration, and the confusion of the rule of law with the rule by law. However, it has no doubt that the efforts of The Independent give us an important insight for constructing a new Korean society after democratization.