Training of colonial priests by French missionaries: Selective assimilation of anti-modernism and colonial education

During the Japanese colonial period, the training of priests in the Korean Catholic Church was a long-term program that spanned over 12 years of education, giving rise to a distinctive group of intellectuals during the colonial era. This distinctiveness was further compounded by the conflict and confusion between modernity and anti-modernity, with the defense mechanisms of French missionaries' anti-modernism and anti-republican ideology being integrated into seminary education. The Japanese colonial education policy, which undermined advanced education by emphasizing the so-called 'harm of reading', drew exquisite agreement from missionaries who were proud of the revolution and republic but internalized anger against secular and anti-church values. The missionaries accepted the 'accreditation' system while tactfully retaining the church's values in actual education, and dealt with it with a backside disagreement. The so-called fervor for modern education and the legacy of liberalism stirred unrest among the youth. The notion that it eventually fostered socialism posed an equal risk perceived by both the missionary groups and colonial authorities, leading to a reluctance towards higher education. Requests for the establishment of a united theological seminary and the reform of existing seminaries, even those demanded at the Vatican level,were stymied as they were relegated to minor seminary-level secondary education accreditation. The accreditation for the theological college, which boasted the finest faculty for priestly training, was ignored. The bishops swiftly countered the burgeoning liberalism as a 'negative influence' and promptly removed it from the seminaries. However, even amidst the tumultuous clash of modernity and anti- modernity, the awakened consciousness itself couldn't be extinguished. The exiled republican government in Shanghai, formed by the March 1st Movement, finally unveiled the forbidden terms 'republic' and 'civilization' to Korean priests.