A Critical Study on the “Pragmatic Subservience” Narrative of the Koryŏ-Jurchen(Jin) Relations in the Middle School History Textbook in Korea

The current middle school history textbooks attempt to reconstruct the narrative of Koryŏ-Jurchen (Jin) relations by moving away from the traditional binary framework of ‘Autonomy versus subservience’ and instead adopting a new perspective of ‘pragmatic subservience.’ However, this approach often falls short of fully considering the complex historical context of the time and the nuanced significance of Koryŏ’s diplomatic responses. Rather than fundamentally reinterpreting the narrative, it tends to rephrase or rearrange existing elements rhetorically. Notably, Kim Bu-sik’s so-called ‘relations with Jin’ statement, which lacks authentic historical evidence, is nonetheless consistently presented across current authorized textbooks, reinforcing this narrative. As a result, the concept of ‘pragmatic subservience’ risks becoming another canonical explanatory framework: it mitigates the negative image of subservience as a loss of sovereignty while ultimately solidifying the notion that Koryŏ’s choice of subservience was a rational and inevitable strategy.