During the first half of 20th century, Korean had experienced the anxiety of ages such as the colonial period against the Japanese imperialism(1910~ 1945), the division of Korea(1948) and the Korean War (1950~1953), and the activities for democracy during 1960s. At that time, because of the unclear forecast for the Korean Nation's future, the Korean intellectuals' anxiety on ages were more sensitive than the ordinary people. Even though they were conscious of the crises of their lives, they also made the alternative proposals to Korean people for overcoming the anxieties of ages. Among the these intellectuals, I will focus on the Cho Ji-Hun's life (1920~1969) and his writings on the anxiety of ages.
Cho’s career as a poet, professor for Korean literature, cultural is very suggestive for our study of the Korean Studies and the intellectual history in modern Korean history. Like other Korean people, he also experienced the enforcement of collaboration on the Pacific War, the panic of the division of Korea and the Korean War, and the injustice of dictatorship. In these situations, in general, people were addicted to both pessimism and sardonic. However, Cho overcame these anxieties based on the standard of political fidelity. This paper examines his three books which were published since 1960s. The themes of these books are Korean culture, Korean modern history against Japan Imperialism, and his thoughts on the political issues.
Following his activities and writings, he faced a difficult situation with rosy perspective of Korean Nation. He also suggested the guide lines for Korean Studies and the solutions of Koreans's re-unification as a single Nation. For the purpose of these activities, he established some criteria which effectively with the anxiety of ages. First, his evaluation of persons are based on the fidelity. Second, his re-writing on Korean national history for the democracy. Third, his emphasis on the Korean identities were helpful for the Korean re-unification. But we do not clearly distinguish his works on Korean culture's excellency from the dictatorship's activities on Korean culture's studying. These answer will find in examination on the Korean Studies in 1960s.