Plh't.':^yaph hy]
[F. A. McKeiizie.
A KOREAN IN OLD-STYLE URESIS.
THE
TRAGEDY OF KOREA
BY
F. A. McKENZIE
AUTHOR OF " THE UNVEILED EAST," " FROM TOKYO
TO TIFLIS," ETC.
WITH TWENTY-b^VEN ILLUSTRATIONS
E. P. DUTTON & CO.
31 West Twenty-third Street
NEW YORK
ns
> <'^
iUNWiN BROTHERS, LIMITED, TllK GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON.
PREFACE
I HAVE to tell the story of the awakening and
the destruction of a nation. My narrative, save
for a few introductory pages, covers a period of less
than thirty years, and the greater part of it has to do
with events that have happened since King Edward
came to the throne. The brief and tragic history of
modern Korea has been linked to great international
developments. It gave excuse for the opening moves
of what promises to be the main world-conflict of the
twentieth century — the struggle between an aroused
China and an ambitious Japan. It afforded a reason
for the Mikado's declaration of war against Russia.
It supplies us to-day with a touchstone by which we
can test the sincerity of the Japanese professions of
justice, peace, and fair play.
No unbiassed observer can deny that Korea owes
the loss of her independence mainly to the corruption
and weakness of her old national administration. It
is equally true that the Japanese policy on the
peninsula has been made more difficult by the
intrigues and obstinacy of the old Court party.
Yet, when all hindrances have been allowed for,
vi THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
those of us who have witnessed the acts follow-
ing the Japanese occupation of the land own to a
sense of grievous disappointment. Affairs have now
reached a stage when there comes a question of the
duty of the British people in the matter. I, for
one, am convinced that we owe it to ourselves
and to our ally, Japan, to let it be clearly known
that a policy of Imperial expansion based upon
breaches of solemn treaty obligations to a weaker
nation, and built up by odious cruelty, by needless
slaughter, and by a wholesale theft of the private
property rights of a dependent and defenceless
peasantry, is repugnant to our instincts and cannot
fail to rob the nation that is doing it of much of
that respect and goodwill with which we all so
recently regarded her.
Many of the doings related in this book came
under my own purview : some chapters, more par-
ticularly the description of the scenes in the rebellion
of 1907, are direct individual narrative. Wherever
possible, I have elected to support my own account
and conclusions by the evidence of other witnesses.
In the case of the recent rebellion, my readers must
rely mainly on my personal observations, as I was, at
the time when I made my journey, the only white
man to have travelled through those districts during
the fighting. I am indebted to many who played
.a prominent part in the events here recorded for
their kind and generous assistance and advice.
F. A. Mckenzie.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE . . • • • . • V
ij^i^nx CHAPTER I
THE HERMIT KINGDOM .
CHAPTER n
QUEEN y. REGENT . . . . . ■ ^3
CHAPTER HI
THE COMING OF THE FOREIGNER ... 2$
CHAPTER IV
THE CHINO-JAPANESE CONFLICT . . . -37
CHAPTER V
THE MURDER OF THE QUEEN . . . .51
vii
viii THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
CHAPTER VI
PAGE
AFTER THE MURDER . . . . .67
CHAPTER VH
THE ESCAPE OF THE KING .... 76
CHAPTER Vni
THE RUSSIAN RiClAJE . . . . .89
CHAPTER IX
THE RE-ENTRY OF JAPAN .... 98
CHAPTER X
THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA , . . I08
CHAPTER XI
TREATY-MAKING AND TREATY- BREAKING . . 130
CHAPTER XII
THE RULE OF PRINCE ITO . . . . .142
CHAPTER XIII
THE ABDICATION OF YI HYEUNG . . . 1 56
/
;
/
I
CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER XIV
PAGE
THE CROWNING OF THE PUPPET EMPEROR . . 163
CHAPTER XV
A JOURNEY TO THE "RIGHTEOUS ARMY" . . 168
CHAPTER XVI
THE STRONG HAND OF JAPAN . . . . 185
CHAPTER XVII
THE RUINS OF CHEE-CHONG . . . . I91
CHAPTER XVIII
WITH THE REBELS . . . . . .197
CHAPTER XIX
THE SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM . 209
CHAPTER XX
THE PROSPECTS FOR FOREIGN TRADE . . .241
CHAPTER XXI
THE WIDER VIEW ..... 250
THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
PAGE
APPENDICES
1. The Trial of Viscount Miura . . .263
2. Treaties Relating to Korea . . . 269
Japan- Korean, 1876. ^^
American-Korean, 1882-3.
British-Korean, 1883.
Convention between China and Japan, 1885.
Treaty of Shimonoseki, 1895.
Russo-Japanese Agreement, 1896.
Anglo-Japanese Alliances.
Korea at the Portsmouth Conference.
Japan-Korean Treaties, 1904-7. v^
3. Petition from the Koreans of Hawaii . .311
ILLUSTRATIONS
A KOREAN IN OLD-STYLE DRESS . . . Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
A VILLAGE IDOL . . . . . .II
GESANG, THE GEISHA OF KOREA . . . . -29
JAPANESE INFANTRY on THE WARPATH • • • 39
A GATEWAY OF CHONG-JU . . . . -5°
THE COURTYARD OF THE OLD PALACE IN SEOUL, FORSAKEN
AFTER THE MURDER OF THE QUEEN ; WITH WEEDS
GROWING BETWEEN THE STONES . . . ^0
THE author's "number onE BOY," WITH WIFE AND CHILD 82
SOLDIERS OF THE OLD KOREAN ARMY, AROUND THE PALACE,
SEOUL . . . . . . ■ .86
THE PASSING OF THE OLD— A RUINED GATEWAY IN SOUTH-
EASTERN KOREA ...... 98
JAPANESE TROOPS DETRAINING TO ATTACK KOREAN REBELS . I04
THE APPEAL TO THE CROSS, YAN-GUN . . . II4
PUNISHMENT IN KOREA UNDER THE JAPANESE ADMINISTRA-
TION ; PRISONERS — MEN AND A WOMAN — OUT OF onE
CELL, PING-YANG . . . • . . IlS
xii THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
FACING PAGE
PUNISHMENT IN KOREA UNDER THE JAPANESE ADMINISTRA-
TION ; PRISONERS IN SUN-CHON . . . I20
PRINCE ITO ....... 142
A JAPANESE RAILWAY GUARD on THE SEOUL-FUSAN LINE . 1 50
THE EX-EMPEROR, EMPEROR AND CROWN PRINCE OF KOREA,
WITH PALACE EUNUCHS . . . . • I56
AN OUTPOST OF KOREAN REBELS . . . . 172
THE STRONG HAND OF JAPAN — THE REMAINS OF A VILLAGE
INN ........ 182
IN THE WAKE OF THE JAPANESE ARMY — A BURNT-OUT TOWN
OF KOREA ....... 188
THE STRONG HAND OF JAPAN — A MOTHER MOURNING HER
TEN-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER SHOT BY THE JAPANESE
SOLDIERS ....... 193
THE STRONG HAND OF JAPAN — THE CHIEF THOROUGHFARE
OF CHEE-CHONG BURNT DOWN BY THE JAPANESE TROOPS 194
VILLAGE DESTROYED BY THE JAPANESE ARMY . . I98
A COMPANY OF KOREAN REBELS ..... 2o6
MR. E. T. BETHELL, EDITOR OF THE KOREA DAILY NEWS 212
JOURNALISM IN KOREA — A GROUP OF SUB-EDITORS . 220
JOURNALISM IN KOREA — THE COMPOSITORS' ROOM OF A
DAILY PAPER ....... 23O
JAPANESE INFANTRY OUT AGAINST KOREANS . 244
CHAPTER I
THE HERMIT KINGDOM
LATE in the seventies, when Pekin was still
the city of mystery, one annual event never
failed to arrest the attention of Europeans there.
During the winter months a large party of strangers
would arrive, men of odd dress and unfamiliar
speech. Their long, thickly padded robes were tied
with short strings, not buttoned like the Chinese,
and their outer garment was parted in the middle,
instead of the Chinese style, on the right hand.
Their dress resembled that of the Pekin folk before
the Tartars had come, many centuries earlier, and
they took off their shoes on entering a room,
like the Japanese. They wore extraordinary hats,
often of gigantic size, made of horse-hair or of
bamboo, and their hair was tied in a knot on the
top of their heads. They were dark-skinned, flat-
nosed, and black-eyed, and yet there was a strange
suggestion of the Caucasian in their Mongol coun-
tenances.
The visitors, who never exceeded two hundred
in number, were the ambassadors, tribute-bearers,
and traders from Chosen, the Hermit Kingdom.
2 1
2 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
The three chiefs, with their three right-hand men,
entered into the very heart of the Forbidden City,
paid their dues to the Emperor, kow-towed, and
were entertained at an official dinner. The traders
sold their ginseng — most famed of all Eastern
sudorifics — their brassware, and their rolls of oiled
paper. Europeans often tried to hold intercourse
with them, but without much success. At the end
of forty days, the embassy and its followers returned,
back over the great Pekin road, where splendid towers
had been built centuries since to mark their annual
march — back over the high pass of Motienling, where
the world seemed stretched out beneath their feet,
past the line of stakes, built to separate China from
its neighbour, under the shadow of the now decaying
cities of refuge, and through the dreaded bandit
belt of the Yalu. Then they were swallowed up
again in the darkness and mystery of their own
land.
At that time, less than thirty years ago. Chosen,
now known as Korea, was a country that still reso-
lutely shut itself off from the outside world. Its
land borders to the north had for centuries been
edged by a lawless region, where bandits were
allowed to live without molestation, and through
which ordinary travellers could not pass. Even
Chinamen who crossed the river Yalu were quickly
decapitated by the stern yangbans on the Korean
side. Its long, rocky, and forbidding coast line was
carefully avoided by most foreign ships. Now and
then an exploring navigator might call at a point
of the coast, only to be met by a dignified repulse.
THE HERMIT KINGDOM 3
In the seventeenth century two or three dozen Dutch
sailors were wrecked at different times on the
Korean shores. Some of them were compelled to
spend the remainder of their lives there. Others
escaped, and among them was one Hendrick Hamel,
who wrote a book on the country which gave very
little information. Du Halde, the great geographer
of the eighteenth century, described the people of
Korea as "generally well made and of sweet and
tractable disposition ; they understand the Chinese
language, delight in learning, and are given to music
and dancing." He further told that their manners
were " so well regulated that theft and adultery were
crimes unknown among them, so that there was no
occasion to shut street doors in the night ; and
although the revolutions, which are fatal to all States,
may have somewhat changed this former innocence,
yet they have still enough of it left to be a pattern
to other nations."
In the latter half of the eighteenth century, some
Korean literary men and officials came under the
influence of the Catholic missionaries at Pekin, and
started a campaign for the conversion of Korea.
They obtained considerable success, and quickly
aroused bitter official opposition and persecution.
Many of their converts were tortured and put to
death, but the faith continued to spread secretly.
A French missionary tried, in the bravest manner,
to force his way into Korea. He penetrated the
bandit lands north of Chosen in the depth of winter,
crossed the Yalu on the ice, crawled into the town
of Wi-ju through a drainage hole in the wall, and
4 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
reached Seoul on horseback. Others followed him,
and the story of their perils and adventures is one
of the most romantic in the annals of travel. Some-
times the missionaries entered by small boats from
China, sometimes overland. They had endless
disguises, an elaborate secret post, and many ways
of escaping detection. A priest would be known
by different names in different places ; he would
sleep by day and travel by night ; he was now a
beggar, now a pedlar, and now a high official in
mourning garb. The French priests and their
converts had the sword ever hanging over them.
once, after the authorities had attacked and killed
a number of their converts, the French bishop,
Imbert, and two of his comrades came out and
surrendered themselves, to avoid further bloodshed.
They were imprisoned and tortured in the most
diabolical fashion. As a preliminary, they were
given each sixty-six strokes with a paddle, a punish-
ment that alone would have killed many men. on
the day of execution they were taken out to the
decapitation ground, and there publicly tormented in
a way impossible to describe in full, before being killed.
Imbert died in 1839; Ferreol was consecrated as
his successor in 1843. Ferreol dared everything, and
forced his way into the land. Others followed him.
By i860, the native Christians numbered not far
short of twenty thousand. Then a fresh persecution
began, more formidable than the first. The Church
was apparently stamped out, only three missionaries
escaping, while fourteen, mainly Frenchmen, were
slain.
THE HERMIT KINGDOM 5
This last persecution led to political action. The
French Charge d'Afifaires at Pekin, M. de Bellonet,
informed the Chinese Government, in very emphatic
and boastful language, that the French Emperor had
decided to punish the King of Korea for illtreating
and killing the missionaries. "The government of
His Majesty," wrote M. de Bellonet to Prince
Kung, " cannot permit so bloody an outrage to
be unpunished. The same day on which the
King of Korea laid his hands upon my unhappy
countrymen was the last of his reign ; he himself
proclaimed its end, which I, in turn, solemnly declare
to-day. In a few days our military forces are to
march to the conquest of Korea, and the Emperor,
my august Sovereign, alone has now the right and
the power to dispose, according to his good pleasure,
of the country and the vacant throne."
Seven French vessels, with a thousand troops,
arrived at the Han river, and attacked the forts on
the Kangwha island. Then the troops landed on
the shore, and advanced against the walls of the
town of Kangwha. As they approached, a number
of natives opened on them from behind the walls
with fire guns, bows and arrows, jingals, and ancient
matchlocks. The French troops stormed the city,
swept the natives on one side, and burnt the place
to the ground. Then they attempted to push their
success further. The Koreans met them by trickery
and delay. one expeditionary force of i6o men
that set out from the fleet against a more distant
fortress was surprised and largely destroyed. The
French were harried by constantly increasing armies
6 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
of natives, who hung around their flanks whenever
they moved. At the end of a few days the French
Admiral ordered his troops to embark, and the
expedition returned to China.
A country thus unknown could not fail to be the
centre of many marvels. It was stated that in
Korea the horses were 3 feet high ; that there
were fowls with tails 3 feet long, that the tombs of
the kings were made of silver and gold, and the
bodies of the dead studded with precious stones; and
that there were hills of silver and mineral resources
of fabulous value. These stories naturally served
to excite the cupidity of shady cosmopolitan adven-
turers around Shanghai. At least two buccaneering
expeditions were started against the country, and
one of them ended in tragedy. In 1866 an American
schooner, the General Sherman, whose crew con-
sisted of Captain Preston, three Americans, an
Englishman, and nineteen Malay and Chinese
sailors, left Tientsin for Korea. She was loaded
with guns, powder, and contraband articles, and was
said to be despatched for the purpose of plundering
the royal tombs at Ping-yang. The ship entered the
Tai Tong river, and was there ordered to stop by
local authorities. Its visit roused great excitement^
as it was believed to be made in connection with the
French Catholics, against whom the Government
was then in full opposition. The Regent of Korea,
the Tai Won Kun, sent orders that the foreigners
were not to be allowed to land, and that they were
either to be driven back or killed. The people of
Ping-yang prepared for war. Their weapons were
THE HERMIT KINGDOM. 7
primitive. They had the fire-arrow or wha-jun,
which was said to be able to shoot 800 feet and
then explode with considerable force. The soldiers
dressed themselves in their dragon cloud armour,
cloth of many folds reputedly impervious to bullets.
The bowmen were paraded, and some old style
cannon brought out. Parties of Koreans on either
banks of the river opened fire on the ship's
crew, and for four days an intermittent duel was
maintained. The ship's guns did considerable
execution, but for every Korean killed there were a
dozen to step into his place. Being ignorant of the
navigation of the river, Captain Preston ran his ship
on the banks and was unable to float it off.
After some days' fighting, the Koreans had
accomplished very little. Their archers and soldiers
would not approach the ship near enough to do
much damage, and they soon refused to expose
themselves to certain death from gun fire. An
ancient armoured float was brought into play, the
tortoise boat, a scow mounted with cannon and
protected by a covering of sheet iron and bull
hide. The front part of the armour lifted when
the shot was fired and closed immediately after-
wards. Even the tortoise boat failed to injure the
foreign ship. Then a drill-sergeant — Pak by name —
made himself for ever famous by proposing another
plan. He fastened three scows together, piled them
with brushwood, and sprinkled the wood with sul-
phur and saltpetre. The scows were secured by
cords, were set alight, and then sent down the river
towards the General Slicrvian. one failed to do
8 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
any damage. A second trio was prepared, but the
now fearful crew of the American ship managed to
keep it off when it approached them. Then came
a third trio of burning boats, and this set the General
Sherman on fire.
The crew were almost suffocated by the stench
and vapour of the burning sulphur and saltpetre.
They tried in vain to put out the flames, and as
the smoke grew thicker and thicker they were forced
one by one to jump into the water. They were
seized by the Korean soldiers, now hurrying up in
boats. Some of the invaders had white flags, which
they waved wildly but waved in vain. Most of them
were hacked to pieces before they reached the shore.
Others were brought to land, where they tried by
friendly smiles and soft words to win the goodwill
of the people. But they were not allowed many
minutes to live. They were pinioned and then cut
down, mutilated in abominable fashion, and the
bodies torn to bits. Parts were taken off to be
used as medicine, and the remainder burnt. The
General Sherman itself was consumed by flame
to the water's edge. The anchor chains were
rescued from the river, dragged in triumph to the
south gate of the city of Ping-yang, and hung
high as a warning to all men of the fate awaiting
those who would dare to disturb the peace of the
Land of the Morning Calm. When I last visited
Ping-yang, they were hanging there still.
A French missionary priest, M. Feron, who had
been driven from Korea in the great persecution,
planned another expedition with one Ernest Oppert,
THE HERMIT KINGDOM 9
a Hamburg Jew. Feron knew that the Regent
laid great store upon the possession of some old
rel'cs, which had been in his family for many years,
and which were now buried in one of the royal
tombs. He thought that if these relics were seized
the Regent would consent to abandon his persecu-
tion of the Christians in order to have them returned.
Oppert, probably fired by the stories of the wealth
to be had in the tombs, fell in with his scheme. He
was accompanied by an American named Jenkins, a
fighting crew of 120 Chinese and Malays, and a
few European wastrels. They left Shanghai in the
China, on April 30, 1867, landed near the capital
and made for the tomb. The people at first fled
from them.. They cleared away a heavy mound
of earth over the sarcophagus, only to find that
the coffin itself was covered with strong granite
slabs which they were unable to move. Thanks
to a heavy fog, they were able to work for a
time before their purpose was discovered, but soon
they were surrounded by a crowd, which began
stoning them. The crew threatened to retire and
leave their leaders to the mercy of the Koreans.
Oppert and his party regained their ship with
slight loss of life. Later on the American, Jenkins,
was brought to trial before the American Consular
Court at Shanghai, but escaped owing to lack of
legal proof Oppert himself afterwards published a
full account of his expedition in volume form. He
admitted that his purpose was plunder, but justified
himself by the plea that by securing the relics in
the royal tomb he and his companions would have
10 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
been able to obtain safety for the Roman Catholic
converts in the country.
When the news of the loss of the General
Sherman reached Shanghai, the American Admiral
there ordered Captain Shufeldt, Commander of the
Wachusett to proceed to Korea and obtain
redress. Shufeldt mistook the line of coast, which
was unsurveyed, and anchored in a small inlet
about thirty miles north of the entrance to the
Han river, the approach to Seoul. In an account
given by himself sometime afterwards Shufeldt
said : —
" From this point I addressed a letter to the King
of Korea, asking him the reasons for the destruc-
tion of the General Sherman and the murder of the
crew, and expressing my surprise at the barbarism
of the act, particularly as I knew that on the pre-
vious occasion of the shipwreck of an American
vessel the King of Korea had transported the crew
with all their effects, with great care, to the boundary
of China, where they safely reached their own
country. After some days' delay, we succeeded in
getting the official of the village before mentioned
to send this letter to the Governor of the Province,
with the request that it might be forwarded to the
capital of Korea.
" After remaining at our anchorage for ten or
fifteen days from the despatch of the courier,
finding the ship was gradually being frozen in,
and apprehending that we might not be able to
get out until the spring, by which time our pro-
visions would have been exhausted, I determined
i'iioU\i<iti' fry]
[F. A. MiKciisic.
A VILLAGE IDOL.
THE HERMIT KINGDOM ii
to leave without waiting longer for a reply, with
the intention, however, of returning later in the
season after reprovisioning."
Events occurred to prevent Captain Shufeldt from
carrying out his original intention, but the full
reply to his letter, which was received later,
convinced Americans that the attack on the
General Sherman was made under strong provo-
cation. However, in 1871, the American Minister
at Pekin, Mr. Low, directed Admiral Rodgers
to proceed to Korea and attack the defences at
the mouth of the Han river, as a reprisal for
Captain Preston's death. The attempt was no more
glorious than that of the French. The Americans
were able, by their superior weapons, to slaughter a
considerable number of Koreans. The latter fought
with great valour, as the invaders themselves
admitted. After a spell of aimless and needless
destruction the invaders withdrew.
All this time greater forces were making for
the opening of the country. The Korean Govern-
ment was seriously alarmed by the advance of
Russia to the north, and by the fact that General
Ignatieff's brilliant statesmanship had secured the
Usuri provinces for Russia. In Korea itself two
great parties, that of the King and that of the
Regent, were fighting for supremacy, just as a
little time before the adherents of the Emperor
and the Tycoon had been struggling in Japan.
The King, who year by year was becoming more
powerful, was inclined to favour the admission of
foreigners. The Regent was opposed to it. China
12 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
had for long refused to admit that she could
control Korea in any way, but now, driven by
various reasons, Li Hung Chang began to use
his undoubted authority in favour of breaking
down the barriers. Last, and greatest of all, a
new Far Eastern power had arisen that would not
brook denial. New Japan was revealing herself,
strong, modern, and resolute. The Japanese Govern-
ment, still struggling with mediaevalism and reaction
at home, found time to send its agents to Seoul.
These agents secured admission where Europeans
could not. Able to make themselves understood,
familiar with all the tricks and wiles of Oriental
statesmanship, learned in Chinese courtesy, they
were not to be repulsed. They came, backed by
gunboats. In 1876 General Kuroda and Count
(then Mr.) Inouye anchored off Seoul with a
fleet of two men-of-war and three transports, and
announced that they were there to make a treaty
or to make war. In less than three weeks a
treaty was concluded. In this treaty Japan ad-
mitted that Korea was an independent state,
enjoying the same sovereign rights as itself In-
tercourse was henceforth to be carried on " in
terms of equality and courtesy, each avoiding the
giving of offence by arrogance or the manifesta-
tion of suspicion." Japan was granted the right
to have an establishment at Fusan ; various ports
were opened to Japanese trade, and a Japanese
officer was to reside at each of the open ports
for the protection of his nationals.
CHAPTER II
QUEEN V. REGENT
THE Japanese quickly planted their outposts
throughout the country. Mr. Hanabusa, their
representative, established a Legation outside the
west gate of Seoul. Settlements were made at
Gensan and Fusan, and a number of enterprising
Japanese traders settled at those places. Over a
hundred Koreans were sent to China and Japan to
study foreign affairs.
At this time Korea was torn asunder by acute
dissensions in the royal house. For many years, up
to 1873, the regent, the Tai Won Kun, had ruled
during the minority of the King, his son. The King
had been adopted by the previous monarch, and had
succeeded him. The Tai Won Kun was without
question one of the most remarkable characters
of his day in the Far East. About 5 feet 6 inches
high, erect and vigorous, with grey, wonderfully
bright and clear eyes, he looked what he was, a real
leader of men. In the first days of his rule, he took
up a strong line for the maintenance of the kingly
power against that of the nobles. He was a resolute
opponent of foreigners, and it was under him that
13
14 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
the worst persecutions of the Roman Catholics had
taken place. In 1871 he had tablets erected in the
city of Seoul, calling on the people to drive out
foreigners : —
" The barbarians beyond the sea have violated our
waters, and invaded our land. If we do not fight we
must make treaties with them. Those who are in
favour of making a treaty, sell their country.
" Let this be a warning to ten thousand genera-
tions."
Absolutely without scruple, and indifferent to his
methods so long as he succeeded in the end, the
Regent for many years carried on his successful
warfare against foreigners on the one hand, and the
nobles on the other. To defeat the foreigners should
they attempt to land, he raised regiments, clad them
in bullet-proof armour, consisting of seventy-two
thicknesses of cotton cloth, armed them with the
weirdest weapons, and cast cannon from bells for
their artillery. To break the power of the nobles
he removed many of their privileges of dress and
of freedom from taxation. The common man was
allowed to wear black shoes, hitherto a privilege of
the highest. The enormous size of ancient hat brim
was cut down. Rich and poor were ordered to
reduce the volume of their sleeves. High offices of
state were thrown open to the capable, whether born
nobles or commoners. In place after place the
Regent built magnificent palaces, a mania later on
adopted by his son, the King, for it is a tradition
in Korea that when the monarch ceases building his
reign comes to an end.
QUEEN y. REGENT 15
After the King had emerged from his minority, the
Regent still attempted to be the real ruler. He was
given the title of "Great Elder," and at first he
remamed the power behind the throne. This was
not to continue long, for a new force was arising
in the state. The King himself, a weak, good-
natured, and kindly man, had married a daughter
of the Ming family. After she had given birth to
a son, the authority of the Queen grew daily. She
was, in her way, as resolute a character as the Regent
himself, and soon the fiercest of fights were raging
between the two. The Queen's brother, Ming-
Seung-ho, became Prime Minister, and the Regent
was gradually robbed of his offices. The Tai Won
Kun was not to be so easily brushed aside. He set
on foot a thousand schemes of agitation. Mysterious
risings began in the provinces, and long complaints
of bad government poured in on the rulers. one
day a side of the Queen's bedroom was blown to
pieces, and it was whispered from man to man that
one of the Regent's servants had put a charge of
gunpowder there. on another day, the Prime
Minister was offering sacrifice to his ancestors, when
he received a box, seemingly from the palace. His
family, wondering what great honour this was that
had been sent to him, pressed round to see the
contents. As the box was opened, it exploded. It
was an infernal machine, and the Prime Minister's
mother and his son were killed. The box had come
from the Tai Won Kun.
The conclusion of a treaty with the Japanese was
made in opposition to the Regent's advice, and he at
i6 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
once used this as a weapon of attack against the
Queen. Literary men were sent about the country to
whisper of the sufferings these foreigners would
undoubtedly bring upon the nation. " If we admit
the Japanese," said one to the other, " we must admit
the white men, and if we admit the white men we
must adopt their wicked faith."
The Tai Won Kun's great opportunity did not
arrive until the year 1882. Negotiations were
rapidly proceeding at this time for closer relations
with white Powers, and in the month of May a treaty
was signed at Chemulpho between Korea and the
United States, by which the country was opened to
Americans. That summer a great drought fell on
the land ; crops failed, Government funds were
exhausted, soldiers and civil servants were without
pay, and food was scarce. "It is the anger of
heaven against us," the people said in whispers.
" We have admitted foreigners, and this is the
result." The agents of the Regent were busy every-
where, and on the evening of the 23rd of July a mob,
led by them, attacked the King's chief ministers in
their homes and hacked them to bits. They then
proceeded to the palace itself The soldiers and the
mob were one, and a cry went up from all to destroy
their ruler. The King escaped as though by a
miracle, and the mob gazed on what they thought
was the dead body of the Queen. Every one knew
that she was to have been poisoned by the Regent's
order, but she had heard of what was coming and
had prepared, A female attendant was poisoned in
her place, she slipped out of her rooms, and one of
QUEEN y. REGENT 17
her household servants took her on his back and made
his way through the furious crowds to a place of
safety. Man after man stopped them demanding to
know who he was, whom he was carrying, and where
he was going. His reply always was that he was
a minor official taking his sister out of the trouble.
She went to a private house in the city, and from
there she was carried in a chair into the country.
one of her chair bearers was a humble water carrier,
Yi Yong Ik by name, who acted very courageously
in smuggling her away. That day he laid the
foundation of his fortunes. Within twenty years he
was serving his King and country as Prime Minister.
While a section of the rioters was running amok
in the palace, another party attacked the Japanese.
Isolated Japanese who were found in the streets were
at once murdered. A great crowd threw itself against
the Japanese Legation, but was repulsed time after
time by the steady fire of the Minister and his
assistants. Then some Koreans set fire to the
building, and the Japanese had to quit it to escape
the flames. They kept together, and fought their
way through the city to the palace, where they
demanded shelter. The General in charge shut the
gates more securely and ordered them off. By this
time, happily for them, darkness was coming on, and
they made their way out of Seoul down to the river,
and on to Chemulpho. They were again attacked on
the road, and five of them were killed. At Che-
mulpho they put out to sea in a fishing boat, were
rescued next day by a British surveying ship, the
Flying Fish, and were taken home.
3
i8 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
A cry went up in Japan for instant vengeance
against the Koreans. Volunteers from every part of
the country clamoured to be allowed to go and fight
these barbarians, and public subscriptions were raised,
in which foreign merchants joined with the islanders.
The Japanese Government, however, adopted a more
conciliatory line. Mr. Hanabusa was sent back to
Seoul in August with a considerable armed escort,
to demand redress. China, recognising that unless
she acted now she must ever forfeit her claim to a
suzerainty over the country, despatched a force of
4,000 men to put down the rioting. The Queen,
from her country home, had sent strong repre-
sentations to Pekin demanding protection, and
pointing to the Regent as the guilty party. The
Regent himself, seeing that his plan had miscarried,
was foremost among the apologists for the outbreak.
He assured Mr. Hanabusa that it had occurred
despite his strong efforts to prevent it, and that it
was nothing but the work of crowds of ignorant and
misinformed peasants and soldiers.
The Chinese Generals took command of the city.
The Japanese were promised a heavy indemnity, a
new Legation, and greater facilities for trade and
travel. The Chinese troops arrested over a hundred
men, executed the leaders with every accompaniment
of degradation and shame, exposed their mangled
heads on the city walls, and threw their tortured
bodies on the dungheaps for the dogs to eat. The
Regent himself was not allowed to go free. He was
invited to a banquet at the Chinese camp. As soon
as he arrived he was seized, sent down to the coast,
QUEEN r. REGENT 19
and put on board a Chinese vessel. While his wait-
ing attendants and his armed men were yawningly
wondering when the feast would finish, he was
already on his way to China. There Li Hung Chang
sent him as a prisoner to Paotingfu, where he
was kept for several years, but even at Paotingfu
he managed in one way and another to continue his
plotting against the throne.
The attack on the Japanese Legation and the
intervention of China raised a question that was later
to be settled by the Chino-Japanese war. Centuries
before this, both China and Japan claimed suzerainty
over Korea. Japan had perforce been obliged to
abandon her claims in the face of her stronger rival.
But the Japanese Government was by no means
willing now to permit China to increase her authority
at the Seoul Court. For a time there was consider-
able danger of war between the two Powers, but the
Japanese Government, following its uniform policy,
submitted for the moment, and gathered strength to
strike a real blow in the early future.
The Queen returned to the palace, her power more
fully established than ever before. The King, follow-
ing the custom of his ancestors, issued a public pro-
clamation, which is still of great interest to those who
would follow the working of the national mind : —
" For 500 years we have carefully guarded
our coasts to prevent intercourse with foreigners,
therefore we have seen and heard but little of other
people. In Europe and America many wonderful
things have been invented ; they are all wealthy
countries, their railways and steamers are all over
20 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
the world, they compete with each other in the per-
fection of their armies, and are honest in all their
dealings with each other. Formerly China was the
first of all nations, but now these kingdoms are her
equal, and she has made treaties of friendship with
them. Even Japan, on the extreme edge of the sea,
has entered into commercial relationship with these
countries. In the year Ping-tsz (1876), my kingdom
made a treaty with Japan by which three ports were
opened to them, and now, contrary to our ancient
customs, I am about to make treaties with England,
America, and Germany. For this change I am
abused by all the scholars and people in the king-
dom, yet I bear it patiently, knowing there is nothing
to be ashamed of. Our intercourse with these
countries will be on terms of equality, and you have
no reason to be grieved if we permit foreigners to
dwell in our kingdom.
" History proves that from ancient times it has
been the custom of nations to trade with each other,
yet you stupid literati consider this is an evil custom,
and wish me to keep aloof from all other nations.
Why do you not consider that if when foreigners come
as friends we call out our soldiers and drive them
away, we shall make enemies of all the people under
heaven ; we shall stand alone without a friend while
all other countries are bound together, and if they
send their armies against us we shall certainly be
defeated ?
" You say that if we admit foreigners into our
country we must of necessity admit their false religion
also. But we can be friendly without accepting their
QUEEN y. REGENT 21
religion. We could treat them according to the
rules of international law, but must not allow them
to preach their doctrines. Hitherto, you have only
read the books of Confucius and Mencius, and
their doctrines are so firmly rooted in your hearts,
that even if the foreigners should attempt to propa-
gate their religion, it is impossible for you to be
influenced thereby. If some stupid, empty-headed
people should learn and believe the foreign doctrines,
we have an unalterable law by which they must die
and may not be pardoned, so that it will be easy
to get rid of that religion. The foreign religion is
wicked and sensual, but consider how greatly our
people will be benefited by learning their arts and
manufactures. Their methods of agriculture, med -
cine, and surgery, their carriages, steamers, guns, &c
are all excellent, and why should not we learn of
them ? To learn their trades is one thing, to learn
their religion is another. Foreign countries are
strong, we are weak, so unless we learn their ways
how can we stand against them ? If we can reform
our home affairs and besides be on friendly terms
with outside kingdoms, we shall soon be as strong
and wealthy as other nations. I desire the prosperity
of my kingdom as much as you do, but that affair in
the sixth moon (massacre of Japanese), has placed
me in a difficult position. That was a treacherous
breach of the treaty, and has brought upon us the
scorn of the whole world. Our kingdom was in
danger, our peace disturbed, and we have to pay a
heavy indemnity. This affair is now settled, and we
are about to make treaties with America, England,
22 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Germany. This is in accordance with ancient
customs, and is not to be looked upon with suspicion
as an innovation, so let your minds be at peace, and
let every man attend to his own affairs. When
foreigners come, treat them with respect ; if they
ill-use you I will see to that, for I will not favour
them more than my own subjects.
" If the common people speak evil of those in
authority, they ought by law to be put to death, but
if I punished you without first giving you warning,
I should not be acting justly. We have now becom.e
friendly with Western nations, and the stone tablet
outside the city gate forbidding the approach of
foreigners must be removed, &c.
THE KING OF CHAO-SIEN
COMMANDS THE RULERS AND PEOPLE."
The uprisings did not prevent the broadening of
intercourse with foreign nations. Both China and
Korea were already becoming alarmed at the steady
growth of Japanese activity. Li Hung Chang wrote
a very remarkable warning to Korean officials on
this matter, a warning of peculiar significance in
view of later developments : —
" Of late years Japan has adopted Western customs.
. . . Her national liabilities having largely increased,
she is casting her eyes about in search of some con-
venient acquisition which may recoup her. . . The
fate of Loochoo is at once a warning and a regret to
both China and Korea. . . . Her aggressive designs
upon Korea will be best frustrated by the latter's
alliance with Western nations."
QUEEN V. REGENT 23
The treaty with the United States, signed on
May 22, 1882, by Commodore Shufeldt and two
members of the Korean Cabinet, provided for the
opening up of intercourse between the two nations,
for the appointment of diplomatic representatives
and consuls, for the establishment of extra-territorial
rights for American citizens, and for a tariff of not
exceeding 10 per cent., ad valorem, on articles of
daily use, and not exceeding 30 per cent, on articles
of luxury. American citizens were given the right
to live at the open ports. There was one clause
in this treaty to which the Koreans attributed,
as it afterwards appeared, excessive importance.
Korea was guaranteed protection against hostile
Powers : —
" If other Powers deal unjustly or oppressively
with either Government, the other will exert her
good offices, on being informed of the case, to bring
about an amicable arrangement, thus showing her
friendly feelings."
It was a paper promise, and, so far as America
was concerned, not worth the paper it was written
on. This was proved later.
The same year Admiral Willes and Mr. W. G.
Aston arranged a British treaty, but the Home
Government refused to ratify it, objecting to some
of its provisions.
Sir Harry Parkes was sent to Korea a few months
later, armed with special powers, and accompanied
by Mr. Aston, Mr. (now Sir Walter) Hillier, and
Mr. C. T. Maude. "After a good deal of hard
labour and trials of temper and patience " (to quote
24 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
his own words) I a satisfactory British-Korean treaty
was signed, in which the rights of British subjects
to trade and to the jurisdiction of their own courts
were specifically laid down. The British treaty was
a striking example of unequivocal draughtsmanship,
and Sir Harry Parkes's experiences in Japan and
China here stood him in good stead. Other Euro-
pean Powers also secured treaty rights.
' " Life of Sir Harry Parkes," vol. ii. p. 205.
CHAPTER III
THE COMING OF THE FOREIGNER
WHEN I first entered Korea," said one of the
earliest foreign residents to me, " it seemed
as though I were stepping out of real life into the
veritable wonderland of Alice. Everything was so
fantastic, so very different from any other part of
the world, so absurd, so repulsive, or so bizarre, that
I had to ask myself, time after time, whether I was
awake or dreaming."
In many respects Korean institutions, as seen by
Europeans and Americans when they first arrived
in the country, resembled those of China some five
or six hundred years back. The government was
an absolute monarchy, the King being assisted by
a Prime Minister, two associates, and the heads of
six departments, the Lord Chamberlain's, Finance,
War, Public Works, Justice, and Registration. The
country was divided into eight provinces, with a
governor for each, and under the governor were
magistrates in charge of districts. To keep these
officials in order, the King had the equivalent to the
" personal representative " of the American million-
aire manufacturer, secret agents who visited various
26 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
parts of the country, examining everything on the
King's behalf, and reporting to him direct. The
prisons were an abomination, torture was freely
employed, periodical jail clearings were made by
hanging scores of prisoners at a time, and justice
was bought and sold. The two main curses of
the Government were the farming of taxes and
the granting of concessions at the cost of the
common people. Under the farming of taxes, the
governor or the magistrate was given a free hand to
collect as much as he could, and he made his profit
according to the amount he could squeeze out of
the people above the sum required by the central
government. Any man who was sufficiently pros-
perous became at once the victim of magisterial zeal.
The magistrate would come to the farmer who had
been cursed with a specially good crop and beg a
loan. If the man refused, he would promptly be
imprisoned, half starved, and beaten once or twice
a day until he consented. There were good magis-
trates and bad, but generally the power of the yamen
was dreaded by every working man. " Why do I
not grow bigger crops and cultivate more fields ? "
a Korean farmer once asked me. " Why should I ?
Bigger crops means greater extortion from the
governor." The power of the magistrates was
modified by the unwritten right of rebellion, and by
direct appeal to the King. When the governor
became too greedy the people would rise up and
kill him, and the central authorities would think
that justice had been done. There can be no doubt
that under this system individual enterprise was
THE COMING OF THE FOREIGNER 27
severely limited ; no man had any real incentive to
special industry.
The granting of concessions to nobles was another
burden on the people. A noble, a yangban, con-
sidered that he had a right to live off the working
classes. When the younger son of a great man
grew up, his father would ask the king for a con-
cession. Maybe this would be the right to charge so
much to every man who crossed a certain ford, or the
right to impose a tax in some special district. The
concessionaire would give the nation practically no
services in return. This may seem amazing to
Western readers, but we would do well to curb our
indignation over it. Let us recall the privileges
granted to certain lords of the manor in England,
over-lords of commons around which towns have been
built. The man who wishes to run a drain under the
common, or to open out a fresh doorway from his
house, edging the common, on to the open space, finds
substantial payment promptly levied. The principle,
that of possessing the right to make charges on the
community without rendering an equivalent service,
is the same in each case.
Life in the capital was relieved from tedium by
notices in the Daily Gazette like these : —
" His Majesty orders that Kwon Ik Sang, and
Song Choung Soup (both being descendants of
renowned patriots) be given a musical instrument
each, to be played at the head of their processions on
the streets in honour of their successes at the recent
civil examinations."
"His Majesty announces that 'inasmuch as our
28 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Queen Dowager is getting old, and inasmuch as it
will soon be fifty years since she became Queen, I
will present to her the proper congratulations and
some garments on the next New Year's day.'"
For the first few years, the majority of foreigners
who entered Korea confined themselves to the open
ports of Fusan and Chemulpho, and to the city of
Seoul, the capital. In these places they saw Korea
at its very worst. In Seoul, in particular, great
armies of hangers-on attached to the nobles and the
Court gave an impression of laziness, of dirt, and of
worthlessness which was not borne out in the rural
districts. Seoul itself presented a fantastic picture.
The King and Queen ruled in the great palace
underneath the shadow of the mountain. Acres and
acres of low, one-storied buildings, surrounded by
great courtyards and high walls, were filled with
retainers. There was the famed dancing hall, sup-
ported by many pillars, and rising above a wonderful
lake, where the King was amused by his gesang —
the geisha of Korea. There were at least 4,000
palace attendants and officials, eunuchs, sorcerers,
and soothsayers, and hangers-on of every kind.
These sorcerers — a guild of the blind — were a power
in the land. They formed a strong clan, and men
looked with dread on them as they walked through
the streets in pairs, tapping with long sticks as
they felt their way, their sightless eyes staring into
vacancy.
Seoul, planted in an ideal situation, surrounded by
high hills, and with healthy climate, was remarkable
among Eastern capitals in that it did not contain a
I'liotojiroph hy\
|/-. .1. M.Kciizi.-
(ilCSANi;, Till-; liKISllA 1)1" KOKKA.
THE COMING OF THE FOREIGNER 29
single temple where religious worship was carried on.
Generations before, the Buddhist priests had been
forbidden to settle within the city limits. The
Koreans were a singularly non-religious people, their
main faith being fear of demons.
The women of the better class lived absolutely
secluded lives, and regarded the strictness of their
seclusion as proof of the esteem of their husbands.
The women of the lower classes worked hard, in
many cases supporting their families. They wore an
extraordinary dress, by which the breasts are freely
exposed, and the chest above the breast carefully
covered. Although the women were kept in sub-
servience, the morality of the country was, on the
whole, good, and would certainly bear very favourable
comparison with that of Japan.
The streets of Seoul displayed strange sides of
life. Now a high official would come along carried
in a sedan chair, preceded by self-important under-
lings who would shout to the crowds to clear the way
for him. Now a man would walk slowly along
dressed in cream-coloured garments, with a monster
hat, largely shutting his face from view, and holding
a fan in front of him. He was a mourner. Under
Korean etiquette, mourning was a most severe tax on
a man. For months, or years, after the death of near
relatives he had to keep himself out of sight of his
fellows, and cut off his usual work. Sedan chairs,
closely shut, containing ladies of high position, would
pass in constant succession. Ordinary men walking
to and fro were all attired in long white garments, and
all wore top-knots. There were lines of shops filled
30 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
with mean brass wares, oiled paper and eatables,
for Korea was a land with practically no manufactures.
Now a party of spearsmen would move along, with
thickly padded garments, their faces fiercely frowning
to justify their reputation for bravery. At sunset the
gates of the city were closed, and any one, were he
the highest in the land, who wished to go in and out,
would have to climb over the great walls that sur-
rounded Seoul. As darkness came on, signal fires
were lit high up on the great hills, Namsan and the
others, four lights on four hills, telling watching
signallers in distant provinces that all was well, and
that Korea was at peace. An hour after sunset all
men retired within doors, and the women came out.
This was the women's hour, when they could parade
the streets with freedom. Woe be to the unhappy
male who found himself among them ! Then the
great bell in the centre of the city boomed forth its
warning. It was curfew, and Seoul was at rest.
It is difficult, in drawing a picture of Korean life
at that time, not to intensify the shadows and to
exaggerate the miseries of the people. It would be
hard to say anything too bad about Seoul itself, but,
so far as the country people were concerned, a vast
number of them lived lives of prosperity and suffi-
ciency. I doubt if there was, proportionately, among
the Korean people outside of Seoul, anything like
the amount of suffering there is among the English
poor to-day outside of London. There were few or
no beggars in the land. There was no need of an
elaborate poor-law system. The countryman owned
and worked his land, and was able, save at a time of
THE COMING OF THE FOREIGNER 31
sperial distress, to store up sufficient in the autumn
to keep him and his for the coming twelve months.
While the men of Seoul were lazy, the farmers were
diligent and were good husbandmen. I have
travelled through large stretches of country as well
tended as prosperous European districts. The chance
visitor was apt to lose all sense of proportion when
witnessing the outstanding abuses and contradictions
of Korean life. He saw, for instance, the strange
system of digging, by which three men pulled at
a shovel by a system of leverage, and accomplished
less than one man alone would have done. He was
revolted by the sight of the bodies of criminals
decapitated and thrown in the fields for the birds
and dogs to eat. He was estranged by the spectacle
of an occasional tortured or beaten prisoner. The
first few weeks that any foreigner spent in Korea
were full of repulsion and horror. But as he
came to know the people better he learnt more and
more to appreciate their kindheartedness, their lack
of guile, their genuine simplicity, their willingness to
learn, and their many lovable and likeable qualities.
This was my own experience, and in discussing
Korean life with those who know it better than
myself, I have learned that it was theirs. I have
found the Korean a loyal friend, a faithful servant,
and one who, when given the chance, is capable of
much. Corruption and cruelty have, to some extent,
broken his courage and weakened his determination,
yet very little encouragement will induce the Korean
servant to undertake the most perilous ventures.
In the course of my journeys through Korea and
32 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Manchuria, I found my Korean boys take risks and
carry through enterprises at which an uneducated
English lad might well hesitate. I found them serve
me faithfully, loyally, and well. They have in their
characters great potentialities.
The years 1883-4 marked the incoming of the
foreigner on a large scale. A member of the China
Customs service — Mr. von Moellendorf — was ap-
pointed to organise a Customs department on
Chinese lines ; an English-language school was
started ; orders were given abroad for thousands of
breech-loading rifles, for electric-light plant, and for
foreign live stock, seeds, and foods. Messrs. Jardine,
Matheson & Co. established a regular steamship
line from Shanghai to Korea. A German-American
started a glass factory on the Han river. Foreign
gold-mining was begun, and foreign traders arrived.
Various foreign officials, military and civil,
were engaged. one chief adviser, at a salary of
1,000 dollars per month, was supposed to advise
the Government on foreign affairs. Americans,
Frenchmen, and others were enlisted to start enter-
prises. These enterprises almost uniformly came to
nothing. The Korean Government would commence
a scheme, secure a man, and then within a few
weeks slacken off. Some one would whisper in the
King's ear that there was danger in the new idea, and
the foreigner who arrived full of hope of accom-
plishing great things would find himself hopelessly
handicapped. Thus, at one time, four officers, three
American and one Japanese, were engaged to train,
first a corps of cadets, and then a body of 4,000
THE COMING OF THE FOREIGNER 33
troops. Money was granted for this, but the
money was subjected to the pickings of innumer-
able palace favourites. The officers found very great
difficulty in obtaining even their salaries, and the
chief outcome of the enterprise was that cadets and
soldiers were given new uniforms. A powder-mill
was started, but it produced no powder. The troops
were squeezed in every way. one serious riot in the
capital was due to the fact that a high dignitary had
caused sand to be mixed with the soldiers' rice, so
that he might add to his profit. The one foreign
department that was run with real efficiency was the
Customs service. Korean officials who really desired
to do well were hampered by foreign action. Thus,
a Korean general in charge of some regiments took
the representative of a European Government along
one day to inspect his troops. " Look at these rifles,"
the general said. " They have been brought from
abroad. There are six different varieties of them,
and not one is any good. The ammunition will
not fit the guns. How am I to train my men ?
I want to make them capable soldiers. Could
you do anything with them if your contractors
gave you weapons like these ? "
About the middle of 1884 a new party was
beginning to make its influence felt. Certain young
Koreans, who had been over to Japan to study, came
back as out-and-out advocates of immediate reform.
They had seen what the Japanese were doing, and
they wanted to do the same, or more, in Korea.
They would have Westernised their land, had it been
possible, by a stroke of the pen. These young men
4
34 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
threw themselves into the arms of the Japanese
officials, and together they hatched all kinds of
schemes for revolutionary changes. Opposed to
them were the Chinese, who were gaining ever-
increasing control of the Court. Since the Chinese
Government sent over troops in the summer of 1882,
it had constantly and successfully endeavoured to
make its suzerainty felt. A considerable Chinese
force was maintained around Seoul. one of the
Chinese high officials was the famous Yuan Shih
Kai, afterwards to be the maker of new China, and
then general in charge of the troops.
The reformers were familiar with the old Korean
method of political transformation by murder, and it
is not surprising that they were not themselves above
adopting it. on December 4th a new post office was
opened, and a great banquet given. The leading
officials and foreign representatives were there,
among them Ming Yong Ik, the Prime Minister.
In the course of the dinner Ming Yong Ik was called
outside, and was there attacked by an assassin, who
may or may not have been sent by the reform party.
The banquet broke up in great confusion, and the
reformers, who had been elaborately preparing for
this occasion, seized the palace, laid hands on the
King, and summoned the leaders of the reactionaries
into their presence. As each leader came in he was
attacked and killed, until eight in all had been
murdered. Then the reformers, who were clearly
acting in co-operation with the Japanese, made the
King send for a Japanese guard. For the moment it
seemed as though the Japanese and the reformers
THE COMING OF THE FOREIGNER 35
had triumphed. But the Chinese generals now took
a hand in the game. Between 2,000 and 3,000
Chinese soldiers, under Yuan Shih Kai, sup-
ported by 3,000 Koreans, attacked the palace.
It was defended by 140 Japanese soldiers, who
fought desperately, trying to hold the long line
of the walls. It was evident that they could not
drive off the great hosts against them, so in the end
they fired a mine, cleared a way for themselves, and
fought their way down to the sea, the reformers in
their midst. As for the post office, which was the
start of all the trouble, one mail was received in it.
The building was then burnt, and Korean postal
activity came to an end for several years.
The excited soldiers and townsmen, not content
with driving off the Japanese, made an attack on the
other foreigners. Several houses were burnt, the
Japanese Legation was destroyed, and it seemed for
a time as though all foreigners might be massacred.
The American Minister and the British and German
Consul-Generals retired to Chemulpho. For some
weeks the country was in an uproar. Japan promptly
despatched Count Inouye to Chemulpho as Ambas-
sador, accompanied by 2,500 troops. The Chinese
Ambassador crossed the Yellow Sea backed by 3,000
soldiers. Again it seemed as though Korea would
bring war between Japan and China, but once more
China triumphed and Japan took second place.
There can be no doubt but that the whole turmoil
was due to the hasty and ill-advised action of the
reformers. They tried to do too much in too short a
time, and their Japanese friends, almost equally
36 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
inexperienced, hurried them on instead of keeping
them in check. The outcome was bad for all.
I It increased the trouble between China and Japan,
and it greatly strengthened the hands of the
Chinese party.^ At that time China was still almost
wholly reactionary, and hence real reform was still
further delayed.
In April, 1885, the Japanese scored a point in a
struggle by securing an agreement with China, which
provided that both countries should withdraw their
troops from Korea and should send no more there
without having previously given notice to the other
of their intention to do so. Such troops were merely
to remain temporarily, and Korea was to be invited
to raise a sufficient armed force to ensure her security,
the force to be drilled by officers of a third Power.
CHAPTER IV
THE CHINO-JAPANESE CONFLICT
T APAN, repulsed for the moment, drew back and
I strengthened her forces. She had long been
■' preparing to maintain her place by force of arms
but now her efforts were redoubled. Officers were
sent to Germany to study military tactics there.
Foreign instructors were engaged and were used to
the full. Military men and others were sent as spies
to China. A new fleet was built up, and the sailor-
like qualities of the Japanese fishermen were turned
to the management of ironclads and the handling
of guns. China, doubtful, hesitating, and wavering,
moved now this way and now that. Li Hung Chang
made some preparations. But the viceroys and the
crowd of classic-sodden censors and officials at Pekin
crippled his energies. Every Chinaman was still
imbued with the feeling of the superiority of his own
nation, and of contempt for the little islanders. To
the Chinese it seemed as incredible that the wo-jin
could defeat them as a (e\v years later it seemed
absurd to the Russians that they would dare pit
themselves against the might of the Czar's great
Empire.
37
38 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Korea was to be the scene of the first move in the
world-struggle of the twentieth century. Korea
slept on ! Certain reforms were undertaken, it is
true, or to be more exact, certain feeble attempts
were made at reform. More and more foreign
advisers came in, but their advice was rarely
followed. Missionaries obtained a steadily growing
influence and many converts, and did much good.
Dr. H. M. Allen, an American missionary, opened a
Government hospital, and, later on, became American
Minister to Korea. Some schools were started.
Commerce grew, a foreign community became
established in Seoul, and there was much talk of the
great things that were to be done. But Korea nev^er
once seriously tackled the question of reform.
Every effort was stultified by the corruption, the
weakness, and the inefficiency of the Court officials.
The Chinese Government appointed a Resident, who
claimed many privileges and ranked himself as far
above the representatives of the white Powers.
By 1893, Japan was ready to move forward and to
force on events. The Tai Won Kun had returned
from his exile in 1885, and he and the Japanese
authorities entered into a friendly alliance. The old
Regent was now shorn of many of his former honours,
and had not even authority enough to prevent the
imprisonment of one of his favourite nephews. But
he still could claim the loyal service of many secret
adherents, and he began gradually acting through
them.
A society called the Tong-haks rose up to the
south of the country, and started a serious rebellion.
THE CHINO-JAPANESE CONFLICT 39
Tiiey marched towards the capital, 30,000 strong,
and reached a spot within a hundred miles of Seoul,
Their avowed purpose was to drive the Japanebe and
all foreigners out of the country, and to insist upon
less tyrannical government. The common belief
among foreigners in Seoul was, however, that their
uprising had been fostered by the Japanese in order
to force an issue with China.
In the spring of 1894, the Tong-haks, in some
mysterious fashion, acquired a number of good
weapons, and advanced towards Seoul, capturing
town after town. Late in April, some 800 Govern-
ment soldiers, backed by forty Chinese braves, set
out against the rebel forces, but were defeated. The
Chinese Resident, General Yuan, at once saw that
the rebels could threaten the capital itself, and thus
afford the Japanese a pretext for actively interfering
and restoring order. He advised the King to beg
for the aid of China, so that soldiers might be sent,
and the rebellion put down. The King very re-
luctantly did this, and, on June 5th, a Chinese force
of 1,500 men began to arrive at Asan, a place fifty
miles away from Seoul. More troops followed, and,
in the end, the Chinese soldiers there may have
numbered 4,000. A notice of this was sent to the
Japanese Government, as required under the Treaty
of April, 1885. The Japanese Government objected
to the notice on the grounds that China referred to
Korea as a " vassal state," but no objection was raised
at the time to the despatch of the troops.
Four days after the landing of the Chinese at
Asan the Japanese Minister, Mr. Otori, arrived at
40 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Chemulpho, with a guard of 300 sailors. It had
been announced in advance that he was bringing
thirty constables with him, and when the Korean
Government saw the number of his escort, they made
feverish endeavours to persuade him to send the
sailors back. They did not succeed, and when
General Yuan asked the Japanese Minister why he
had landed such a force, the reply was that it was
simply a guard for the protection of the Japanese in
Seoul against the Tong-haks, and that it would not
be retained, but would be replaced by a smaller
body of soldiers. on June 13th the sailors went
back, but their place was taken by 1,200 soldiers,
800 at the Legation in Seoul, 200 between Seoul and
Chemulpho, and 200 at Chemulpho itself. General
Yuan again protested, and was assured that the
despatch of so many soldiers was a mistake. But
their coming was followed by the arrival of 3,000 more.
This brought another remonstrance from Yuan,
and Mr. Otori again declared that the arrival of
the men was due to a misunderstanding, and that
he would telegraph to have them sent back. But
as it was obviously bad to keep so many men cooped
up on board ship, he would land them for exercise,
without their arms. Yuan agreed, whereupon the
3,000 men were landed, fully armed, and were
marched up to the environs of Seoul. There were
no Chinese troops whatever in Seoul at this time,
the one Chinese force being at Asan. The Japanese
were now also trying to induce China to co-operate
with them in making Korea accept a joint scheme of
internal reform.
THE CHINO-JAPANESE CONFLICT 41
All this time the Korean Government was implor-
ing both sides to withdraw their troops, and was
begging the foreign representatives to persuade them
to do this. The foreign representatives had already
been urging Yuan and Otori in this direction, and
on June 25th they sent them a formal request on
the subject. Yuan promptly acknowledged the
receipt of the note, and telegraphed to the Grand
Council at Pekin for instructions. The Grand Council
replied on the same night agreeing to the simul-
taneous withdrawal of the Chinese and Japanese
forces. This fact was communicated to the remain-
ing foreign representatives next morning. The
Japanese Minister acknowledged the receipt of the
note.
Mr. Otori had meanwhile been attempting to
secure an audience with the King, and the King had
been making all manner of excuses to delay it.
Japanese troops were continuing to arrive, until their
number reached about 10,000; and, on June 26th,
Mr. Otori had his audience. He took up a strong
attitude, and made a number of specific demands.
The chief of these was that the Korean Government
should clearly disavow the Chinese suzerainty once
and for all.
The King expressed his amazement at the threaten-
ing tone taken by the Minister, and at the way in
which he was bringing over soldiers from Japan.
"Let us talk over this in a friendly fashion," he
said. " But how can we be friends when your
soldiers are here threatening us? Withdraw the
soldiers and then we will talk." Mr. Otori bluntly
42 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
replied that the soldiers would remain until he had
been granted what he wanted.
Two or three days later the First Secretary of the
Legation, Mr. Sugimura, called at the Korean
Foreign Office early in the morning, and demanded
an instant declaration from Korea that she was not
the vassal of China. He threatened that if this
was not done, the Japanese troops would at once
attack, drive the Chinese out of the country, and
take control of everything. The President of the
Foreign Office promised that the Japanese should
have their way, and he showed him a draft of a
note disowning responsibility for the attitude of the
Chinese Government, and declaring that Korea was
independent in her foreign relations and in her
internal administration. With this Mr. Sugimura
expressed himself as being for the moment satisfied.
The Japanese, who were now confident that they
could carry all before them, went further. on
July 3rd, Mr. Otori presented another series of
demands. This time he asked for the appointment
of a secret commission that was to be named by
him and to meet at the Japanese Legation. He
put forward another list of claims for exclusive
privileges to be granted to Japan. Among these
were railway concessions from Chemulpho to Seoul,
and from Seoul to Fusan ; a monopoly in gold mining
for the Japanese ; the opening of a new port to the
south-west of Korea, and a number of financial
concessions. He also asked for a reform of the
Government.
The President of the Foreign Office begged the
THE CHINO-JAPANESE CONFLICT 43
advice of the white men, and they recommended
that he should propose a joint discussion by all
the foreign representatives of the points raised.
This was not done, but a meeting was held to talk
over the neutrality of parts of Korea, should war
take place between China and Japan. Both General
Yuan and Mr. Otori attended, with other diplo-
matic representatives. All present, save the Japanese
Minister, urged that, if war broke out, the two Powers
should recognise the neutrality of Chemulpho, of
Seoul, and of all Treaty ports. Mr. Otori refused
to discuss any other point than the neutrality of
Chemulpho, and on that he said he would not give
any pledges without instructions from his Govern-
ment, which it would take three weeks to receive.
Japan had clearly resolved on war, and it surprised
no one when, on July 19th, Japanese troops moved
towards Asan, and the Japanese Minister delivered
an ultimatum to the Korean Government. This
ultimatum demanded that the Japanese reforms be
accepted unconditionally in three days, and that the
Chinese troops be called upon to withdraw. If this
were not done, strong measures would be taken.
The Korean Government, still convinced that Japan
could do little or nothing against China, replied by
refusing to promise to initiate reforms, so long as
Seoul was menaced by the Japanese troops.
This is not the place to describe the war that
followed between China and Japan. Its progress
came as a surprise to the world, including most white
residents in the Far East. The average Chinaman
felt assured that in a couple of months the Land
44 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
of the Rising Sun would be turned into a region of
everlasting darkness, and that all wo-jin would be
killed ! What could forty millions do against more
than four hundred millions ? on July 25th the
Japanese opened hostilities by blowing up a Chinese
transport, the Kowshin, with 1,200 men on board,
as she was approaching Korea. Then came rapid
blows by the Japanese troops, a temporary Chinese
victory at Asan, followed by the destruction of the
army at Ping-yang, the naval battle of the Yalu, in
which the Chinese fleet was destroyed, the capture of
Port Arthur, and the horrible massacre of the people
there, the invasion of Manchuria, the capture of
Wei-hai-wei, and the conclusion of the Treaty of
Shimonoseki on April 17, 1895.
A few days before the outbreak of the war, the
Japanese placed themselves in control of the Korean
capital. on July 22nd, a number of Japanese troops
entered Seoul, and it seemed as though there would
be fighting between them and the native soldiers ;
but the Japanese returned to their settlement in the
evening, and the Koreans dispersed. At dawn, on
the following day, a body of Japanese troops quietly
moved towards the palace, scaled the walls with
ladders, and after a little fighting with the palace
guard, secured possession of the person of the King.
The Japanese immediately sent for the Tai Won
Kun, who had co-operated with them in this move,
and made him once more Regent. He, however,
became alarmed at the steps the Japanese were
taking, and he resigned office in a few days, without
ever having exercised his new power. At the same
THE CHINO-JAPANESE CONFLICT 45
time as the palace was being seized, other parties of
Japanese troops took possession of the telegraph
office and cut down the wires, seized the gates of
the city, occupied some Korean military camps and
assumed supreme power.
The Japanese Minister promptly sent a circular
to the foreign representatives telling them of the
seizure of the palace, and of the causes that had led
up to it. According to this account, some Japanese
troops had been marching by the side of the palace
in order to camp on the hills beyond, when they
were fired upon by Korean soldiers. The Japanese
returned the fire in self-defence, and were subse-
quently obliged to enter and guard the royal apart-
ments on account of the Koreans continuing
hostilities. Mr. Otori gave the usual Japanese
assurances, with which the world has since grown
very familiar, that his Government had " no aggres-
sive intentions against Korea."
That afternoon all the foreign representatives,
except those of China and Japan, visited the palace,
at the royal request. There they found the King and
the Crown Prince in small and poor quarters, all
their better rooms being now occupied by Japanese.
The King was greatly alarmed, and begged the
Consuls to remain with him all that night, for he
evidently feared that he would be killed. The
foreign representatives afterwards saw the Regent,
who spoke in the bitterest terms of what the
Japanese had done, but his denunciations were
received with some scepticism.
on the day of the actual outbreak of war between
46 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
China and Japan, the King, yielding to force, gave
Mr. Otori authority to expel the Chinese troops from
Korea. A treaty was drawn up between Japan and
Korea, and signed the following month. It consisted
of three articles :
1. That the independence of Korea was declared,
confirmed, and established, and in keeping with it the
Chinese troops were to be driven out of the country.
2. That while war against China was being carried
on by Japan, Korea was to facilitate the movements
and to help in the food supplies of the Japanese
troops in every possible way.
3. That this treaty should only last until the
conclusion of peace with China.
Japan at once created an assembly, in the name
of the King, for the " discussion of everything, great
and small, that happened within the realm." This
assembly at first met daily, and afterwards at longer
intervals. There were soon no less than fifty
Japanese advisers at work in Seoul. They were
men of little experience and less responsibility, and
they apparently thought that they were going to
transform the land between the rising and setting
of the sun. They produced endless ordinances, and
scarce a day went by save that a number of new
regulations were issued, some trivial, some striking
at the oldest and most cherished institutions in the
country. The Government was changed from an
absolute monarchy to one where the King governed
only by the advice of his Ministers. The power of
direct address to the throne was denied to any one
under the rank of Governor. one ordinance created
THE CHINO-JAPANESE CONFLICT 47
a constitution, and the next dealt with the status
of the ladies of the royal seraglio. At one hour a
proclamation went forth that all men were to cut
their hair, and the wearied runners on their return
were again despatched hot haste with an edict
altering the official language. Nothing was too
small, nothing too great, and nothing too contra-
dictory for these constitution-mongers. Their doings
were the laugh and the amazement of every foreigner
in the place.
Acting on the Japanese love of order and of
defined rank, exact titles of honour were provided
for the wives of officials. These were divided into
nine grades : " Pure and Reverend Lady," " Pure
Lady," " Chaste Lady," " Chaste Dame," " Worthy
Dame," " Courteous Dame," " Just Dame," " Peace-
ful Dame," and " Upright Dame." At the same
time the King's concubines were equally divided,
but here eight divisions were sufficient : " Mistress,"
" Noble Lady," " Resplendent Exemplar," " Chaste
Exemplar," " Resplendent Demeanour," " Chaste
Demeanour," " Resplendent Beauty," and " Chaste
Beauty." The Japanese advisers instituted a
number of sumptuary laws that stirred the country
to its depths, relating to the length of pipes, style
of dress, and the attiring of the hair of the people.
Pipes were to be short, in place of the long bamboo
churchwarden beloved by the Koreans. Sleeves
were to be clipped. The top-knot, worn by all
Korean men, was at once to be cut off. Soldiers
at the city gates proceeded to enforce this last
regulation rigorously.
48 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
The Japanese could have done nothing better
calculated to alienate the affection of every Korean.
To the Korean lad the first time that his hair is made
up into a top-knot is the proudest day of his life, for
it is the sign that he has passed boyhood and entered
into man's estate. The top-knot was then and is
still to a lesser extent, the symbol of manhood, and
any one who was without it was looked upon as an
utter outcast. Men who obeyed the ordinance did
so often with bitter tears, and always with a sense of
hatred of those who had forced it on them. Had the
Japanese been content to go more slowly here, they
would have gained their purpose in a much more
assured fashion. They were right in supposing that
the top-knot was bound to disappear, but their
mistake lay in attempting to do by legislation
what should have been left to the growing enlighten-
ment of the people. one sees in Russian Manchuria,
for instance, where no pressure whatever is brought
on the great multitudes of Koreans settled there
to alter their ways, that after a very few years the
average man abandons his peculiarities of attire
and of hair dressing, because he finds it convenient to
do so. My own Korean servants, after a time of
association with Europeans, came to realise that the
top-knot, the long sleeves, and the very big hat were
impracticable and a nuisance, and some of them
gave them up in consequence. That was a natural
and proper evolution. The hasty Japanese action
secured a far longer life for the top-knot, for to
many people this knot became a symbol henceforth,
not merely of old Korean life, but of national loyalty.
THE CHINO-JAPANESE CONFLICT 49
Japanese troops remained in the palace for a
month, and the King was badly treated during that
time. It did not suit the purpose of the Japarese
Government just then to destroy the old Korean
form of administration. It was exceedingly doubt-
ful how far the European Powers would permit
Japan to extend her territory, and so the Japanese
decided to allow Korea still to retain a nominal
independence. The King and his Ministers implored
Mr. Otori to withdraw his soldiers from the royal
presence. Mr. Otori agreed to do so, at a price, and
his price was the royal consent to a number of conces-
sions that would give Japan almost a monopoly of
industry in Korea. The Japanese guard marched
out of the palace on August 25th, and was replaced
by Korean soldiers armed with sticks. Later on
the Korean soldiers were graciously permitted to
carry muskets, but they were not served out with
any ammunition. Japanese troops still retained
possession of the palace gates and adjoining
I buildings.
I
Another movement took place at this time as the
result of Japanese supremacy. The Ming family —
the family of the Queen — was driven from power
and the Mings, who a few months before held
all the important offices in the kingdom, were
wiped out of public life, so much so that there
was not a single Ming in one of the new departments
of state.
The action of the Japanese created great resent-
ment throughout the country. The indignities to
which the King was submitted in particular caused
S
50 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
a sense of horror among a people difficult to move
to united action on public affairs. The only friends
of Japan at that time were a few Korean officials,
financially and personally interested. The foreign
representatives in Seoul were as anti-Japanese as the
Koreans themselves.
[F. A. M,Kai:ie
CHAPTER V
THE MURDER OF THE QUEEN
THE spring of 1895 saw great excitement
and agitation throughout Korea. The
Japanese success in the China war was followed
by the beginning of a policy that clearly pointed
to the commercial absorption of the country.
In May the foreign representatives were driven
to protest against the granting of monopolies,
and the exclusion of their nationals from com-
mercial opportunities. A large number of low-
class Japanese appeared in all parts, and the
Japanese soldiers adopted a much more aggressive
and domineering attitude. The more prudent
Japanese themselves saw the danger of this.
Count Inouye, v/ho had succeeded Mr. Otori as
Minister to Korea, was unceasing in his warnings
as to the injury this conduct would cause. He
made formal representations to his own Govern-
ment about the violent ways and rascalities of
these emigrants. They had been cheating and
lying to the Koreans, he declared, and bring-
ing disgrace upon Japan. If steps were not at
once taken to repress them, every particle of
51
52 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
respect for Japan would be crushed out in Korea.
"The Japanese residents in Korea must be
reformed," he said. The Count made three
charges against his fellow-countrymen in Korea :
lack of co-operation, arrogance, and extravagance,
and backed each point in his indictment with forcible
illustrations. Under the second head he said : — •
" The Japanese are not only impolite, but they
often insult the Koreans. They are rude in their
treatment of Korean customers, and when there
is some slight misunderstanding they do not
hesitate to appeal to fists, and even go as far as
to throw Koreans into rivers or use weapons.
Merchants thus frequently become rowdies, and
many of them are consequently convicted. Those
who are not merchants are still more rude and
violent. They say they have made Korea inde-
pendent, they have suppressed the Tong-haks, and
those Koreans who dare oppose them, who dare
disobey them, are ungrateful fellows. How can
the Koreans help being frightened by the Japanese ?
But flight follows fright, and hatred follows dislike.
Then it is only natural for Koreans to seek
friendship with other foreigners. With restoration
of peace many Chinese are coming again to
Korea ; and if the Japanese continue in their
arrogance and rudeness, all the respect and love
due to them will be lost, and there will remain
hatred and enmity against them."
The Count talked in the same way to the white
residents in Seoul. " When our troops first entered
Korea to repress the Tong-haks," he told on
THE MURDER OF THE QUEEN 53
American, " they paid for every yen's worth of
supplies. They were considerate and kind, and they
were well received. Since the war they have belaved
more like conquerors. The people have been some-
what incensed against them, and in this have been
stimulated by intriguers who are interested in
poisoning them against the Japanese."
An English paper published at Seoul, the Korean
Repository, backed up the Count's complaints : —
" We had not noticed to any considerable extent
this kind of arrogance among the Japanese in the
capital before the war. But since the Japanese
supremacy in Korea this spirit has manifested itself.
We understand from a trustworthy source that
traders in the country and in cities outside Seoul are
extremely rude and violent in their treatment of
Koreans. Not a day passes but some harmless
Korean is defrauded and insulted. He ventures to
expostulate, he tries to resist, only to find that the
barbarian (we should use the same term in charac-
terising similar acts of our countryman) from across
the sea has more muscle and skill than he has, and
that both will be used when necessity demands.
What do these adventurers care for law ? They are
after money, and the rights of Koreans do not enter
into the account. Japan is to be congratulated that
Count Inouye sees these evils, and we may be quite
sure that ' unless the general Japanese correct them-
selves,' measures will be provided by the Government
to do it for them."
The Council of State was still turning out its
resolutions of reform, urged thereto by the Japanese
54 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
advisers. Some of these reforms were excellent, and
had it been possible to vivify a people by legisla-
tion alone, then they would no doubt have done the
work. Among the men who now came to the front
were several of the participants in the entente of
1882, who were brought back by the Japanese.
Their leader, Prince Pak Yong Hio, a son-in-law of
the last King, became Premier and Home Minister.
He was twenty-three years old at the time of the
attempted murder of the Conservative leaders, and
he had escaped to Japan, where he learnt more
wisdom and caution. The Japanese, no doubt,
thought that he would be a convenient tool in their
hands. But Pak had no intention of lending himself
to the service of any but his own countrymen. He
entered upon his duties with the determination to
build up a new Korea. He proposed various reforms.
He wanted a real army, drilled after new methods.
He sought to have the limited nature of the monarchy
clearly set forth and recognised. He was strongly in
favour of education, and was a friend of the mis-
sionaries. He looked specially to America to aid
Korea.
" You can do us a great deal of good," he told one
American. " You are so far away that you would
not be suspected of selfish designs. What our people
need is education and Christianisation. Through
your missionaries and your mission schools you
could educate and elevate our people. It would be a
great aid, and perhaps a tedious work, but your great
Republic could do this. Your missionaries have
already done good work in Korea. Our old religions
THE MURDER OF THE QUEEN 55
sit lightly, and the way to Christian conversion is
open. An army of Christian teachers and workers
should be placed in every section of our conntry.
Our people should be educated and Christianised
before they undertake any constitutional reform.
Then we shall have constitutional government and,
in the distant future, perhaps, a free and enlightened
country such as yours."
When, however, the Japanese asked Pak, in his
capacity as Home Minister, for various concessions
and privileges, they found that he was very unwilling
to give away any Korean rights. The Minister was
distrusted by his fellow-countrymen, who believed
him to be a mere agent of the Japanese Government.
He was disliked by the Japanese because he would
not yield them what they wanted.
For some months a new power had been coming
more and more to the front in Korea. Russia was
making her way eastwards. The Trans-Siberian
Railway was now being pushed forward to the Pacific,
and Russian agents were showing the utmost activity
in every Asian Court. In Seoul, in particular, the
Russians had adopted a bold and aggressive policy.
The temporary triumph of the Tai Won Kun was
not to continue. The Queen, a little, pale-cheeked,
thin-faced woman, kind to her friends and implac-
able to her foes, again came to the front. Step by
step she restored her family to favour. She intrigued,
now with the Japanese and now against them, and
each week saw her adding to her power. By the
summer of that year the old Regent was in utter
disgrace, and then the Queen secured the overthrow
56 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
of Pak Yong Hio. A Japanese coolie started a
rumour that the Home Minister was conspiring
against the King and Queen. The steps Pak was
taking to limit the powers of the m.onarchy gave
some countenance to this story. Pak was too honest
a man to have many partisans. Word was brought
to him that an order had been issued by the Court
depriving him of his portfolio, and knowing that this
meant at least imprisonment, he hastily donned an
old suit over his official garb, mounted a horse, rode
away to the Japanese Legation, and asked for pro-
tection there. The next day he left the Legation
clad in European clothes, and got away on board a
Japanese steamer, narrowly escaping arrest. " My
trouble has come upon me solely through the
Queen," he said. "She is a very shrewd and ambitious
woman. She has but one aim, and that is to keep
the Ming family in power. So long as the Mings
rule there will be little change in Korea. Our people
to-day are the subjects of a Royal mistress who can
dispose of them as she pleases. Their lives and their
property belong to the Royal Family." It was believed
that Count Inouye would insist upon the Korean
Court retaining Pak's services, but he did not do so.
Pak left Korea solemnly warning his countrymen
that if they were not careful Japan would destroy
them. " If Japan establishes a protectorate over
Korea," he said, " she will eventually absorb or
control the country. Japan has guaranteed our
independence, and I want to see that independence
so maintained."
As the summer went on, it became more and
THE MURDER OF THE QUEEN 57
more clear that the Queen was working in direct
hostility to Japanese interests. Count Inouye had
a long interview with her shortly before he left
for Tokyo. He described the state of affairs in an
important despatch to his Government : —
" on one occasion the Queen observed to me :
During the disturbance in the Royal palace last
year the Japanese troops unexpectedly escorted to
the palace the Tai Won Kun, who regarded Japan
from the first as his enemy. He resumed the control
of the Government, the King becoming only a
nominal ruler. In a short time, however, the Tai
Won Kun had to resign the reins of government
to the King through your influence, and so things
were restored to their former state. The new
Cabinet subsequently framed rules and regulations,
making its power despotic. The King was a mere
tool, approving all matters submitted by the Cabinet.
It is a matter of extreme regret to me (the Queen)
that the overtures made by me towards Japan
were rejected. The Tai Won Kun, on the other
hand (who showed his unfriendliness towards Japan)
was assisted by the Japanese Minister to rise in
power. . . .
" I (Count Inouye) gave, as far as I could, an
explanation of these things to the Queen, and after
so allaying her suspicions, I further explained
that it was the true and sincere desire of the
Emperor and Government of Japan to place the
independence of Korea on a firm basis, and in
the meantime to strengthen the Royal house of
Korea. In the event of any member of the Royal
58 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Family, or indeed any Korean, therefore, attempting
treason against the Royal house, I gave the assurance
that the Japanese Government would not fail to
protect the Royal house even by force of arms,
and so secure the safety of the kingdom. These
remarks of mine seemed to move the King and
Queen, and their anxiety for the future appeared
to be much relieved."
The Count openly expressed great respect for
the shrewdness and political sagacity of the Queen.
" She has many enemies in Korea," he said, " but
she is a woman of unusual force, although given
to superstitious practices. She fears for her son,
who is a remarkably bright and promising lad,
and she is constantly praying to Buddhist gods
for his safety."
Count Inouye was succeeded at the beginning
of September by General Viscount Miura, an old
soldier who had taken a prominent part in the civil
wars, Miura had the reputation of being a man
of the sternest manner, a strict religionist, and a
Buddhist of the Zen school, who carried the
ascetic practices of his sect to their utmost
extreme. He found himself constantly met by the
Queen's stubborn opposition. In scheme after scheme
he was checkmated by her. The King, weak,
irresolute, and easily turned from his purpose,
was regarded by both sides as little more than a
cypher. The Queen was the one whom Japan had
to fear, and Miura knew it. How was he to over-
come her? His First Secretary, Sugimura, was all
in favour of extreme measures.
THE MURDER OF THE QUEEN 59
The Tai Won Kun and the new Minister now
came in touch with one another. According to the
Japanese account, Miura was secretly approached
by the ex-Regent, but probably Sugimura acted
as the go-between and planned out the course of
action. The Tai Won Kun desired to return to
power, the Minister wished to strengthen the
declining influence of Japan. only one little
woman stood in the way of both their desires.
once she was swept aside, all must go well. The
two parties had several conferences regarding their
line of action, and everything was done between
them with a due observance of business forms.
on October 3rd, Miura, Sugimura, and Okamoto,
the Japanese adviser to the Korean Department
of War and of the Household, met in the Legation
to decide upon their plan of campaign. No moves
were to be made unless the ex-Regent would
definitely pledge himself to refrain from interfering
in the actual administration of the country, and to
grant the Japanese the commercial and political
privileges they desired. These demands were drawn
up in writing. If he consented to them, the
Japanese troops, the Japanese police and the
native soldiers, the Kunrentai, drilled and officered
by Japanese, were to attack the palace, make the
King a prisoner, kill the Queen, and declare the
Regent supreme. To quote the exact words of the
Japanese official report : " It was further resolved
that this opportunity should be availed of for taking
the life of the Queen, who exercised overwhelming
influence in the Court."
6o THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Okamoto visited the Tai Won Kun at his country
house, showed him the document and urged him
to join. The old man, who was now eighty years
of age, his son and his grandson agreed, and gave
a written promise to place themselves in the hands
of Japan. In order to cover the tracks of the
conspirators, and to remove any suspicion that
might be aroused by the visit, it was given out
that Okamoto was departing for his own country
and that he had gone to Tai Won Kun to bid
him farewell.
Events were hastened by the action of the Court
party.
Some weeks before this the Kunrentai troops —
the soldiers under Japanese officers — had quarrelled
with the city police, and killed a number of them.
The Ministers proposed to take advantage of this
and disband the regiment. The Minister for War
visited the Japanese Legation and betrayed the plan.
Thereupon it was resolved to make the attempt on
the Queen that very night. Colonel Kunsunose,
Commandant of the Japanese troops in Seoul, was
already at Chemulpho on his way home on leave.
A telegram was sent to him to return at once.
He was ordered to go to the palace with his
troops under the cover of darkness, to guard the
gates during an attack, and to permit no persons,
male or female, to leave. Miura summoned a few
Japanese soshi, professional bullies, revealed his plan
to them, and bade them collect their friends and help
him carry it out. Again I quote the official report :
" Miura told them that on the success of the enter-
THE MURDER OF THE QUEEN 6i
prise depended the eradication of the evils that had
done so much mischief in the kingdom for the past
twenty years, and instigated them to despatch the
Queen when they entered the palace." The Japanese
police were also instructed to co-operate, and the
Korean partisans of the Tai Won Kun were sum-
moned by messenger to assemble and to assist. The
Japanese police, it may be said, were ordered to put
on civilian dress, and provide themselves with swords.
Two of the soshi, Adachi Kenzo and Kunitomo
Shigearika, collected twenty-four like-minded bullies,
and about one-half of these, acting as an inner group,
were given special orders to find the Queen and kill
her. Draft manifestos were drawn up in advance for
publication after the murder.
About three o'clock on the morning of the 8th the
Tai Won Kun set out from his country residence
with a party of Japanese, headed by Okamoto. The
latter first paraded all his followers outside the main
gate of the Prince's residence, and told them that the
" fox," meaning the Queen, was to be dealt with as
circumstances might decide. The entire party pro-
ceeded towards the west gate of the city, met the
Kunrentai, and waited for the arrival of the Japanese
soldiers. Then all moved on, the Kunrentai to the
front. The Japanese officers in charge of the Kun-
rentai troops, the police, and the bullies made a
central group. There was no difficulty in entering,
when they reached the palace, for the gates were in
the hands of Japanese soldiers. Most of the regular
troops paraded outside, according to orders. Some
went inside the grounds accompanied by the rabble.
62 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
and others moved to the sides of the palace, surround-
ing it to prevent any from escaping. A body of men
attacked and broke down the wall near to the Royal
apartments.
Rumours had reached the palace that some plot
was in progress, but no one seems to have taken
much trouble to maintain special watch. There were
two foreigners in charge of the palace guards, Mr.
Sabatine, a Russian, and General Dye, an American.
Neither of these came out of the affair with enhanced
reputation. General Dye was a very charming old
gentleman, skilled in growing apples. The products
of his orchard were the admiration of his neighbours,
but he was of little use in protecting his Royal em-
ployers. I have been unable to find out exactly what
he did during the subsequent events, but he seems to
have been shut in a room and to have done nothing.
Sabatine was brushed on one side by the conspirators,
and threatened with death if he interfered. What-
ever the excuses of these two men, the damning fact
remains that they lived through that night without
suffering so much as a scratch, and without striking a
blow for the woman they were paid to protect.
At the first sign of the troops breaking down the
walls and entering through the gates, there was con-
fusion throughout the palace. Some of the Korean
bodyguard tried to resist, but after a few of them were
shot the others retired. The Royal apartment was
of the usual one-storied type, led to by a few stone
steps, and with carved wooden doors and oiled-paper
windows. The Japanese made straight for it, and,
when they reached the small courtyard in front, their
THE MURDER OF THE QUEEN 63
troops paraded up before the entrance, while the
sosni broke down the doors and entered the rooms.
Some caught hold of the King and presented him
with a document by which he was to divorce and
repudiate the Queen. Despite every threat, he
refused to sign this. Others were pressing into
the Queen's apartments. The Minister of the House-
hold tried to stop them, but was killed on the spot.
The soshi seized the terrified palace ladies, who
were running away, dragged them round and round
by their hair, and beat them, demanding that they
should tell where the Queen was. They moaned and
cried and declared that they did not know. Now the
men were pressing into the side-rooms, some of them
hauling the palace ladies by their hair, Okamoto,
who led the way, found a little woman hiding in a
corner, grabbed her head, and asked her if she were
the Queen. She denied it, freed herself, with a
I sudden jerk, and ran into the corridor, shouting as
she ran. Her son, who was present, heard her call
his name three times, but, before she could utter
more, the Japanese were on her and had cut her
down. Some of the female attendants were dragged
up, shown the dying body, and made to recognise
it, and then three of them were put to the
sword.
The conspirators had brought kerosene with them.
They threw a bedwrap around the Queen, probably
not yet dead, and carried her to a grove of trees in
the deer park not far away. There they poured
the oil over her, piled faggots of wood around,
and set all on fire. They fed the flames with more
64 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
and more kerosene, until everything was consumed,
save a few bones.
Almost before the body was alight the Tai Won
Kun was being borne into the palace under an escort
of triumphant Japanese soldiers. He at once assumed
control of affairs. The King was made a prisoner in
his palace. The Tai Won Kun's partisans were sum-
moned to form a Cabinet, and orders were given that
all officials known to have been of the Queen's party
should be arrested.
The report of Colonel Hyun-in-Tak, officer in
charge of the Korean bodyguard, supplies some
interesting details. Colonel Hyun handed this state-
ment to Dr. Allen, the American Acting Minister, a
few days afterwards : —
" At 2 a.m. on the twentieth day of the eighth
moon, 504 years since the foundation of the present
dynasty, two of His Majesty's private police, who had
been despatched to go round the wall of the palace
on duty to watch, told me that about 200 Japanese
soldiers had just gone into the Sam-kom-Boo, the
barracks in front of the palace. I sent soldiers to
inquire and found the above statement true. At
four o'clock, on being informed that Japanese troops
surrounded the north-western gate of the palace, and
that they were climbing up in the middle part of the
north mountain facing towards the palace grounds,
and that Japanese and Korean soldiers were breaking
the front gate of the palace, I gave orders to place
THE MURDER OF THE QUEEN 65
soldiers of His Majesty's bodyguard at all parts ot
the palace to make resistance.
"Then I heard that Japanese troops had climbed
over the wall of the north-western gate, so I went and
found that about a hundred Japanese troops had
already come into the back grounds of the palace.
I shut the gate leading to these grounds, and was in
the act of resisting with soldiers, but the Japanese
troops rushed into the palace shooting from the
front gate, which was opened to them. The soldiers
of His Majesty's bodyguard resisted by shooting, but
they were finally defeated and dispersed. Now the
Japanese troops all rushed to His Majesty's family
house and surrounded it. About twenty Japanese
came, dressed in ordinary European clothes, with
swords, and some in Japanese native costume, also
with swords, and some regular Japanese soldiers,
carrying rifles on their shoulders. They got hold
of me and tied my hands behind my back, and they
asked me, ' Where is the Queen ? ' beating me all the
time. I replied,' I do not know.' They asked my
name, and I gave it. They then dragged me to
His Majesty's family house, still questioning me as to
where the Queen was. I said, ' I do not know where
she is, even if you kill me.' They dragged me in
front of His Majesty, and pressed me to point out
the Queen, and I still said I did not know where she
was. They took me to a building called the Kark
Kum Chung. I was being beaten all the time.
Suddenly a lot of the Japanese in His Majesty's
house made shouts, whereupon my captors let go
of me and rushed to the house. I went there to
6
66 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
see what had taken place, and found His Majesty
had been removed to the outer apartments. I saw
what I thought to be the Queen lying dead in the
minor apartments of the house. I was then driven
out by the Japanese. A little while afterwards,
hearing that the Japanese were burning the corpse
of the murdered Queen in the eastern park near by,
I rushed to the gate, and there I saw clearly that
the dress of the burning corpse was a lady's."
CHAPTER VI
AFTER THE MURDER
THE news of the murder of the Queen was
received by the foreign community at Seoul
at first with incredulity, and then with horror. The
Japanese attempted to prevent details from getting
abroad. Colonel Cockerill, the famous correspondent
of the New York Herald was in Seoul at the time,
and at once cabled to his paper, but his message
was stopped and the money returned to him. This
stoppage was afterwards apologised for by the
Japanese Government. When details were pub-
lished in Europe and America, they did Japan
more harm than the loss of a great battle,
Miura disclaimed responsibility and maintained
that the crime was solely the work of Koreans.
When this account became manifestly impossible, he
said that it was done by the Koreans, helped by a few
irresponsible soshi. on the day following the murder,
he wrote to the Korean Minister for Foreign Affairs :
" I gather that the origin of the emeute was a conflict
between the drilled (Korean) troops, who desired to
lay a complaint in the palace, and the guards and
police who prevented their entrance." In another
67
68 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
letter he declared that the story that the Japanese
were engaged in the murder was " a fabrication based
on hearsay, and unworthy of credence." In an inter-
view a day or two afterwards, the Viscount said that
the plot was hatched by Koreans, and carried out
by Koreans : " If any Japanese have participated in
it, they were of the class of soshi, vagabonds, marplots
and disturbers, who could be hired to commit almost
any crime and by anybody. Japan has done much
for Korea. It has fought a war to secure Korea's
independence, it has loaned it money, and has for
years sent its advisers here to aid in reforming and
uplifting the country."
It soon became clear, however, that the real story
could not be suppressed. The Japanese Government
thereupon promptly disavowed all knowledge of the
affair, and promised to undertake a full inquiry, and
to punish the guilty. Prince (then Marquis) I to, the
Prime Minister, was specially emphatic : " I believe
that it is meant to seek out and punish, if possible,
every unworthy son of Japan connected with this
crime," he said, " Not to do so would be to condemn
Japan in the eyes of all the world. If she does not
repudiate this usurpation on the part of Tai Won Kun
she must lose the respect of every civilised Govern-
ment on earth. In the death of the Queen, Japan
loses a pronounced and implacable foe, but no matter
how large the game in Korea, she cannot afford to
uphold the hands of the infamous Tai Won Kun and
Korean banditti who now surround him. I am
assured that had Count Inouye continued to repre-
sent Japan here he could eventually have won the
AFTER THE MURDER 69
Queen over and made her a staunch friend of Japan.
His withdrawal from Seoul was unfortunate for
Japan." Miura was promptly recalled and deprived
of his rank and honours, and he and his chief
assistants were arrested and placed on trial. But
it was manifest, even thus early, that the Japanese
Government had no intention of setting the wrong
right, and that the arrest of the leaders was a mere
farce. Prince Ito proved then, as he has shown
time after time since in his dealings with Korea,
that whatever the sincerity of his own good intentions,
and however kindly disposed he may be personally
to the Korean people, he is willing to condone the
crimes of his subordinates, when they lead to the
increase of Japanese power.
To add to their offence, the Japanese, through
their mouthpiece, the Tai Won Kun, did everything
they could to disgrace and degrade the memory of
the murdered Queen. on October nth a so-called
Royal Decree was issued in the King's name, de-
nouncing Queen Min, ranking her among the lowest
prostitutes, and assuming that she was not dead, but
had escaped, and would again come forward. " We
knew the extreme of her wickedness," said the
decree, " but We were helpless and full of fear of
her party, and so could not dismiss and punish her.
We are convinced that she is not only unfitted and
unworthy to be Queen, but also that her guilt is
excessive and overflowing. With her We could not
succeed to the glory of the Royal ancestors, so We
hereby depose her from the rank of Queen and
reduce her to the level of the lowest class." Here
70 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Miura overreached himself. Acting in his person-
ality as Japanese Minister, he accepted the decree
which he had caused to be issued through his mouth-
piece, the Tai Won Kun. He declared, with the
fervour of a Pecksniff, that " this intelligence has
profoundly shocked me." But the other foreign re-
presentatives now intervened. The Russian Minister,
M. Waeber, promptly and in the most emphatic
manner refused to accept the decree as coming from
the King. All of the others, except one, followed
his lead. Ten days later Miura was recalled.
The King himself was confined in his palace, and
surrounded by the Tai Won Kun's party. on the
day of the murder he was visited by the Russian
Minister and by Dr. Allen, and they found him in
a state of utter prostration. The palace attendants,
officials, and soldiers were clearing out as quickly
as they could, like rats from a sinking ship, and
tearing off any symbols that might cause them to
be rec^nised as members of the Royal party. The
foreign representatives refused as a body to recog-
nise the Tai Won Kun, and they insisted upon
having personal intercourse with the King. The
poor King was terrified lest he should be poisoned,
and he refused to eat anything but condensed
milk, sent to him in sealed cans, or eggs cooked
in their shells. In order to prevent him from
being murdered, Dr. Aveson, a doctor who had
done splendid service in Korea, and other American
missionaries, went to the palace and stayed there
night after night, thinking that the presence of
foreign witnesses might restrain the conspirators.
AFTER THE MURDER 71
At the same time the missionaries and the ladies of
the Legations, hearing of the King's difficulties with
his food, cooked special dishes themselves and sent
them regularly to him in tin boxes, fastened with
a Yale lock.
General Dye still remained around the Royal
person, but all possible pressure was used to re-
move him and to replace him by a Japanese.
Colonel Cockerill, who had audience with the King
two days after the murder, wrote a vivid impression
of the scene : " Mounting a few steps, and crossing
a verandah, we entered a small room and turned to
the left. We saw in the doorway a still smaller
apartment, decorated in simple Korean style. The
poor King was standing, pigeon-toed and pallid,
beside his flabby son, still known as the Crown
Prince. The King is small in stature, thin, and
bloodless-looking ; the events of the past few days
have added to his waxiness, and his nervousness was
painful to behold. Turning to the Rev. H. J. Jones,
who acted as interpreter, he inquired if he might
shake hands with us. one by one he shook each
of us by the hand with considerable fervour, and
then placed the hand of each visitor in that of his
grinning, imbecile son by his side.
" At this point the Russian Minister passed to the
King a large tin box which contained, as he ex-
plained, some fruits and food from his own table.
The King, who lives in hourly fear of poison, took
the box in his own hands. The key was passed to
him.
" The King, who stood on the right of the new
72 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
War Minister, pleaded with his eyes to M. Waeber,
and motioned with his hands to indicate that the
faithful Dye should not be taken from him. His
whole body twitched as though he was afflicted with
St. Vitus' dance, and his eyes were pleading sorrow-
fully." I
Early in the following year Miura, his two chief
assistants, Sugimura and Okamoto, and forty-five
others were brought up for examination at a Court of
Preliminary Inquiries at Hiroshima. It was common
talk in Japan that whatever the evidence might be
the accused were to be acquitted, but no one thought
that the Court would bring in the amazing finding
it did. This finding is probably unequalled in judi-
cial annals. The Judge of the Court of Preliminary
Inquiry reported that Miura and his assistants had
planned, in co-operation with the Tai Won Kun,
to murder the Queen ; they had used the military
and police to aid them ; they had enlisted the ser-
vices of a number of men for this purpose ; they had
instigated them to dispatch the Queen, and the men
had been led against the palace to accomplish this.
" About dawn," the report went on, " the whole party
entered the palace through the Kwang-hwa Gate,
and at once proceeded to the inner chambers. Not-
withstanding these facts, there is no sufficient
evidence to prove that any of the accused actually
committed the crime originally m.editated by them.
. . . For these reasons the accused, each and all, are
hereby discharged."
The verdict was very popular in Japan, and Miura
• New York Herald, October 12, 1895.
AFTER THE MURDER 73
at once became a national hero. Shortly afterwards
hi? full honours and titles were restored to him, and
he retains them to this day. It had been the inten-
tion of his counsel, Mr. Masujima, to plead justifi-
cation, had the case come on for trial. Mr. Masujima
published his side of the case in a Japanese periodical
shortly afterwards. Probably no civilised lawyer has
in recent years more openly avowed the doctrine of
" killing no murder," when the killing is to secure
political supremacy. " Whatever may be thought by
weaker minds, the result of the eineute has been
most happy for the peace and progress of the world,"
wrote Mr. Masujima. " Had the Queen been suc-
cessful in her conspiracy, all the efforts made by
Japan for the resuscitation of Korea would have been
fruitless. The only political party which could reform
Korea, and thereby maintain her independence,
would have been extirpated. The Queen was
Korean at heart, and was accustomed to violent
and treacherous methods. Supported by a foreign
power in her policy, she was ready to resort to any
means to execute her programme. The promise of
any foreign assistance to her was inciting and
dangerous. Such a course of diplomatic procedure
must be put down. The hneute crushed the mischief
The form of the Queen's conspiracy was criminal,
and the Japanese Minister was justified in preventing
the execution of the criminal attempt. He did only
his duty as soon as he was in charge of the peace
and order of Korea. The root of political troubles,
the effects of which would have lasted for a long
time to come, was torn up. Considering the class
74 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
of diplomacy prevailing in Korea, Viscount Miura
has accomplished only a triumph." ^
If the Japanese escaped so easily, some others did
not. Three Koreans, who had taken no part in the
crime, were seized by the Tai Won Kun, and were
rapidly tried and executed. one of them was a
poor soldier, who had accidentally passed through
the grove where the Queen's body was burnt, and
had seen the deed done. The two others were
apparently as guiltless as he. These executions were
declared to be evidence that the Tai Won Kun had
no hand in the crime of October 8th. The foreicfn
representatives did what they could to prevent them,
and sent full reports of the affair to their Govern-
ments. Some of them urged their Home Authorities
to intervene, but in vain. The British Consul-General,
Sir Walter Hillier, did splendid work at this time to
secure justice and peace.
" I wonder if the statesmen in Tokyo have an idea
that this sort of thing will raise Japan in the estima-
tion of the world at large ? " wrote Colonel Cockerill,
in a paragraph that voiced the sentiments of
Europeans in the Far East. " Does not Marquis
Ito well know that in the diplomacy of civilised
nations the empire of Japan, which was advancing
so proudly and rapidly, has dropped back a quarter
of a century? If he does not know it, then he is not
the guide I took him to be. The semi-barbaric con-
dition of Korea has given to her benevolent neighbour
an opportunity to teach bloody instructions which
will not soon be forgotten, I fear, and as a sincere
' The Far East, February, 1896, vol. i. p. 20.
AFTER THE MURDER 75
well-wisher of Japan, I grieve to record facts which
not only proclaim her cruelty, but her injustice and
indifference where her interests are involved. It is
to be hoped that Viscount Miura will not be advanced
in rank by his Government or rewarded with a medal
commemorative of his great diplomatic sagacity.
His rank is that of the man who planned the St.
Bartholomew massacre, and the villain who blew up
the consort of the Scottish Queen. I learn that at
Hiroshima he is now the idol of the hour. He is
called upon by distinguished officials, and upon the
evening of his release he gave a grand banquet. His
friend, the Tai Won Kun, has probably sent him a
letter of congratulation."
CHAPTER VII
THE ESCAPE OF THE KING
THE situation in Seoul after the recall of
Viscount Miura was tangled. The King was
still nominally supreme ruler of the country, but he
was completely in the hands of the ex-Regent's
party. Japan had sent Count Inouye as Envoy
Extraordinary to find some way of smoothing over
things, and he, while relaxing nothing of his
country's grip of Korea, still modified some of the
more offensive administrations of the Yi party.
A large number of the dead Queen's adherents had
fled to Legations and foreign houses, and were
sheltered and protected there under extra-territorial
rights.
At the end of November, some Koreans of the old
palace guard, who were out of employment and in
distress, attempted a counter revolution. It was a
complete failure, for the troops in the palace were
forewarned, and were lying in wait for the attack.
It served, however, to bring upon the heads of the
white men — who had no connection whatever with
it — torrents of abuse from the Japanese. one
Japanese newspaper, published in Seoul, distin-
76
THE ESCAPE OF THE KING ^7
guished itself by openly accusing the Russian and
American representatives, and a number of American
missionaries whom it named, of having made the
conspiracy, and some of them of having actually
taken part in the attack. In short, the Japanese
tried, by stirring up much dust over this November
business, to make the public forget the doings of
October 8th. This brought a very vigorous protest
from Colonel Cockerill : " I decline to believe any-
thing in the shape of news sent out from Korea by
the correspondents of the Japanese newspapers," he
wrote. " A more flagitious and unconscionable lot of
liars I have never known. As the Japanese Govern-
ment exercises a strong censorship over its home
press, it might be well for it to try its repressional
hand upon the Japanese sheet published in Seoul,
the Ka7tjoshinipo^ which is labouring zealously, it
would seem, to bring about the massacre of foreign
representatives in Korea."
In keeping with Inouye's policy of conciliation, a
decree was issued in the latter part of November
restoring the late Queen to full rank. She was
given the posthumous title of " Guileless ; revered,"
and a temple called "Virtuous accomplishment" was
dedicated to her memory. Twenty-two officials of
high rank were commissioned to write her biography.
But the King was still kept a prisoner.
The Russian Minister, M. Waeber, again inter-
vened. on February 9, 1896, his Legation guard
was increased to 160 men. Two days afterwards
the Europeans in Seoul were aroused by the
intelligence that the King had escaped from his
7Z THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
gaolers at the palace, and had taken refuge with the
Russians. A little before seven o'clock in the morn-
ing the King and Crown Prince left the palace
secretly, in closed chairs, such as women use. Their
escape was carefully planned. For more than a
week before, the ladies of the palace had caused
a number of chairs to go in and out by the several
gates in order to familiarise the guards with the idea
that they were paying many visits. So when, early
in the morning, two women's chairs were carried out
by the attendants, the guards took no special notice.
The King and his son arrived at the Russian Legation
very much agitated and trembling. They were ex-
pected, and were at once admitted. As it is the
custom in Korea for the King to work at night and
sleep in the morning, the members of the Cabinet did
not discover his escape for some hours, until news
was brought to them from outside that he was safe
under the guardianship of his new friends.
Excitement at once spread through the city.
Great crowds assembled, some armed with sticks,
some with stones, some with any weapons they could
lay hands on. A number of old Court dignitaries
hurried to the Legation, and within an hour or two
a fresh Cabinet was constituted, and the old one
deposed. During the morning a Royal Proclamation
was issued : —
" Alas ! Alas ! on account of Our unworthiness and
maladministration the wicked advanced and the wise
retired. Of the last ten years, none has passed with-
out troubles. Some were brought on by those We
THE ESCAPE OF THE KING 79
had trusted as the members of the body, while others,
by those of Our own bone and flesh. Our dynasty
of five centuries has thereby often been endangered,
and milh'ons of Our subjects have thereby been
gradually impoverished. These facts make Us blush
and sweat for shame. But these troubles have been
brought about through Our partiality and selfwill,
giving rise to rascality and blunders leading to
calamities. All have been Our own fault from the
first to the last.
" Fortunately through loyal and faithful subjects
rising up in righteous efforts to remove the wicked,
there is a hope that the tribulations experienced may
invigorate the State, and that calm may return after
the storm. This accords with the principle that
human nature will have freedom after a long pres-
sure, and that the ways of Heaven bring success
after reverses. We shall endeavour to be merciful.
No pardon, however, shall be extended to the prin-
cipal traitors concerned in the affairs of July, 1894,
and of October, 1895. Capital punishment should be
their due, thus venting the indignation of men and
gods alike. But to all the rest, officials or soldiers,
citizens or coolies, a general amnesty, free and full,
is granted, irrespective of the degree of their offences.
Reform your hearts ; ease your minds ; go about your
business, public or private, as in times past.
" As to the cutting of the top-knots — what can We
say ? Is it such an urgent matter ? The traitors, by
using force and coercion, brought about the affair.
That this measure was taken against Our will is, no
doubt, well known to all. Nor is it Our wish that
8o THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
the conservative subjects throughout the country,
moved to righteous indignation, should rise up, as
they have, circulating false rumours, causing death
and injury to one another, until the regular troops
had to be sent to repress the disturbances by force.
The traitors indulged their poisonous nature in every-
thing. Fingers and hairs would fail to count their
victims. The soldiers are Our children. So are the
insurgents. Cut any of the ten fingers, and one would
cause as much pain as another. Fighting long con-
tinued would pour out blood and heap up corpses,
hindering communications and traffic. Alas! If this
continues the people will all die. The mere con-
templation of such consequences provokes Our tears
and chills Our heart. We desire that as soon as
these Our commands arrive the soldiers should
return to Seoul and the insurgents to their respective
places and occupations.
" As to the cutting of top-knots, no one shall be
forced. As to dress and hats, do as you please.
The evils now afflicting the people shall be duly
attended to by the Government. This is Our own
word of honour. Let all understand.
" By Order of His Majesty,
" PAK CHUNG YANG,
"Acting Home Minister and Prime Minister.
" nth day, 2nd moon, ist year of Kon Yang."
The heads of the Consulates and Legations called
and paid their respects to the King, the Japanese
Minister being the last to do so. For him this move
meant utter defeat. Later in the day, a second
THE ESCAPE OF THE KING 8i
Proclamation was spread broadcast, calling on the
soldiers to protect their King, to cut off the heads
of the chief traitors, and to bring them to him. This
gave the final edge to the temper of the mob. Great
parties sought out the old Cabinet Ministers to slay
them. Two Ministers were dragged into the street
and slaughtered there with every accompaniment of
brutality. one was cut down by a horrible gash
extending from the back of the neck to the front of
the ears, the crowd shouting like wild beasts as he
fell. The people hurled stones on the dead bodies,
some stamping on them, some spitting on them, and
some tearing limb from limb. one man whipped out
his knife and carved a piece of flesh from the thigh of
one of the corpses. He put it to his mouth, and said
to the others, " Let us eat them." But this was too
much even for the frenzied people, and the crowd
shrank back in horror. on the 19th, another Cabinet
Minister was murdered in his country home. In
one respect, however, the upheaval brought peace.
Throughout the country districts, the people had
been on the point of rising against the Japanese, who
were reported to be universally hated as oppressors.
Now that their King was in power again, they settled
down peaceably.
The Japanese were now in disgrace and had
lost all power. They at once steadily set them-
selves, by yielding, by patient diplomacy, and by
secretly keeping the country in a ferment, to restore
their influence. For the moment, the Russians
were supreme. It is universally admitted that
Russia could have had no better representative
7
82 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
than her Minister, M. Waeber. Here was one
totally unlike the accepted type of the subtle and
tortuous Russian diplomat — a type, one may add,
more often found in romance than in real life. A
kindly, simple, straightforward man, his policy was
as open as the day, and even the other foreign repre-
sentatives were amazed at the disinterestedness of
his actions. He regarded the King as his guest, and
he placed the big Russian Legation at the Royal
disposal, asking for nothing in return, not even
attempting to secure those concessions for his country
which almost any other man of whatever nationality
would have obtained under the circumstances. The
King held his Court in the great central apartment of
the Legation, and his various Cabinet Ministers had
their burrows around him. There are many humorous
stories of the Royal habits and freaks at this time —
stories which it would be merely malicious to repeat.
The King sought the friendship of foreigners, and it
is said that he even, once or twice, went to the Seoul
Club, which adjoins the Legation there, and had a
game of billiards.
The people of Korea had been shaken to the
depths by the events of the past few months, and
were ready to launch out into genuine reform.
Unfortunately the King was now far more feeble
than before. The murder of his wife and the terror
Japan had driven into his soul, had caused him to
assume an attitude of cunning, and to change his
mind and alter his policy whenever he thought that
he was subjecting himself to the slightest risk. A
remarkable figure among the younger Koreans came,
I'I'otofi'-it'i ''.vj [/••. .1. McKaizU:
TIIK .\rTll()lv''s "MMHIK- onK lidY," WITH WIl-K AND (.HU.I).
THE ESCAPE OF THE KING 83
for the moment, to the front. In the uprising of
18S2, one of the most prominent of the reformers
had been So Jai Peel — Dr. Philip Jaisohn, to give
him his European name. With the others, Jaisohn
had to flee for his life, and he went to Japan
and then, soon afterwards, to San Francisco. He
knew but little English, and was totally unac-
quainted with foreign ways, and he had at first
difficulty in earning enough for food. When people
demanded to know what he could do, he held up his
hands : " I have two hands, and with these I am
willing to work at anything that you give me." He
progressed so rapidly that, after a time, he entered
college and graduated with honours. He became an
American citizen, joined the American Civil Service,
and in due course was made Doctor of Medicine by
Johns Hopkins University. He acquired a practice
as a physician in Washington, and was lecturer for
' two medical schools. After the murder of the Queen,
J he threw up his American connection and returned
' to Korea under a ten years' contract with the Govern-
ment as Foreign Adviser.
Jaisohn was a sincere and uncompromising re-
former. His brain was humming with ideas. The
changes that had been instituted under the Japanese
regime, such as the cutting of top-knots and the like,
were forgotten by the Koreans as soon as the
Japanese lost power. Everything was reverting to
the old ways. Jaisohn tried other methods. He pro-
posed open-air lectures, the establishment of schools
and the general Americanisation of the country. He
established a public park outside the city for experi-
84 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
ments in the cultivation of fruit-trees, plants, and
shrubs. A part of the park was to be reserved for
outdoor games. He started a paper. The Independent,
in April, 1896, a four-page sheet with one page in
English and three in Korean. This was, at first,
issued three times a week, but soon a separate Korean
edition was published as a daily. Led by him, a
number of officials established the Independence
Club, and, as a testimony to the reality of Korean
independence, a great arch was erected outside the
city. The purpose of the Club was " to discuss
matters concerning the official improvements, customs,
laws, religion, and various pertinent affairs in foreign
lands." " The main object of the Club," said Jaisohn,
" is to create public opinion, which has been totally
unknown in Korea until lately."
It seemed for the moment as though the reformers
would secure a real hold on affairs. Schools were
started. The missionaries were obtaining a steadily
growing influence, the way they had stood up for
national rights during the Japanese control having
raised them greatly in the popular esteem. In
answer to vigorous appeals from his people, the King
finally emerged from the Russian Legation, and
settled in a palace in the heart of the city. He took
the title of Emperor, and the name of Korea was
altered from Chosen to Tai-han. But gradually the
old gang of officials regained control, A certain
amount of foreign influence was undoubtedly used to
cripple the reformers, for it was not to the interest of
at least one Power that Korea should become really 1
independent and efficient. The Independence Arch (
THE ESCAPE OF THE KING 8$
that had been started amid great excitement, was
finished unnoticed. In May, 1898. the Government
paid Dr. Jaisohn for the balance of his contract and
dismissed him. A mass meeting was held outside
the South Gate, imploring the Government to alter
its decision, but in vain. The foreign merchants
offered to provide Jaisohn with a salary if he would
continue to live in the country, but he decided to
return to America, and is to-day practising as a
physician in Philadelphia.
The Independence Club had for some time before
Jaisohn's departure been coming more and more
into opposition to the Government. Thus, at the
beginning of 1898, it presented a memorial to the
Emperor, stating that, if Korea was to remain free,
" it must not lean upon another nation nor tolerate
foreign interference in the national administration ;
and it must help itself by adopting a wise policy, and
enforcing justice throughout the realm." The memo-
rialists spoke to the King with great frankness.
" Even the power of appointing and dismissing
Government officials has been taken from our own
authorities," they wrote. " The dishonest and cor-
ruptive classes thus created, take this opportunity to
satisfy their contemptible nature by bringing foreign
influence to bear upon Your Majesty, and some go so
far as to even oppress and threaten the Throne for
their personal gain, and for the interests of their
foreign employers. Impossible stories and baseless
reports which these classes continually bring to Your
Majesty produce the most damaging effect upon
Your Majesty's saintly intelligence. There is an old
86 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
saying that ice is generally discovered after stepping
repeatedly upon frost. Hence it is perfectly natural
for us to come to the conclusion, after witnessing so
many lamentable events which have taken place, that
before many moons the entire power of self-govern-
ment will have become a matter of past record. If it
is once lost, repentance cannot restore it."
The Independents were determined to have genuine
reform, and the mass of the people were still behind
them. The Conservatives, who opposed them, now
controlled practically all official actions. The Inde-
pendence Club started a popular agitation, and for
months Seoul was in a ferment. Great meetings of
the people continued day after day, the shops closing
that all might attend. Even the women stirred from
their retirement, and held meetings of their own to
plead for change. To counteract this movement, the
Conservative party revived and called to its aid an
old secret society, the Pedlars' Guild, which had in
the past been a useful agent for reaction. The
Cabinet promised fair things, and various nominal
reforms were outlined. The Independents' demands
were, in the main, the absence of foreign control, care
in granting foreign concessions, public trial of impor-
tant offenders, honesty in State finance, and justice
for all. In the end, another demand was added to
these — that a popular representative tribunal should
be elected.
When the Pedlars' Guild had organised its forces,
the King commanded the disbandment of the
Independence Club. The Independents retorted by
going en bloc to the police headquarters, and asking
THE ESCAPE OF THE KING 87
to be arrested. Early in November, 1898, seventeen
of the Independent leaders were thrown into prison,
and would have been put to death but for public
clamour. The people rose and held a series ot such
angry demonstrations that, at the end of five days,
the leaders were released.
The Government now, to quiet the people, gave
assurances that genuine reforms would be instituted.
When the mobs settled down, reform was again
shelved. on one occasion, when the citizens of
Seoul crowded into the main thoroughfare to renew
their demands, the police were ordered to attack them
with swords and destroy them. They refused to
obey, and threw off their badges, saying that the
cause of the people was their cause. The soldiers
under foreign officers, however, had no hesitation in
carrying out the Imperial commands. As a next
move, many thousands of men, acting on an old
national custom, went to the front of the palace and
sat there in silence day and night for fourteen days.
In Korea this is the most impressive of all ways of
demonstrating the wrath of the nation, and it greatly
embarrassed the Court.
The Pedlars' Guild was assembled in another
part of the city, to make a counter demonstration.
Early in the morning, when the Independents were
numerically at their weakest, the Pedlars attacked
them and drove them off on attempting to return
they found the way barred by police. Fight after
fight occurred during the next few days between the
popular party and the Conservatives, and then, to
bring peace, the Emperor promised his people a
88 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
general audience in front of the palace. The meet-
ing took place amid every possible surrounding that
could lend it solemnity. The foreign representatives
and the Government officials were in attendance.
The Emperor, who stood on a specially built plat-
form, received the leaders of the Independents and
listened to the statement of their case. They asked
that their monarch should keep some of his old
promises to maintain the national integrity and to do
justice. The Emperor, in return, presented them,
with a formal document, in which he agreed to their
main demands.
The crowd, triumphant, dispersed. The organisa-
tion of the reformers slackened, for they thought that
victory was won. Then the Conservative party
landed its heaviest blows. The reformers were
accused of desiring to establish a republic. Dis-
sensions were created in their ranks by the promo-
tion of a scheme to recall Pak Yong Hio. Some of
the more extreme Independents indulged in wild
talk, and gave an excuse for official repression.
Large numbers of the reform leaders were arrested
on various pretexts. Meetings were dispersed at the
point of the bayonet, and the reform movement was
broken. Though the Emperor did not yet realise it,
he had, in the hour that he consented to crush the
reformers, pronounced the doom of his country and
of his own Imperial rule.
T
CHAPTER VIII
THE RUSSIAN REGIME
HE action of M. Waeber in giving shelter to
to the King was in keeping with the new
aggressive poHcy of the Russian Government in the
Far East. From the moment that the Trans-Siberian
Raihvay had been determined upon, Russian states-
I men convinced themselves of the possibility of great
schemes of territorial domination on the Pacific
Coast. Russia was to be mistress of China, owner of
Manchuria, dictator of Korea and patron of Japan.
The results of the Chino-Japanese War were far
from welcome to the St. Petersburg statesmen,
and when, under the Treaty of Shimonoseki, China
I ceded the Liaotung Peninsula to Japan, Russia saw
that her Eastern expansion would be definitely
stopped. This contingency had, however, been pre-
pared for. Russia had been sending warships to
the Far East, and had secured the co-operation of
France and Germany. The Kaiser, foreseeing pos-
sible dangers from the rise of a great yellow Power,
willingly lent his assistance, and France was the
traditional ally of Russia. So within a week of the
news of the ratification of the treaty, Russia, Ger-
89
90 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
many, and France presented a Note to Japan
requesting that the territories ceded to it on the
mainland of China should not be permanently
occupied, as such occupation would be detrimental
to the lasting peace of the Far East. Japan was in
no position to begin war against three combined
Powers, and refusal would have meant war. She
looked to England, but England, while strictly
standing aloof from the European representations,
yet privately recommended Japan to yield. Amid the
anger, and to the shame of the people who thus saw
themselves robbed of the fruits of their victory, the
Tokyo Government gave way. At the same time
Japan began to build greater ships, to extend her
fortifications, to strengthen her army, and to prepare
for revenge.
It was Russia's hour of triumph, and for a time
her representatives in the Far East assumed an air
of domineering intolerance exceedingly galling to
others. Russia was spoken of as supreme in Asia,
and the paramount Power in Europe. Sober Eng-
lish reviews described her as " the protector of
China and Korea." Russian diplomacy was now
mainly and primarily bent on securing the realisa-
tion of a very natural and praiseworthy ambition.
Shut in by the Black Sea to the south of Europe,
with a limited outlook to the north on the Baltic,
and with only Vladivostock, ice-bound for many
months of the year, as her premier port on the
Pacific, Russia wished to secure a terminus for her
Trans-Siberian line that should have safe and open
waters all the year round. Such a port might be
THE RUSSIAN REGIME 91
found either in Korea, where there are several
splendid harbours, or in the Liaotung Peninsula.
For the moment Russia paid attention to Korea.
Unable to meet her rival by force, Japan turned to
diplomacy. In the summer of 1896 two remarkable
agreements were drawn up between the respective
Governments, one being signed by M. Waeber and
Baron Komura at Seoul, and the second by Marshal
Yamagata and Prince Lobanof at Moscow. Under
the first of these, the Powers mutually consented to
advise the Korean Emperor to return to his own
palace, and Japan promised to take effective
measures for the control of Japanese rowdies.
Russia agreed that the Japanese guards, three com-
panies of soldiers then in Korea, should remain for
a time for the protection of the Japanese telegraph
line from Fusan to Seoul, and that, when they were
withdrawn, they should be temporarily replaced by
groups of gendarmes at twelve intermediate posts
between Fusan and Seoul. These gendarmes were
not to exceed 200, and were to be retained
until such time " as peace and order have been
restored by the Government." In addition to these,
two companies of Japanese troops were to be
stationed at Seoul, one at Fusan, and one at
Gensan, each company not exceeding 200 men.
The Russian guards were not to be more numerous
than those of Japan. In the Lobanof- Yamagata
agreement Japan and Russia promised mutually to
afford their assistance to Korea, if necessary, for
foreign loans ; to leave to the native Government, as
soon as possible, the formation and maintenance of
92 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
a national army and police sufficient to maintain
internal peace ; and to keep the telegraph lines in
Japanese hands ; while Russia reserved the right to
build a telegraph line from Seoul to her own frontier.
These Agreements have been spoken of as an added
humiliation to Japan ; on the contrary, considering
the circumstances when they were drawn up, they
redound to the credit of the skill of the Japanese
diplomats.
Unfortunately for Russia, the prudent and states-
manlike policy of M. Waeber did not meet with the
approval of his official superiors, and in September,
1897, M. de Speyer succeeded him as Charge
d'Affaires. The change was received with universal
regret by all foreigners in Korea. M. Waeber had
done splendidly. He had been a real influence for
good throughout the country, and, even from an
exclusively Russian point of view, his cautious
policy had gained for his Government more credit
and influence than any other course of action could
have done. A Russian-language school had been
started by the Korean Government, mining and
timber concessions had been granted to Russians,
Colonel Potiata and a number of Russian officers
and men had been employed to reorganise and drill
the Korean troops, and Russia's financial and
political influence had been supreme. Admiral
Alexieff, now rising into power, thought that this
was not enough.
M. de Speyer plainly had orders to quicken the
pace, and he did so. He assumed a most aggressive
and unpleasant attitude towards other foreigners, and
THE RUSSIAN REGIME 93
this quickly brought matters to a crisis, and caused
his downfall.
The Korean Customs and Treasury had for some
time been under the charge of Mr, (now Sir John)
McLeavy Brown, an experienced member of the
Chinese Customs, who was delegated to manage
the Korean service. Mr. Brown had entire control
of the Customs revenue, and none of it could be
spent without his consent and signature. Himself a
man of order, discipline, and unbending economy,
his methods came upon the Korean officials as an
unpleasant shock. Time after time he refused to
make grants from the Customs funds for outlays
with which he did not agree. He kept salaries
within a strict limit, and he made people work for
their money. When high officials wanted to appoint
their near relations to posts with handsome pay and
no work, Mr. Brown intervened. When a sinecurist
died, Mr. Brown forbade the appointment of a suc-
cessor. He held the keys of the purse. The
Japanese had forced a loan on Korea in 1895 of
3,000,000 yen. Mr. Brown saved enough money to
pay two-thirds of it off, and before very long paid
three-quarters of a million more. He would have
settled the final balance, but Japan requested that it
might be left. Thanks to his activity, new streets
were made in the capital, old thoroughfares were
widened, improved sanitation was introduced, the
roadway to the Pekin Pass was transformed, a
magnificent palace was begun for the Emperor, and
a scheme was formulated for surveying and lighting
the coast.
94 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
The Russian authorities began to regard Mr.
Brown's position and influence with alarm. A
Russian Financial Adviser, Mr. Kerr Alexieff. agent
of the Russian Finance Minister, arrived in Seoul on
October 5, 1897. on the 25th of the same month,
the Department of Foreign Affairs appointed him as
successor to Mr. Brown. The latter ignored the
order, and held on. When it was suggested that he
should either share responsibility or act as the
assistant to Alexieff, he peremptorily declined. The
native officials, who saw the chance of plunder,
rebelled against the Brown administration, and they
were encouraged to do so by the Russians. M.
Alexieff doubled all their salaries. Numbers of
boxes of silver dollars were taken out of the
Treasury and scattered freely among the palace
officials. The Mint, which had up to now been
working steadily in Mr. Brown's hands, began
making erratic experiments in finance. All this time
the old chief sat still. Then one day the British
fleet appeared in Chemulpho Harbour. It was seen
that, for once, the British Government had really ,
made up its mind to act. Men, familiar with the
wavering action of Downing Street in Far Eastern
affairs, could not credit the news. Yet it was true,
and when the Russians realised it, they promptly
gave way. De Speyer soon afterwards left Seoul in
semi-disgrace, and M. Alexieff and his officials with-
drew. Mr. Brown was restored to a considerable
part of his old authority, but unfortunately not
to all. The British did not go so far as they
might have done. Had they carried their action
THE RUSSIAN REGIME 95
to its logical end, it would have been better for
Korea.
In 1898 there came the announcement of the
leasing by China to Russia of the Liaotung Penin-
sula. This step ended all hopes of a Japanese-
Russian alliance, and it made it no longer neces-
sary for Russia to maintain such a hold on Korea.
About the same time that Russia secured Port
Arthur, she entered into a fresh treaty with Japan
about Korea. She could afford to be generous,
and she was. Both Powers pledged themselves
to recognise the entire independence of Korea,
and both agreed not to take any steps for the
nomination of military instructors or financial ad-
visers without having come previously to a mutual
agreement. Russia definitely recognised the supreme
nature of the Japanese enterprises in Korea, and
promised not to impede the development of the
commercial and industrial Japanese policy there.
The news of this agreement and the fact that the
Russian military instructors and financial adviser
were withdrawn from Seoul came as an over-
whelming surprise to Europe. " The Convention
simply registers the victory of Japan in the long
diplomatic duel she has been fighting with Russia
over Korea since the peace with China," proclaimed
the Times. The Russian Official Messenger tried
to put the best face it could on the matter, but
it was not very successful.
" Since the conclusion of the Chino-Japanese War
the Imperial Government has spared no effort to
secure the integrity and complete independence of
96 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
the State of Korea. At the outset, when the ques-
tion of placing the financial and military organisation
of the young State on solid bases was being con-
sidered, it was natural that the latter could not do
without foreign support. That is why, in 1896, the
Sovereign of Korea addressed to the Emperor a
pressing request to send to Seoul Russian military
instructors and a Financial Adviser. Owing to the
assistance which Russia tendered her at the time of
need, Korea has now entered upon a path where she
can manage her own affairs even in an administrative
respect. This circumstance made it possible for
Russia and Japan to proceed to a friendly exchange
of views to determine in a clear and precise manner
the reciprocal relations of the new position of affairs
created in the Korean Peninsula. The pourparlers
in question led to the conclusion of the subjoined
arrangement, the object of which is to complete the
Protocol of Moscow, and which was signed in pur-
suance of the Emperor's command by our Minister
at Tokyo. By the essential stipulation of this
arrangement, the two Governments confirm de-
finitively their recognition of the sovereignty and
entire independence of the Korean Empire, and at
the same time pledge themselves mutually to abstain
from all interference in the internal affairs of that
country. In the event of Korea needing the assist-
ance of the two contracting States, Russia and Japan
pledge themselves to adopt no measure with regard
to Korea without preliminary agreement between
them.
" The Convention attests the fact that the two
THE RUSSIAN REGIME 97
friendly States, having extensive, but at the same
time perfectly reconcilable interests in the Far East,
have quite naturally recognised the necessity of re-
ciprocally securing tranquility in the neighbouring
peninsula by safeguarding political independence
and internal order in the young Korean Empire.
In consequence of the conclusion of this friendly
arrangement, Russia will be in a position to direct
all her care and afforts to the accomplishment of
the historical and essentially peaceful task devolving
upon her on the shores of the Pacific Ocean." ^
Subsequent events, however, were to prove that
Russia's abandonment of Korea was only temporary.
Within a few months her representatives were again
intriguing and seeking to recover domination.
' Translation in the Times.
8
CHAPTER IX
THE RE-ENTRY OF JAPAN
THE Japanese had directed their energies care-
fully, cautiously, and deliberately to recover
lost ground. Both France and America were now
making their influence felt in Korea, and Russia
soon renewed her activity. The French were
specially desirous of holding railway concessions,
knowing that command of railway lines involves
more or less sovereignty. An American, Mr. J.
Morse, had been given the right to build a line from
Chemulpho to Seoul. The Japanese advanced the
money, and secured an option which they took up in
1898. A French syndicate, working under Russian
direction, obtained authority to build a railway from
Seoul to Wi-ju. It was probably intended to con-
nect this with the Trans-Siberian line by Moukden
and Antung, if the plan for the line to Port Arthur
failed. Soon after the French had obtained their
concession, however, the Port Arthur lease was
granted, and so the Wi-ju-Seoul line dropped for the
time from sight. The Japanese were building a line
southwards from Seoul to Fusan, which would make
98
7.
5
o
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y.
y.
■J
"in
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THE RE-ENTRY OF JAPAN 99
it possible to travel from Japan to the Korean capital
in less than twenty-four hours.
Many foreigners were now doing business in
the country. British, American, and Continental
financiers had obtained mining concessions. An active
American house, Messrs. Collbran and Bostwick,
established itself in Seoul, and started several big
enterprises. There were many signs of undoubted
progress. More schools were started, and a Govern-
ment hospital was established. Diplomatic relations
had for some time been maintained with various
foreign Powers, although the Korean Ministers
abroad often found it difficult to draw their salaries.
Electric light works were opened in Seoul, and an
electric tramway laid down ; the police were put into
modern uniform, and the army was supplied with
modern weapons, and drilled on modern lines. Korea
entered the postal union, and telegraph lines, mainly
under Japanese control, were in working order. In
Seoul itself many outstanding features of the old life
had by now disappeared. Signal fires were no longer
lit on the hills, nor were the city gates closed at sunset.
Great public buildings in foreign style had arisen
in the capital ; several native newspapers flourished,
and Christianity obtained a great and growing hold
in many districts, especially to the north, and had a
profound effect on the lives of the people. Cities
like Ping-yang and Sun-chon were centres of a move-
ment as remarkable as any in the annals of modern
Christian propagandism.
Undoubtedly much still remained that was very
bad indeed. The Emperor had never shown the
100 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
same strength of mind since the murder of his wife.
He was more and more at the mercy of the palace
ch'ques and ambitious Ministers. In the early-
nineties he allowed one man, Yi Yong Ik, to obtain
predominance. Yi Yong Ik was the coolie who had
helped the Queen to escape in the great rising of
1882. His advance since then had been meteoric,
and by 1902 he had secured almost absolute power.
Tall, broad-shouldered, and commanding in appear-
ance, knowing his own mind and of domineering
temper, he swept to one side the feeble and vacil-
lating hangers-on of the Court. Having been a
poor man himself, he knew every trick of the poor in
avoiding taxation, and he could squeeze more out of
a district than any of his rivals. Under him the
people were more harshly governed, and the Imperial
Treasuries were fuller than for long before. He was
hated from end to end of the country, but it must be
admitted that his rule was not wholly bad. He
started new enterprises and encouraged certain forms
of industrial activity, especially when they promised
any extra profit to the Crown.
A growing number of educated and foreign -trained
Koreans of the better classes sought for genuine
reform. Some threw themselves into the hands of
the Japanese, hoping to accomplish under Japan
what their Government would not do alone. Reform,
however, was constantly checked by the removal of
good officials, and by periodical ferments in the
country. Secret societies in rural districts maintained
temporary uprisings, winter by winter. Really con-
scientious officials rarely remained long in office.
THE RE-ENTRY OF JAPAN loi
for neither Japan nor Russia desired to see Korea
become independently and by herself efficient. I
have the best reason for believing that some, at least,
of the uprisings in rural districts were promoted and
indirectly led by men other than Koreans.
It would be easy to show the ridiculous side of the
transformation. For instance, the Korean Navy had
one ship, which was good for nothing ; it also had,
if I remember rightly, thirty-nine admirals. When
the electric tramway was first opened in Seoul, the
drivers and conductors were greatly hindered because
coolies constantly slept in the roadways, and used the
rails as pillows. The conductors became quite expert
in throwing these men off the track. It is said —
although I cannot guarantee the truth of this story —
that a number of high officials presented a petition to
the Emperor protesting against the action of the
tramway company. The petitioners pointed out that
sleep is natural for man, and that to disturb sleep
suddenly is injurious. They therefore begged the
Emperor to issue a command to the tramway drivers
that when they came upon a man sleeping across the
track, they should stop their cars and wait until he
awoke.
one or two people sleeping in this manner on the
line were run over and killed. Thereupon a mob
rose, destroyed a tramcar and nearly killed the
driver. The leaders were arrested and brought
before a city judge. When asked what excuse they
had, the leader spoke out vigorously. *' Our fathers
have told us," he said, " that we must on no account
disturb the stone tortoise which sleeps outside our
I02 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
city gates." (This stone tortoise is a symbolic and
ancient memorial near Seoul). " They told us that
once the tortoise awakes, great troubles will happen
to our country. Now the hissing of these electric
cars will awaken the tortoise, and we are not going
to have it. The cars must stop ! "
The Japanese had, by the early part of the new
century, considerable settlements in Seoul, in Che-
mulpho, in Fusan, and elsewhere. The prudence of
Mr. Hayashi, the Japanese Minister, was to some
extent counteracted by the conduct of many of these
immigrants. A friendly critic, writing on the matter
in 1 90 1, said : —
" Now, it is well known how the Japanese of the
lower class treat Koreans of the same class, even
under present conditions. Every foreigner has seen
it and understands very well that this one thing
does more to prevent cordial relations between
Koreans and Japanese than any other. The
Japanese Government acts with the utmost wisdom
in carefully scrutinising every Japanese who pro-
poses to come to Korea, and the removal of this
check would be a severe blow to good order and a
fatal bar to the growth of friendly relations. An
eye-witness of the events in Song-do two years ago
tells us how the Japanese went into the ginseng
fields and literally helped themselves to the valuable
roots, and what is more, the Japanese police who
were sent to that place actually connived with and
protected the Japanese thieves in this wanton spolia-
tion. No, it is absolutely necessary that the Japanese
Government hold such men in check, or the results
THE RE-ENTRY OF JAPAN 103
will be most deplorable both for the Koreans and for
the Japanese in this country. We fully sympathise
with Japanese efforts to develop the wealth of Korea,
and believe that no others are so well prepared to do
it as they, and it is for this very reason that we
strongly favour every regulation which would tend
to prevent bitter feeling between Koreans and
Japanese."
As time went on it became more and more clear
that the struggle between Russia and Japan over
Korea was not yet ended. The Russians, under
M. Pavloff, carried on a somewhat aggressive cam-
paign in Seoul itself, and secured the co-operation
of Yi Yong Ik. When Japan put forward one claim,
Russia advanced another. Thus, in 1902, the Russian
Minister told the Foreign Office that as Korea had
granted Japan the right to lay telegraph cables along
her shores, Russia would expect to receive permis-
sion to connect the Korean telegraphs in the north
with the Siberian system at Vladivostock. Russia
obtained a timber concession on the River Yalu, and
laid telegraph wires and built up a Russian station at
Masampo on the Korean side of the river. This
station was practically a cavalry depot, and was
occupied, despite protests, by Russian troops.
The year 1903 found Korea the centre of a very
interesting situation. Russia had aroused serious
alarm, especially among English and American
people, by her determined and exclusive policy in
the Far East. She had practically seized Manchuria,
although she did not attempt, outside the Liaotung
Peninsula, to interfere with local administration there.
104 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Her forces were steadily, and apparently irresistibly,
advancing upon Korea itself, and it seemed only a
question of time before at least Northern Korea must
become Russian. The hostile action of Russian re-
presentatives in Mongolia in dealing with Protestant
missionaries there had enlisted the missionary forces
of England against Russia. The commercial methods
of her Eastern officials had created the bitterest
opposition among English and American merchants.
As the Russians advanced everything possible was
done by them to promote their own trading interests
at the cost of the foreigners. While it is true that
no hostile tariff was instituted by the Russians in
Manchuria, it is yet undeniable that they manipu-
lated freight rates on the China Eastern Railway, so
as to bar foreign manufactures. The orgies of the
officials at Port Arthur and Vladivostock, the drunken
gaiety of the great military settlements there, the
doings of the contractors, the greedy and immoral
crowds attracted by the new r^gijue, all had their
effect on Western opinion. The West saw the sordid
side of it all. Russia, for the moment, appeared as
the panderer, the corrupter, and the foe. Men forgot
the splendid energy and great foresight shown in the
building of the Trans-Siberian Railway and in the
creation of the Pacific coast provinces. The finer
sides of the Russian character, the kindliness, the
good-humour, the solidity, and the long endurance,
were for the moment hidden from sight. Every tale
that could tell against Russia was repeated broad-
cast. Every incident that showed the unfavourable
side of her commercial policy was shouted aloud.
■Si
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THE RE-ENTRY OF JAPAN 105
Unfortunately, there was all too much lying on the
surface ready at hand for the critics. Russia was
presenting her foes with a rod with which to
scourge her.
While Russia in the East was thus displaying
herself to the world in an aspect that created at
once fear and repulsion, Japan showed us her best.
The efficiency and self-restraint of the Japanese
troops, who formed part of the allied army in the
Boxer uprising of 1900, astonished the world. Their
courage, their admirable organisation, and their dis-
cipline were commented on by military experts
and correspondents of many lands. In 1902 Japan
stepped to a place among the Great Powers by
securing an alliance with England. Her statesmen
announced that they stood for the independence
of Korea and for the Open Door. Russia was
for exclusive trading privileges ; Japan was for
equal opportunities for all nations. Russia ignored
English and American opinion ; Japan took every
direct and indirect opportunity of placating it.
Paid agents lectured English audiences upon the
beauties and glories of Nippon. A careful and
clever press propaganda was initiated, and books
and articles of all kinds, from grave, political
treatises to light studies, all singing the glories of
Japan, were encouraged.
Japan succeeded in creating an atmosphere favour-
able to herself, and it is but justice to admit she
could not have done so but for the fact that many
of her doings at that time redounded to her credit.
Month by month, too, she was increasing her fighting
io6 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
strength. The tens of millions obtained from China
had been devoted to a scheme of military and naval
expansion. Russia's great surface show of might
concealed unsuspected and overwhelming sources of
weakness. Japan, the second-rate Asiatic Power
of yesterday, was building up for herself ships and
fighting armies better than any on the Pacific.
The Japanese now felt themselves strong enough
to force the pace. Their hour of revenge was coming.
They chose Korea as the main issue of their quarrel,
and when Russia proceeded, in 1903, to occupy the
territory around Masampo, Japan spoke out in
unmistakable terms. on August 12, 1903, the
Japanese Government formally demanded of Russia
a mutual engagement to respect the independence
and territorial integrity of China and Korea, and to
maintain the principle of equal opportunity for the
commerce and industry of all nations in those two
countries. It further demanded reciprocal recog-
nition of Japan's preponderating interests in Korea
and Russia's special railway enterprises in Manchuria,
and recognition by Russia of the exclusive right of
Japan to give advice and assistance to Korea in the
interests of reform and good government there.
The Russians, in reply, asked for a guarantee that
Korea should not be used by Japan for strategical
purposes. They particularly demanded the preser-
vation of full freedom of navigation through the
Straits of Korea, and they wished a definite pledge
that Japan would erect no fortifications in the
Peninsula. The Russians were no doubt willing to
hand Korea over to Japan for commercial and
THE RE-ENTRY OF JAPAN 107
political, but not military, purposes, on condition
that Japan did not interfere with them in Man-
churia. St. Petersburg refused to be hurried, and
Russian officials in the Far East laughed to scorn
the idea that Japan would dare to attack their great
nation. Korea despatched a formal declaration of
neutrality to the Powers and thought that she had
made herself safe.
The end is known to all men. on February 10,
1904, the Emperor of Japan, " sitting on the same
throne occupied by the same dynasty from time
immemorial," formally declared war against Russia.
His main reasons, as stated in the declaration of war,
were the threatened Russian absorption of Manchuria
and the consequent imperilment of the integrity of
Korea.
The Japanese Government, in an official communi-
cation sent out at the time to the Powers, repeated,
in the most solemn and formal manner, that its
purpose was to maintain the independence and terri-
torial integrity of Korea and to uphold the policy of
the Open Door and equal opportunities for all nations.
Even before the declaration of war had been
issued, on the evening of February 8th, a Japanese
fleet approached the harbour of Chemulpho, landed
troops there, and next day fought and destroyed
two Russian warships in the harbour. Those of us
who stood on the frozen shores on that cold February
night, looking at the trim and alert Japanese infantry,
their figures revealed by the glowing coal and paraffin
fires on the landing-stage, knew that the old history
of Korea was over and that a new era had begun.
CHAPTER X
THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA
on the same day that the battle of Chemulpho
was fought between the Japanese and Russian
warships, Japanese troops took possession of the
city of Seoul, and surrounded the palace of the
Emperor, The Russian Minister, M. Pavloff, was
made a semi-prisoner in his own house, and a few
days later was conducted with every show of
courtesy to the coast. A new treaty between Japan
and Korea, probably drawn up in advance, was
signed — the Emperor being ordered to consent
without hesitation or alteration — and Japan began
her work as the open protector of Korea. The
Korean Government now promised to place full
confidence in Japan, and to follow her lead ; and
Japan pledged herself, " in a spirit of firm friendship,
to ensure the safety and repose" of the Korean
Imperial house, and definitely guaranteed the in-
dependence and territorial integrity of the country.
Korea further promised to give Japan every facility
for military operations during war.
The pro-Russian officials around the Emperor were
naturally much alarmed. At first it seemed to them
loS
BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA 109
impossible that war had begun on their soil, and that
the Japanese had driven the Russians out. A day or
two before the landing of the Japanese, Yi Yong Ik,
the Prime Minister, in the course of a conversation
with myself, emphatically declared his confident
belief that Korea would not be mixed up in any
Russo-Japanese conflict. " Let Russia and Japan
fight," he said, " Korea will take no share in their
fighting. Our Emperor has issued a declaration of
neutrality, and by that we will abide. If our
neutrality is broken, the Powers will act without
being asked, and will protect us."
The Japanese at first behaved with great modera-
tion. The officials who had been hostile to them
were left unpunished, and some were quickly em-
ployed in the Japanese service. The troops marching
northwards maintained rigid discipline, and treated
the people well. Food that was taken was paid for
at fair prices, and the thousands of labourers who
were pressed into the army service as carriers were
rewarded with a liberality and promptitude which
left them surprised. The Japanese rates of payment
were so high that they materially affected the labour
market. Mr. Hayashi did everything he could to
reassure the Korean Emperor, and repeated promises
were given that Japan desired nothing else than the
good of Korea and the strengthening of the Korean
nation. The Marquis Ito was soon afterwards sent
to Seoul on a special mission from the Mikado, and
he repeated and reaffirmed the declarations of friend-
ship and help even more emphatically than the
Resident Minister.
no THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
All this was not without effect upon the Korean
mind. The people of the north had learnt to dislike
the Russians, because of their lack of discipline and
want of restraint. They had been alienated in
particular by occasional interference with Korean
women by the Russian soldiers. I travelled largely
throughout the northern regions in the early days of
the war, and everywhere I heard from the people
during the first few weeks nothing but ｅxpressions
of friendship to the Japanese. The coolies and
farmers were friendly because they hoped that
Japan would modify the oppression of the native
magistrates. A large section of better-class people,
especially those who had received some foreign
training, were sympathetic, because they credited
Japan's promises and had been convinced by old
experience that no far-reaching reforms could come
to their land without foreign aid. As victory
followed victory, however, the attitude of the
Japanese grew less kindly. A large number of
petty tradesmen followed the army, and these showed
none of the restraint of the military. They travelled
about, sword in hand, taking what they wished and
doing as they pleased. Then the army cut down the
rate of pay for coolies, and, from being overpaid,
the native labourers were forced to toil for half
their ordinary earnings. The military, too, gradually
began to acquire a more domineering air. It was
enough for any man in the north to be suspected of
holding intercourse with the Russians, for his death
to follow, and follow quickly. The Japanese, them-
selves past-masters in the art of espionage, were the
BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA iii
most rigid suppressors of attempts to spy upon their
own doings. There is little doubt that many people
were unjustly put to death in this way. A man who
had Russian money on him was at once dealt with
as a spy. This, however, was nothing more than
might have been expected during the strain of
war.
In Seoul itself a definite line of policy was being
pursued. The Korean Government had employed
a number of foreign advisers. These were steadily
eliminated; some of them were paid up for the full
time of their engagements and sent off, and others
were told that their agreements would not be renewed.
Numerous Japanese advisers were brought in, and,
step by step, the administration was Japanised. This
process was hastened by a supplementary agreement
concluded in August, when the Korean Emperor
practically handed the control of administrative
functions over to the Japanese. He agreed to engage
a Japanese financial adviser, to reform the currenc}', to
reduce his army, to adopt Japanese military and edu-
cational methods, and eventually to trust the foreign
relations to Japan. one of the first results of this
new agreement was that Mr. (now Baron) Megata was
given control of the Korean finances. He quickly
brought extensive and, on the whole, admirable
changes into the currency. Under the old methods,
Korean money was among the worst in the world.
The famous gibe of a British Consul in an official
report, that the Korean coins might be divided into
good, good counterfeits, bad counterfeits, and
counterfeits so bad that they can only be passed
112 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
off in the dark, was by no means an effort of
imagination. In the days before the war it was
necessary, when one received any sum of money, to
employ an expert to count over the coins, and put
aside the worst counterfeits. The old nickels were
so cumbersome that a very few pounds' worth of them
formed a heavy load for a pony. Mr. Megata
changed all this, and put the currency on a sound
basis, naturally not without some temporary trouble,
but certainly with permanent benefit to the country.
The next great step in the Japanese advance was
the acquirement of the entire Korean postal and
telegraph system. This was taken over, despite
Korean protests. More and more Japanese gen-
darmes were brought in and established themselves
everywhere. They started to control all political
activity. Men who protested against Japanese action
were arrested and imprisoned, or driven abroad. A
notorious pro-Japanese society, the II Chin Hoi, was
fostered by every possible means, it being said that,
for a time, the members received direct payments
through Japanese sources. The payment at one
period was put at 50 sen (is.) a day. Notices were
posted in Seoul that no one could organise a political
society unless the Japanese headquarters consented,
and no one could hold a meeting for discussing affairs
without permission, and without having it guarded
by Japanese police. All letters and circulars issued
by political societies were first to be submitted to the
headquarters. Those who offended made themselves
punishable by martial law.
, Gradually the hand of Japan became heavier and
BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA 113
heavier. Little aggravating changes were made. The
Japanese mih'tary authorities decreed that Japanese
time should be used for all public work, and they
changed the names of the towns from Korean to
Japanese. Martial law was now enforced with the
utmost rigidity. Scores of thousands of Japanese
coolies poured into the country, and spread abroad, act-
ing in a most oppressive way. These coolies, who had
been kept strictly under discipline in their own land,
here found themselves masters of a weaker people.
The Korean magistrates dared not punish them,
and the few Japanese residents, scattered in the
provinces, would not. The coolies were poor.v
uneducated, strong, and with the inherited brutal
traditions of generations of their ancestors who
had looked upon force and strength as supreme
right. They went through the country like a
plague. If they wanted a thing they took it. If
they fancied a house, they turned the resident out.
They beat, they outraged, they murdered in a
way and on a scale of which it is difficult for
any white man to speak with moderation. Koreans
were flogged to death for offences that did not
deserve a sixpenny fine. They were shot for
mere awkwardness. Men were dispossessed of
their homes by every form of guile and trickery.
It has been my lot to hear from Koreans them-
selves and from white men living in the districts,
hundreds upon hundreds of incidents of this time,
all to the same effect. The outrages were allowed
to pass unpunished and unheeded. The Korean
who approached the office of a Japanese resident
9
114 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
to complain was thrown out, as a rule, by the
underlings.
one act on the part of the Japanese surprised
most of those who knew them best. In Japan itself
opium-smoking is prohibited under the heaviest
penalties, and elaborate precautions are taken to shut
opium in any of its forms out of the country. Strict
anti-opium laws were also enforced in Korea under
the old administration. The Japanese, however, now
permitted numbers of their people to travel through
the interior of Korea selling morphia to the natives.
In the north-west in particular this caused quite a
wave of morphia-mania.
The Japanese had evidently set themselves to
acquire possession of as much Korean land as
possible. The military authorities staked out large
portions of the finest sites in the country, the
river-lands near Seoul, the lands around Ping-yang,
great districts to the north, and fine strips all along
the railway. Hundreds of thousands of acres were
thus acquired. A nominal sum was paid as compen-
sation to the Korean Government — a sum that did
not amount to one-twentieth part of the real value
of the land. The people who were turned out
received, in many cases, nothing at all, and, in
others, one-tenth to one-twentieth of the fair value.
The land was seized by the military, nominally
for purposes of war. Within a few months large
parts of it were being resold to Japanese builders
and shopkeepers, and Japanese settlements were
growing up on them. This theft of land was one
of the most outrageous tyrannies possible to imagine
:i-
'/■" '■'
I /■ . . I . .ii \ i\t II . II.
THK AI-I'KAI, 1(1 TlIK CKOSS, VAN-OUN.
BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA 115
on a weaker nation. It beggared thousands of
formerly prosperous people.
The Japanese Minister pushed forward, in the
early days of the war, a scheme of land appropria-
tion that would have handed two-thirds of Korea
over at a blow to a Japanese concessionaire, a
Mr. Nagamori, had it gone through. Under this
scheme all the waste lands of Korea, which
included all unworked mineral lands, were to be
given to Mr. Nagamori nominally for fifty years,
but really on a perpetual lease, without any pay-
ment or compensation, and with freedom from
taxation for some time, Mr. Nagamori was simply
a cloak for the Japanese Government in this matter.
The comprehensive nature of the request stirred even
the foreign representatives in Seoul to action. A
wave of indignation swept over the nation, and for the
moment the Japanese had to abandon the scheme.
It may be asked why the Korean people did not
make vigorous protests against the appropriation
of their land. They did all they could, as can be
seen by the " Five Rivers " case. one part of
the Japanese policy was to force loans upon the
Korean Government. on one occasion it was
proposed that Japan should lend Korea
2,000,000 yen. The residents in a prosperous
district near Seoul, the " Five Rivers," informed
the Emperor that if he wanted money, they would
raise it and so save them the necessity of borrow-
ing from foreigners. Soon afterwards these people
were all served with notice to quit, as their land
was wanted by iho Japanese military authorities.
ii6 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
The district contained, it was said, about
15,000 houses. The inhabitants protested, and
finally a large number of them went as a deputa-
tion into Seoul, and demanded to see the Minister
for Home Affairs. They were met by a Japanese
policeman, who was soon reinforced by about
twenty others, and these refused to allow the
people forward. In a few minutes police and mob
were freely fighting. Many of the Koreans were
wounded, some of them severely, and finally, in
spite of a stubborn resistance, they were driven
back. Afterwards a mixed force of Japanese
police and soldiers went down to their district, and
firing blank cartridges, drove them from their
villages.
The foreign protests began now to be more and
more frequent, and many Europeans and Americans
who were most strongly sympathetic with Japan
at the beginning, veered over to an attitude of
criticism and semi-hostility. Papers like the
Korea Review, which had at first been outspokenly
friendly, began more and more to question. " We
have consistently upheld the Japanese in their
opposition to Russian intrigue in the Far East,"
wrote the editor of the Korea Review. " Japan is
doing a splendid work and is fitting herself to do
a still greater work in this region. She probably
aspires to be a leader of opinion in this part of
the world, and to bring her influence to bear
upon China for the renovation of that enormous
mass of humanity. That is a much larger work
than the mere absorption of a little corner of the
BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA 117
Far East like Korea ; but if Japan breaks her
solemn pledges to Korea and continues to treat
this people as she is now doing, she is sure to
injure herself in the eyes of the world. Japan
is fighting Russia because of the latter's broken
promises in Manchuria, but if Japan herself breaks
the promises she has made to Korea, how can
she gain the countenance and acquiescence of the
Western Powers in any plan for large work in the
rehabilitation of China? The best thing for
Japan, from the merely selfish standpoint, would
be to clear her skirts of all suspicion of double-
dealing with Korea, to give this people even-
handed justice, to visit swift and exemplary
punishment on any Japanese subject who treats
a Korean less justly than he would a fellow-
Japanese."
The Japanese brought over among their many
advisers, one foreigner — an American, Mr. Stevens —
who had for some time served in the Japanese
Foreign Ofifice. Mr. Stevens was nominally in the
employment of the Korean Government, but really
he was, and is, a more thorough-going servant of
Japan than many Japanese themselves. Two
foreigners, whose positions seemed fairly established,
were greatly in the way of the new rulers. one
was Dr. Allen, the American Minister at Seoul.
Dr. Allen had shown himself to be an independent
and impartial representative of his country. He was
very friendly to the Japanese cause, but he did not
think it necessary to shut his eyes to the darker
sides of their administration. This led to his down-
Ii8 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
fall. He took opportunity on one occasion to tell
his Government some unpalatable truths. Influence
against him was employed in a subtle and delicate
way, and it was implied that he was not wholly a
persona gratia to the Japanese authorities. In con-
sequence he was very summarily and somewhat dis-
courteously recalled, greatly to the surprise and
indignation of the American community in Korea.
The next victim was Mr. McLeavy Brown, the Chief
Commissioner of Customs. Mr. Brown had done
everything possible at first to work with the
Japanese, but later there came conflicts of authority
between him and Mr. Megata. Negotiations were
entered into with the British authorities, and in
the end Mr, Brown received his cong^. When the
Russians had tried to turn Mr. Brown away, they
were met by the assembling of a British fleet in
Chemulpho Harbour ; when the Japanese tried it,
their act passed almost without comment, save
from those well acquainted with the country. Mr.
Brown was too loyal and self-sacrificing to dispute
the ruling, and he submitted in silence.
Revisiting the interior of Korea in the summer of
1906, I saw much that appalled me. I quote here
some of my personal impressions as written at the
time : —
" When I first heard these charges from the
Koreans I naturally suspected exaggeration. I
talked the matter over with the leading Japanese,
but these, while partly admitting some of the com-
plaints, claimed that they were past — temporary
wrongs incidental to war time — and that all is
BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA 119
going right now. I found, however, when I went
into the country, too many new cases to enable
me to accept this view.
" I questioned the European and American resi-
dents, and compared notes with many scores of
them. Diplomats, missionaries, merchants, doctors,
and teachers all told me practically the same tale,
and that tale elaborated and confirmed the Korean
case. I say all, but that is not quite accurate. I
found four white men who defended the Japanese
policy. one was an American official in the Japanese
service, and the other three were tradesmen doing
considerable business with the Japanese authorities.
" Apart from these four, the attitude was generally
this : ' We are no more pro-Russian than ever we
were,' the people would say. * We believe in the
splendid future before Japan if she only will rise
to it. But the Japanese doings in Korea during
the past two years have been so bad that we cannot
keep silence.'
" I made great efforts to find an independent white
man who would stand up for the Japanese policy
At last I thought I had found one in an American
missionary doctor, living in the interior, who last
year wrote forcibly and eloquently for Japan. Alas !
I came to see the doctor at an unfortunate moment.
Some Japanese soldiers had only the previous day
invaded the home of one of his chief native preachers,
and had badly beaten the preacher when he attempted
to stop them from penetrating into his women's
quarter. Soldiers had seized the home of an elderly
servant of the doctor not many days before. His
120 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Korean neighbours were suffering because of the
seizure of their lands. I heard no defence of Japan
there.
" The barbarities of the Korean courts and prisons
still remain unchecked. My attention was called to
the state of the prisons, and I visited two of them.
In the first, at Ping-yang, I found eighteen men and
one woman confined in one cell. Several of the men
were fastened to the ground by wooden stocks. The
prisoners were emaciated, and their bodies showed
plain signs of horrible disease. Their clothing was
of the poorest, the cell was indescribably filthy, and
the prisoners were confined in it, without exercise
and without employment, year after year. one man
had been in the cell for six years.
" The second prison, Sun-chon, was much worse.
In the inner room there — so dark that for some
moments I could see nothing — I found three men
fastened flat on the ground, their heads and feet in
stocks and their hands tied together. The room had
no light or ventilation, save from a small hole in the
wall. The men's backs were fearfully scarred with
cuts from beatings. Their arms were cut to the bone
in many places by the ropes that had been tightly
bound around them, and the wounds thus made were
suppurating freely. The upper parts of the limbs
were swollen ; great weals and blisters could be seen
on their flesh. one man's eyes were closed, and the
sight gone, heavy suppuration oozing from the closed
lids. Presumably the eyes had been knocked in by
blows. The men had lain thus confined without
moving for days. I had them brought out into the
BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA 121
sunshine. It was difficult work ; one of them had
already largely lost the use of his limbs, owing to
their contraction. They were all starved and so
broken that they had not even spirit to plead. The
place was the nearest approach to hell I have ever
seen.
" While in Japan, before my present visit to Korea,
I had the privilege of a long interview with the
Marquis Ito, the Resident-General and head of the
Japanese administration. The Marquis Ito is, as all
the world knows, the greatest and most famous of
the older statesmen of Japan. His coming to Korea
when he did was an act of splendid self-sacrifice.
" As the Marquis unfolded his plans for the im-
provement of Korea my heart rose. There was to
be reform, justice, and conciliation. Any mistakes
in the past were to be remedied. ' I feel that I stand
midway between the Koreans and my own people to
see justice done to both,' the Marquis declared.
" Standing in the cell at Sun-chon I recalled those
words, and despite the strength, sincerity, and high
purpose of the Marquis, they seemed little better than
a hollow mockery." ^
Lest it should be thought that I have allowed
personal sympathy with the Korean people to colour
my statement of their grievances, I would appeal to
the evidence of a witness strongly and consistently
pro-Japanese — Mr. George Kennan. As all who were
behind the scenes to any extent in Japan at the
period during and following the war are aware, the
Japanese authorities had no abler or more powerful
' London Daily Mail, September S, 1906.
122 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
advocate in the Press of America than this writer.
Mr. Kennan's great strength lay in his unquestion-
able sincerity, and in the influence he possessed in
America, thanks to his former writings on Siberia.
In the late summer of 1905 Mr. Kennan visited
Korea and wrote some articles on the Korean
question in the New York Outlook. He strongly
supported the Japanese cause in the Hermit King-
dom, and emphatically condemned the corruption
and weakness of the Korean Government and nation.
But when Mr. Kennan came down to actual adminis-
trative details, he could not shut his eyes to plain
facts. He admitted that the Japanese "have not
displayed in that field (Korea) anything like the
intelligent prevision, the conspicuous ability and
the remarkable capacity for prearrangement that
they have shown in the arena of war."
After an outspoken condemnation of the Naga-
mori scheme, and of the employment by the Japanese
of some of the worst of the old Korean officials, Mr.
Kennan went on : —
" Having disappointed expectation by failing to
reform the Korean Civil Service, and having irritated
the people by proposing to turn over a large part of
the Empire to a foreign syndicate, the Japanese
authorities made a third mistake in allowing their
own countrymen to swarm into Korea by tens of
thousands before they had provided any legal
machinery for the adjudication and settlement of
disputes between the immigrants and the natives.
In Japan, as in every other country, there are good
men and bad men, men who are fair and honest and
BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA 123
men who are reckless and unscrupulous. When a
new and undeveloped country is suddenly thrown
open to business enterprise, it is likely to be invaded
first by speculators, exploiters, and adventurers, who
expect to fish in troubled waters, and who think that
they can make big profits by taking early advantage
of native ignorance and inexperience. Such has
been the case in some of our own colonial de-
pendencies, and such was the case in Korea. The
Japanese who went there first were largely men who
wanted to get rich quickly, and who had no scruples
with regard to methods. Considerations of Imperial
welfare and policy were nothing to them, and any
action seemed to them permissible if it did not
land them in jail. Many of them regarded the rights
of the Koreans as some of us regard the rights of the
Indians, and when the two nationalities came into
conflict the Koreans invariably went to the wall.
The immigrants not only cheated the natives when
they had the opportunity, but, relying upon the
absence of legal control, often ill-treated them
personally and deprived them of their property by
force. The Japanese authorities, of course, dis-
approved of this, and did what they could to prevent
it ; but fifty or sixty thousand immigrants scattered
over a country more than twice as big as Indiana,
and almost as destitute of means of intercommuni-
cation as Alaska, are not to be controlled by half
a dozen consuls ; and as the victims of the ill-treat-
ment had no protection from their own officials, and
no redress in their own courts, they were practically
defenceless.
124 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
" The Koreans are mostly exaggerators or bare-
faced liars, by heredity and by training, and it is
impossible to accept, without careful verification, the
statements which they make with regard to Japanese
misbehaviour ; but I am satisfied, from cases that I
have investigated, and from the testimony of the
Japanese themselves, that the natives have good
ground for complaint. To illustrate by a few
examples : —
(i) "A Japanese coolie goes to the stand of a
Korean fruit-seller, eats half a yen worth of peaches
or grapes, throws down five or ten sen, and walks
away. The Korean dealer follows him and insists
upon having the market value of the fruit consumed.
The demand leads to an altercation, and at the end
of it the Japanese kicks or cuffs the Korean and goes
on his way, leaving the latter defrauded and insulted.
(2) " Half a dozen Japanese prospectors in the
country find a piece of unowned and unoccupied
land which needs only irrigation to make it valuable.
They discover that they can irrigate it by changing
the course of a small stream which waters the rice-
field of a Korean farmer lower down, and they pro-
ceed at once to dig the necessary ditches. When
the owner of the rice-field protests, they browbeat
and intimidate him, and tell him that if he has a
valid claim to that water privilege, he can go to the
Japanese Consul and prove it.
(3) " The Korean Government, through one of its
Cabinet officers, secretly sells to a Japanese syndicate
the right to share equally with the Koreans in the
fishing privileges on a certain stretch of coast. The
BEGINNING OF THE NEVv^ ERA 125
syndicate immediately assumes that this concession
grants an exclusive right, and its employees proceed
to drive away the Korean fishermen and confiscate
the fish which the latter have already caught. In
June, 1905, a quarrel over a transaction of this kind
occurred near Masampho, and in the fight that
ensued fourteen men are said to have been killed.
(4) " A Korean from the country goes to a
Japanese broker in Seoul and exchanges 400 yen for
Korean nickels. As the money, in the shape of
nickels, is bulky, and as the Korean has no immediate
use for it, he leaves it with the broker on deposit and
takes a receipt. When, some time later, he calls for
it, the broker assumes an air of surprise and declares
that he — the depositor— has already withdrawn it.
The Korean produces the receipt as evidence of the
debt, and insists that if the broker had paid the
money he would have taken up the voucher. The
broker merely reiterates the statement that he has
returned the deposit, and explains that his failure
to take up the receipt was due to inadvertence. The
Korean goes to the Japanese consulate with his com-
plaint and is turned back at the door. He then gets
an American missionary to accompany him, and
finally succeeds in gaining admittance. The Japanese
Vice-Consul, not knowing that the missionary under-
stands the Korean language, begins to abuse the
unfortunate depositor for dragging a foreigner into
the case, whereupon the American explains, mildly,
that he has accompanied the Korean merely because
the latter has failed to get admission alone. The
Vice-Consul says that he will investigate tiie case,
126 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
but he fails to do so and the Korean loses his
money.
(5) " A Korean leases his house to a Japanese for
one year, and at the expiration of that period sells it
to another person. The tenant in possession refuses
to move out, and defies the owner to eject him. The
Japanese Consul fails to take action upon the com-
plaint of the Korean, and the latter is virtually
deprived of his property without any process of law.
(6) " A Japanese railroad contractor makes a deal
with a Korean official for the services of 100 Korean
coolies, who are to be paid at the rate of a yen and
a half each per day. Instead of giving the money
to the labourers who have earned it, the contractor
hands it over to the official, who steals two-thirds
of it and gives the coolies only one-third. When the
latter refuse to work any longer for 50 sen a day,
the official and the contractor together resort to
. force.
" The above are only samples of hundreds of cases
in which the conflicting rights or interests of Koreans
and Japanese fail of settlement for lack of adequate
judicial machinery. The Japanese immigrants are
not subject to the jurisdiction of Korean courts, and
the Koreans cannot get justice in the Japanese con-
sular courts, for the reason, principally, that the latter
are swamped with business. In all Korea I have no
doubt that there are a thousand disputes or quarrels
between Koreans and Japanese every month ; and it
is utterly impossible for half a dozen consuls to
investigate such a number of cases, or even to listen
to the complaints of the injured parties. The result
BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA 127
is universal miscarriage of justice and a steadily
growing anti-Japanese feeling throughout the penin-
sula. . . .
" But it is not of the Japanese immigrants alone
that the Koreans complain. They assert, and un-
doubtedly believe, that they are often treated unfairly
by the Japanese authorities. Take, for example, the
disputes and grievances growing out of the expro-
priation of land and the employment of Korean
coolies by Japanese railway companies. These
corporations, or their employees, have frequently
made payments for land and labour, not to the
landowners and labourers, but to the Korean Govern-
ment or its officials, and have trusted the latter to
distribute the money equitably among the persons
entitled to it. In many, if not in most, cases such
distribution has not been properly or honestly made,
and many Koreans consequently have been left
without reimbursement for land taken and without
the stipulated wages for labour performed. They
naturally throw the blame for this state of affairs
upon the Japanese authorities, who, they think,
should either have supervised the action of the
Korean officials or have compelled the railway com-
panies to make direct payment to the coolies whom
they hired and the farmers whose land they seized.
Laying aside the question of equity, there can be no
doubt, I think, that, as a mere matter of policy, the
Japanese authorities should have made sure in every
case that the Koreans actually received the money
which the corporations paid. They were well aware
of the incapacity and corruption of the Korean
128 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
administration, and they made, to say the least, a
serious mistake in judgment when they allowed
Korean officials to act as middlemen between
Japanese corporations on one side and the Korean
people on the other. Such a course was sure to lead
to dissatisfaction and trouble.
" Take, for an example of another kind, the staking
out by the Japanese military authorities of a large
area of occupied and cultivated land in the suburbs
of Seoul. The Koreans believe that the Japanese,
in the exercise of the right of eminent domain, intend
to seize all this land and evict the owners, without
giving the latter adequate compensation for their
houses and farms ; and they protest against such
injustice. I am assured, by an official who ought
to be well informed, that the stakes and flags, which
I myself saw, and which seemed to me to cover
several square miles of inhabited and cultivated terri-
tory, were not intended to mark out the boundaries
of a contemplated land-seizure, but were put up by
Japanese military engineers in the working out of a
strategic plan of defence. I hope and trust that such
may be the case ; but even if this statement be
accepted, it is extremely impolitic on the part of
the Japanese to allow a storm of alarm, indignation,
and protest to be raised over a matter which might
be settled by a few words of explanation. The anti-
Japanese agitation in Korea is already threatening
and serious — why increase the trouble by permitting
the Korean people to think that the suburban resi-
dents of Seoul are virtually to be robbed of territory
which certainly covers three or four square miles and
BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA 129
is caid to contain more than 1,100 houses? If, on
the other hand, the military authorities really intend
to take possession of the land covered by the flags
and stakes which I saw — if they propose to evict
hundreds of families from their houses and farms
and leave them to get compensation from their own
Government of extortioners and robbers — such action
will be not only recklessly imprudent, but in the
highest degree unjust." ^
' Mr. Kennan here presumably refers to the district from
which the native Koreans have since been completely evicted
by the Japanese,
10
CHAPTER XI
TREATY-MAKING AND TREATY-BREAKING
AS the summer of 1905 drew to a close, it became
more and more clear that the Japanese
Government, despite its many promises to the con-
trary, intended completely to destroy the independ-
ence of Korea. Even the Court officials were at
last seriously alarmed, and set about devising means
to protect themselves. The Emperor had thought
that because Korean independence was provided for
in treaty after treaty with the Great Powers, therefore
he was safe. He had yet to learn that treaty rights,
unbacked by power, are worth little more than the
paper they are written upon. In particular, he
trusted to a definite guarantee given by the American
Government. In the treaty of 1882 it was provided
that if other Powers dealt unjustly or oppressively
with Korea, America would exert her good offices
to bring about an amicable arrangement. A semi-
official messenger, Professor Hulbert, an American
educationalist in the employment of the Korean
Government, was dispatched to Washington with a
letter from the Emperor, calling attention to the
great evils Japan was inflicting upon Korea, and
130
TREATY-MAKING 131
asking for American aid. The Japanese allowed
Professor Hulbert to leave unhindered, but before
he could present his letter to the Foreign Office at
Washington, the old Korean Government was already
overthrown. Professor Hulbert met with a very
cold reception in Washington, for the Japanese
prestige was then at its greatest. " What do you
expect us to do ? " senators asked him, when he told
them of what was happening. " Do you really
believe that America ought to go to war with Japan
over Korea ? " So far from pleading the case of
Korea with Japan, America was the first to fall in
with and give its open assent to the destruction of
the old administration. on the first intimation from
Japan it agreed, without inquiry and with almost
indecent haste, to withdraw its Minister from Seoul,
Early in November the Marquis Ito arrived in
Seoul as Special Envoy from the Emperor of Japan,
and he brought with him a letter from the Mikado,
saying that he hoped the Korean Emperor would
follow the directions of the Marquis, and come to
an agreement with him, as it was essential for the
maintenance of peace in the Far East that he should
do so. on November 15th Marquis Ito was received
in formal audience, and there presented a series of
demands, drawn up in treaty form. These were, in
the main, that the foreign relations of Korea should
now be placed entirely in the hands of Japan, the
Korean diplomatic service be brought to an end,
and the Ministers recalled from foreign Courts. The
Japanese Minister to Korea was to become supreme
administrator to the country under the Emperor,
132 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
and the Japanese Consuls in the different districts
were to be made Residents, with the powers of
supreme local governors. In other words, Korea
was entirely to surrender her independence as a
State, and was to hand over control of her internal
administration to the Japanese. The Emperor met
the request with a blank refusal. The conversation
between the two, as reported at the time, was as
follows.
The Emperor said —
" Although I have seen in the newspapers various
rumours that Japan proposed to assume a protecto-
rate over Korea, I did not believe them, as I placed
faith in Japan's adherence to the promise to main-
tain the independence of Korea which was made by
the Emperor of Japan at the beginning of the war
and embodied in a treaty between Korea and Japan.
When I heard you were coming to my country I
was glad, as I believed your mission was to increase
the friendship between our countries, and your
demands have therefore taken me entirely by
surprise."
To which Marquis Ito rejoined —
" These demands are not my own ; I am only
acting in accordance with a mandate from my
Government, and if Your Majesty will agree to the
demands which I have presented it will be to the
benefit of both nations and peace in the East will be
assured for ever. Please, therefore, consent quickly."
The Emperor replied —
" From time immemorial it has been the custom
of the rulers of Korea, when confronted with
TREATY-MAKING 133
questions so momentous as this, to come to no
decision until all the Ministers, high and low, who
hold or have held office, have been consulted, and
the opinion of the scholars and the common people
have been obtained, so that I cannot now settle this
matter myself."
Said Marquis Ito again —
" Protests from the people can easily be disposed
of, and for the sake of the friendship between the two
countries Your Majesty should come to a decision
at once."
To this the Emperor replied —
" Assent to your proposal would mean the ruin
of my country, and I will therefore sooner die than
agree to them,"
The conference lasted nearly five hours, and then
the Marquis had to leave, having accomplished
nothing. He at once tackled the members of the
Cabinet, individually and collectively. They were
all summoned to the Japanese Legation on the
following day, and a furious debate began, starting
at three o'clock in the afternoon, and lasting till late
at night. The Ministers had sworn to one another
beforehand that they would not yield. In spite of
threats, cajoleries, and proffered bribes, they
remained steadfast. The arguments used by
Marquis Ito and Mr. Hayashi, apart from personal
ones, were twofold. The first was that it was
essential for the peace of the Far East that Japan
and Korea should be united. The second appealed
to racial ambition. The Japanese painted to the
Koreans a picture of a great united East, with the
134 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Mongol nations all standing firm and as one against
the white man, who would reduce them to submission
if he could.i The Japanese were determined to give
the Cabinet no time to regather its strength. on the
17th of November, another conference began at two
in the afternoon at the Legation, but equally without
result. Mr. Hayashi then advised the Ministers to
go to the palace and open a Cabinet Meeting in
the presence of the Emperor. This was done, the
Japanese joining in.
All this time the Japanese Army had been making
a great display of military force around the palace.
All the Japanese troops in the district had been for
days parading the streets and open places fronting
the Imperial residence. The field-guns were out,
and the men were fully armed. They marched,
counter-marched, stormed, made feint attacks,
occupied the gates, put their guns in position, and
did everything, short of actual violence, that they
could to demonstrate to the Koreans that they were
able to enforce their demands. To the Cabinet
Ministers themselves, and to the Emperor, all this
display had a sinister and terrible meaning. They
could not forget the night in 1895, when the
Japanese soldiers had paraded around another palace,
' As it may be questioned whether the Japanese would use
such arguments, I may say that the account of the interview
was given to me by one of the participating Korean Ministers,
and that he dealt at great length with the pro-Asian policy
suggested there. I asked him why he had not listened and
accepted. He replied that he knew what such arguments
meant. The unity of Asia when spoken of by Japanese meant
the supreme autocracy of their country.
TREATY-MAKING 135
and when their picked bulh'es had forced their way
inside and murdered the Queen. Japan had done
this before ; why should she not do it again ? Not
one of those now resisting the will of Dai Nippon
but saw the sword in front of his eyes, and heard
in imagination a hundred times during the day the
rattle of the Japanese bullets.
That evening Japanese soldiers, with fixed bayonets,
entered the courtyard of the palace and stood near
the apartment of the Emperor. Marquis Ito now
arrived, accompanied by General Hasegawa, Com-
mander of the Japanese army in Korea, and a fresh
attack was started on the Cabinet Ministers. The
Marquis demanded an audience of the Emperor.
The Emperor refused to grant it, saying that his
throat was very bad, and he was in great pain. The
Marquis then made his way into the Emperor's
presence, and personally requested an audience.
The Emperor still refused. " Please go away and
discuss the matter with the Cabinet Ministers," he
said.
Thereupon Marquis Ito went outside to the
Ministers, "Your Emperor has commanded you to
confer with me and settle this matter," he declared.
A fresh conference was opened. The presence of
the soldiers, the gleaming of the bayonets outside, the
harsh words of command that could be heard through
the windows of the palace buildings, were not without
their effect. The Ministers had fought for days
and they had fought alone. No single foreign
representative had offered them help or counsel.
They saw submission or destruction before them.
136 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
" What is the use of our resisting ? " said one. " The
Japanese always get their way in the end." Signs
of yielding began to appear. The acting Prime
Minister, Han Kew Sul, jumped to his feet and said
he would go and tell the Emperor of the talk of
traitors. Han Kew Sul was allowed to leave the
room and then was gripped by the Japanese Secretary
of the Legation, thrown into a side-room and
threatened with death. Even Marquis Ito went out
to him to persuade him. " Would you not yield/'
the Marquis said, " if your Emperor commanded
you ? " " No," said Han Kew Sul, " not even then ! "
This was enough. The Marquis at once went to
the Emperor. " Han Kew Sul is a traitor," he said.
" He defies you, and declares that he will not obey
your commands."
Meanwhile the remaining Ministers waited in the
Cabinet Chamber. Where was their leader, the man
who had urged them all to resist to death ? Minute
after minute passed, and still he did not return.
Then a whisper went round that the Japanese had
killed him. The harsh voices of the Japanese grew
still more strident. Courtesy and restraint were
thrown off. " Agree with us and be rich, or oppose
us and perish." Pak Che Sun, the Foreign Minister,
one of the best and most capable of Korean states-
men, was the last to yield. But even he finally gave
way. In the early hours of the morning commands
were issued that the seal of State should be brought
from the Foreign Minister's apartment, and a treaty
should be signed. Here another difficulty arose.
The custodian of the seal had received orders in
TREATY-MAKING I37
advance that, even if his master commanded,
the seal was not to be surrendered for any such
purpose. When telephonic orders were sent to him,
he refused to bring the seal along, and special
messengers had to be dispatched to take it from
him by force. The Emperor himself asserts to
this day that he did not consent.
The news of the signing of the treaty was received
by the people with horror and indignation. Han
Kew Sul, once he escaped from custody, turned
on his fellow-Ministers as one distraught, and
bitterly reproached them. " Why have you broken
your promises ? " he cried. " Why have you broken
your promises ? " The Ministers found themselves
the most hated and despised of men. There
was danger lest mobs should attack them and tear
them to pieces. Pak Che Sun shrank away under
the storm of execration that greeted him. on
December 6th, as he was entering the palace, one
of the soldiers lifted his rifle and tried to shoot
him. Pak Che Sun turned back, and hurried to the
Japanese Legation. There he forced his way into
the presence of Mr. Hayashi, and drew a knife.
" It is you who have brought me to this," he cried.
" You have made me a traitor to my country." He
attempted to cut his own throat, but Mr. Hayashi
stopped him, and he was sent to hospital for
treatment. When he recovered he was chosen by
the Japanese as the new Prime Minister, Han Kew
Sul being exiled and disgraced. Pak did not, how-
ever, hold office for very long, being somewhat too
independent to suit his new masters.
138 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
As the news spread through the country, the
people of various districts assembled, particularly
in the north, and started to march southwards to
die in front of the palace as a protest. Thanks to
the influence of the missionaries, many of them were
stopped. " It is of no use your dying in that way,"
the missionaries told them. "You had better live
and make your country better able to hold its
own." A number of leading officials, including all
the surviving past Prime Ministers, and over a
hundred men who had previously held high office
under the Crown, went to the palace, and demanded
that the Emperor should openly repudiate the
treaty, and execute those Ministers who had
acquiesced in it. The Emperor tried to temporise
with them, for he was afraid that, if he took too
openly hostile an attitude, the Japanese would punish
him. The memorialists sat down in the palace
buildings, refusing to move, and demanding an answer.
Some of their leaders were arrested by the Japanese
gendarmes, only to have others, still greater men,
take their place. The store-keepers of the city put
up their shutters to mark their mourning.
At last a message came from the Emperor :
" Although affairs now appear to you to be dangerous,
there may presently result some benefit to the
nation." The gendarmes descended on the peti-
tioners and threatened them with general arrest if
they remained around the palace any longer. They
moved on to a shop where they tried to hold a
meeting, but they were turned out of it by the
police. Min Yong Whan, their leader, a former
TREATY-MAKING 139
Minister for War and Special Korean Ambassador
at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, went home.
He wrote letters to his friends lamenting the state
of his country, and then committed suicide. Several
other statesmen did the same, while many others
resigned. one native paper, the Whang Sung
Shimbun, dared to print an exact statement of what
had taken place. Its editor was promptly arrested,
and thrown into prison, and the paper suppressed.
Its lamentation voiced the feeling of the country : —
" When it was recently made known the Marquis
Ito would come to Korea our deluded people all
said, with one voice, that he is the man who will
be responsible for the maintenance of friendship
between the three countries of the Far East (Japan,
China, and Korea), and, believing that his visit to
Korea was for the sole purpose of devising good
plans for strictly maintaining the promised integrity
and independence of Korea, our people, from the
sea-coast to the capital, united in extending to
him a hearty welcome.
" But oh ! How difficult is it to anticipate affairs
in this world. Without warning, a proposal contain-
ing five clauses was laid before the Emperor, and
we then saw how mistaken we were about the
object of Marquis Ito's visit. However, the Emperor
firmly refused to have anything to do with these
proposals and Marquis Ito should then, properly,
have abandoned his attempt and returned to his
own country.
" But the Ministers of our Government, who are
worse than pigs or dogs, coveting honours and
140 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
advantages for themselves, and frightened by empty
threats, were trembling in every limb, and were
willing to become traitors to their country and
betray to Japan the integrity of a nation which has
stood for 4,000 years, the foundation and honour of a
dynasty 500 years old, and the rights and freedom of
twenty million people.
" We do not wish to too deeply blame Pak Che
Sun and the other Ministers, of whom, as they are
little better than brute animals, too much was
not to be expected, but what can be said of the
Vice-Prime Minister, the chief of the Cabinet, whose
early opposition to the proposals of Marquis Ito
was an empty form devised to enhance his reputa-
tion with the people?
" Can he not now repudiate the agreement or
can he not rid the world of his presence ? How can
he again stand before the Emperor and with what
face can he ever look upon any one of his twenty
million compatriots ?
" Is it worth while for any of us to live any
longer ? Our people have become the slaves of
others, and the spirit of a nation which has stood
for 4,000 years, since the days of Tun Kun and Ke-ja
has perished in a single night. Alas ! fellow-country-
men. Alas ! "
Suicides, resignations, and lamentation were of
no avail. The Japanese gendarmes commanded the
streets, and the Japanese soldiers, behind them, were
ready to back up their will by the most unanswer-
able of arguments — force.
Naturally, as might have been expected by those
TREATY-MAKING 141
who know something of the character of the
Japanese, every effort was made to show that there
had been no breach of treaty promises. Korea was
still an independent country, and the dignity of
its Imperial house was still unimpaired. Japan had
only brought a little friendly pressure on a weaker
brother to assist him along the path of progress.
Such talk pleased the Japanese, and helped them
to reconcile the contrast between their solemn
promises and their actions. It deceived no one
else. To-day even, the Japanese papers make little
or no more talk of Korean independence. " Korean
independence is a farce," they say. They say it
rightly.
CHAPTER XII
THE RULE OF PRINCE ITO
MARQUIS ITO was made the first Japanese
Resident-General in Korea. There could
have been no better choice, and no choice more
pleasing to the Korean people. It is noteworthy
that, although the Marquis has been the main repre-
sentative of the Mikado in wresting its indepen-
dence from Korea, he is yet regarded by the
responsible men there with a friendliness such as
few other Japanese inspire. Every one who comes
in contact with him feels that, whatever the nature
of the measures he is driven to adopt because of
Imperial policy, he yet sincerely means well by the
Korean people. The faults of his administration
may be the necessary accompaniments of Japanese
Imperial expansion, but his virtues are his own. It
was a noble act for him to take on himself the most
burdensome and exacting post that Japanese diplo-
macy had to offer, at a time when he might well look
for the ease and dignity of the close of an honour-
sated career.
The Marquis brought with him several very capable
Japanese officials of high rank, and began his new
142
I'k'IW I'. ITO.
THE RULE OF PRINCE ITO 143
rule by issuing regulations fixing the position and
duties of his staff. Under these, the Resident-
General became in effect supreme Administrator of
Korea, with power to do what he pleased. He had
authority to repeal any order or measure that he con-
sidered injurious to public interests, and he could
punish to the extent of not more than a year's im-
prisonment or not more than a 200 yen fine. This
limitation of his punitive power was purely nominal,
for the country was under martial law and the courts-
martial had power to inflict death. Residents and
Vice-Residents, of Japanese nationality, were placed
over the countn/, acting practically as governors.
The police were placed under Japanese inspectors
where they were not themselves Japanese. The
various departments of affairs, agricultural, com-
mercial, and industrial, were given Japanese directors
and advisers, and the power of appointing all officials,
save those of the highest rank, was finally in the hands
of the Resident-General. This limitation, again, was
soon put on one side. Thus, the Resident-General
became dictator of Korea — a dictator, however, who
still conducted certain branches of local affairs there
through native officials and who had to reckon with
the intrigues of a Court party which he could not as
yet sweep on one side.
To Japan, Korea is chiefly of importance as a
strategic position for military operations on the
continent of Asia and as a field for emigration. The
first steps under the new administration were in the
direction of perfecting communications throughout
the country, so as to enable the troops to be moved
144 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
easily and rapidly from point to point. A railway
had already been built from Fusan to Seoul, and
another was in course of completion from Seoul to
Wi-ju, thus giving a trunk line that would carry large
numbers of Japanese soldiers from Japan itself to the
borders of Manchuria in about thirty-six hours. A
loan of 10,000,000 yen was raised on the guarantee
of the Korean Customs, and a million and a half of
this was spent on four main military roads, connect-
ing some of the chief districts with the principal
harbours and railway centres. Part of the cost of
these was paid by the loan and part by special local
taxation. It may be pointed out that these roads
are military rather than industrial undertakings. The
usual methods of travel and for conveying goods in
the interior of Korea is by horseback and with pack-
ponies. For these, the old narrow tracks served,
generally speaking, very well. The new roads are
finely graded, and are built in such a manner that
rails can be quickly laid down on them and artillery
and ammunition wagons rapidly conveyed from
point to point. Another railway has been pushed
forward, and is now nearing completion, from Seoul
to Gensan, on the east coast.
The old Korean " Burglar Capture Office," the
native equivalent to the Bow Street Runners, was
abolished, as were the local police, and police
administration was more and more put in the hands
of special constables brought over from Japan. The
Japanese military gendarmerie were gradually sent
back and their places taken by civilian constables.
This change was wholly for the good. The gen-
THE RULE OF PRINCE ITO 145
darmerie had earned a very bad reputation in country
parts for harshness and arbitrary conduct. The
civilian poh"ce proved themselves far better men, more
conciliatory, and more just. The one complaint that
may be made about this change is that it has not
gone far enough. In dealing with improved police
administration I would, however, except the methods
of treating political offenders in Seoul itself I heard,
even as late as the autumn of 1907, amazing and
incredible stories of what is being done to these. I
have been unable to get positive proof, either affirma-
tively or otherwise, and can consequently only say
that Seoul must be left out of my references.
one real improvement instituted by the Residency-
General was the closer control of Japanese immi-
grants. Numbers of the worst offenders were laid by
the heels and sent back home. The Residency
officials were increased in numbers, and in some parts
at least it became easier for a Korean to obtain a
a hearing when he had a complaint against a
Japanese. The Marquis Ito spoke constantly in
favour of a policy of conciliation and friendship, and
after a time he succeeded in winning over the co-
operation of some of the foreigners.
It became more and more clear, however, that the
aim of the Japanese was nothing else than the entire
absorption of the country and the destruction of
every trace of Korean nationality. one of the most
influential Japanese in Korea put this quite frankly
to me. " You must understand that I am not
expressing official views," he told me. "Butif)-ou
ask me as an individual what is to be the outcome
1 1
146 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
of our policy, I can only see one end. This will take
several generations, but it must come. The Korean
people will be absorbed in the Japanese. They will
talk our language, live our life, and be an integral
part of us. There are only two ways of colonial
administration. one is to rule over the people as
aliens. This you English have done in India, and,
therefore, your Indian Empire cannot endure. India
must pass out of your rule. The second way is to
absorb the people. This is what we will do. We will
teach them our language, establish our institutions,
and make them one with us." That is the benevolent
Japanese plan ; the cruder idea, more commonly
entertained, is to absorb the Korean lands, place all
the industry of the country in Japanese hands, and
reduce the natives to the place of hewers of wood and
drawers of water for their triumphant conquerors.
The Japanese believes that the Korean is on a wholly
different level to himself, a coward, a weakling, and
a poltroon. He despises him, and treats him
accordingly.
The great complaint against the Japanese officials
in Korea is that they uniformly look at matters from
a Japanese and not a Korean point of view. There
is a wholesale system of exploitation that touches
every side of Korean life. Concessions are granted
to Japanese, contracts are given on the most generous
terms to Japanese, and emigration laws, land laws,
and general administrative measures are made solely
with regard to Japanese interests. When a loan of
10,000,000 yen was raised for national improvements,
the money was obtained from the Nippon Kogyo
THE RULE OF PRINCE ITO 147
Ginko at an issuing price of 90 yen per 100 yen bond
and bearing interest at 6^ per cent., the Ct'stoms
Revenue being given as security. Such terms are
outrageous. A chance paragraph in "^io. Japan Times
informs us that " the Korean Government has to
pay 250,000 yen to our postal authorities for their
trouble in doing part of the internal revenue work."
In other words, the Japanese first seize the Korean
Post Office, turn the old Korean employes out,
officer it with their own people, give a service
that is not so good as the old, and then mulct
the Korean nation of a heavy annual fine for their
trouble. The town of Chemulpho is almost wholly
a Japanese settlement, and the question of water
supply there is a difficult one. The Residency-
General kindly consented to spend 2,300,000 yen of
the national loan in laying down waterworks for this
port. That is to say, the Korean people all over the
land were made to pay for the water supply of the
Japanese town. I might go on with very man)-
similar instances, great and small. There is a
systematic plan of greedy exploitation.
The policy of the new administration towards
foreigners has been one of gradual, but no less sure,
exclusion. I deal with the results of Japanese ad-
ministration upon trade in a later chapter. Every-
thing that is possible has been done to rob the white
man of whatever prestige is yet left to him. The
most influential white men in Korea are the mission-
aries, and they have a large, enthusiastic, and
growing following. Careful and deliberate attempts
have been engineered to induce their converts to turn
us THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
from the lead of the EngHsh and American teachers
and to throw in their lot with the Japanese. The
native Press, under Japanese editorship, syste-
matically preaches anti-white doctrines. Any one
who mixes freely with the Korean people hears from
them, time after time, of the principles the Japanese
would fain have them learn. I have been told of
this by ex-Cabinet Ministers, by young students, and
even by native servants. one of my own Korean
" boys " put the matter in a nutshell to me one day.
He raised the question of the future of Japan in
Asia, and he summarised the new Japanese doctrines
very succinctly. " Master," he said to me, " Japanese
man wanchee all Asia be one, with Japanese man top-
side. All Japanese man wanchee this ; some Korean
man wanchee, most no wanchee; all Chinaman no
wanchee."
It may be thought that the Japanese would at least
have learnt from their experience in 1895 not to
attempt to interfere with the dress or personal habits
of the people. Nothing among all their blunders
during the earlier period was more disastrous to them
than the regulations compelling the men to cut off their
top-knots. These did Japan greater harm among the
common people than even the murder of the Queen.
Yet no sooner had Japan established herself again
than once more sumptuary regulations were issued.
The first was an order against wearing white
dress in winter-time. People were to attire them-
selves in nothing but dark-coloured garments, and
those who refused to obey were coerced in many ways.
The Japanese did not at once insist on a general
THE RULE OF PRINCE ITO 149
system of hair-cutting, but they have been bringing
the greatest pressure to bear on all in an) way
under their authority. Court officials, public servants,
magistrates, and the like, have all been commanded
to cut their hair. Officials are evidently instructed
to make every one who comes under their influence
have his top-knot off. The II Chin Hoi, the pro-
Japanese society, has followed in the same line.
European dress is being forced on those connected
with the Court. The national costume, like the
national language, is, if possible, to die. Ladies of
the Court are ordered to dress themselves in foreign
style. The poor ladies in consequence find it im-
possible to show themselves in any public place, for
they are greeted with roars of derision.
one would imagine that the Japanese sense of
humour would stop them from acting so. But
then they are anything but a humorous people.
Officials who are dignified and imposing in their
old costumes, present the most comic of spectacles
in the new. Some of the leaders of the II Chin Hoi,
known to me, look like nothing so much as a mad-
man's copy of the most fantastic costume cartoons in
Punch. The mistake of the Japanese is perhaps a
natural one. They made their own people alter their
ways in a hurry, and they fancy that other races
should hasten and do likewise.
The lowered status of the white in Korea can be
clearly seen by the attitude of many of the Japanese
towards him. I have heard stories from friends of
my own, residents in the country, quiet and in-
offensive people that have made my blood boil. It
ISO THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
is difficult, for instance, to restrain one's indignation
when a missionary lady tells you of how she was
walking along the street when a Japanese soldier
hustled up against her and deliberately struck her
in the breast. The Roman Catholic bishop was
openly insulted and struck by Japanese soldiers in
his own cathedral, and nothing was done. The
story of Mr. and Mrs. Weigall typifies others.
Mr. Weigall is an Australian mining engineer, and
was travelling up north with his wife and assis-
tant, Mr. Taylor, and some Korean servants, in
December, 1905. He had full authorisations and
passports, and was going about his business in a
perfectly proper manner. His party was stopped at
one point by some Japanese soldiers, and treated in
a fashion which it is impossible fully to describe in
print. They were insulted, jabbed at with bayonets,
and put under arrest. one soldier held his gun close
to Mrs. Weigall and struck her full in the chest with
his closed fist when she moved. The man called
them by the most insulting names possible, keeping
the choicest phrases for the lady. Their servants
were kicked. Finally they were allowed to go away
after a long delay and long exposure to bitter
weather, repeated insults being hurled after them.
The British authorities took up this case. There was
abundant evidence, and there could be no dispute
about the facts. All the satisfaction, however, that
the Weigalls could obtain was a nominal apology.
Then there was the case of the Rev. Mr. McRae,
a Canadian missionary living in north-eastern Korea.
Mr. McRae had obtained some land for a mission
Pholotiraph />>•] [F. --i- Mch'einie.
A MI'AXESE KAIIAVAY fUAKD on THK SI Of! -I- 1 SAN LINE.
THE RULE OF PRINCE ITO 151
station, and the Japanese military authorities there
wanted it. They drove stakes into part of the
property, and he thereupon represented the case to
the Japanese officials, and after at least twice asking
them to remove their stakes, he pulled them up
himself The Japanese waited until a fellow-mis-
sionary, who lived with Mr. McRae, had gone away
on a visit, and then six soldiers entered his compound
and attacked him. He defended himself so well that
he finally drove them off, although he received some
bad injuries, especially from the blows from one of
the men's rifles. Complaint was made to the chief
authorities, and, in this case, the Japanese promised
to punish the officer concerned. But there have
been dozens of instances affecting Europeans of all
ranks, from consular officials to chance visitors. In
most cases the complaints are met by a simple denial
on the part of the Japanese. Even where the offence
is admitted and punishment is promised, the Euro-
peans will assure you that the men, whom it has
been promised to imprison, come and parade them-
selves outside their houses immediately afterwards in
triumph. In Korea, as in Formosa, the policy is
to-day to humiliate the white man by any means
and in any way.
Two regulations of the Japanese, apparently
framed in the interests of the Koreans, are held by
many to be a dangerous blow at their rights. New
land laws have been drawn up, by which fresh title-
deeds are given for the old and complicated deeds
of former times. As the Koreans, however, point out,
large numbers of people hold their land in such a
152 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
way that it is impossible for them to prove their
right by written deeds. It is feared that, under
these new measures, it will be possible to dispossess
such families. Until the end of 1905 large numbers
of Koreans went abroad to Honolulu and elsewhere
as labourers. The Residency-General then framed
new emigration laws, nominally to protect the
natives, which have had the result of making the old
systematic emigration impossible. I hear from all
sides that the families who would fain escape the
Japanese rule and establish themselves in other lands
have every possible hindrance put in their way.
The men of the north, at least, are well aware that
they can obtain in the Russian Usuri provinces easy
conditions of living, fair administration, and justice.
The condition of the Koreans in Eastern Siberia,
prosperous, peaceful, and contented, is an amazing
contrast to that of those under Japanese rule in
Korea itself.
Act after act has revealed that the Japanese con-
sider Korea and all in it belongs to them. Do they
want a thing ? Then let them take it, and woe be to
the man who dares to hinder them ! This attitude
was illustrated in an interesting fashion by a bit of
vandalism on the part of Viscount Tanaka, Special
Envoy from the Mikado to the Korean Emperor.
When the Viscount was in Seoul, late in 1906, he
was approached by a Japanese curio-dealer, who
pointed out to him that there was a very famous
old Pagoda in the district of P'ung-duk, a short
distance from Song-do. This Pagoda was presented
to Korea by the Chinese Imperial Court a thousand
THE RULE OF PRINCE ITO 153
years ago, and the people believed that the stones of
which it was constructed possessed great curative
qualities. They named it the " Medicine King
Pagoda " (Yakuo-to), and its fame was known
throughout the country. It was a national memorial
as much as the Monument near London Bridge is a
national memorial for Englishmen. Viscount Tanaka
is a great curio-collector, and when he heard of this
Pagoda, he longed for it. He mentioned his desire
to the Korean Minister for the Imperial Household,
and the Minister told him to take it if he wanted it.
A few days afterwards, Viscount Tanaka, when
bidding the Emperor farewell, thanked him for the
gift. The Korean Emperor looked blank, and said
that he did not know what the Viscount was talking
about. He had heard nothing of it.
However, before long, a party of eighty Japanese,
including a number of gendarmes, well armed and
ready for resistance, swooped down on Song-do.
They took the Pagoda to pieces and placed the
stones on carts. The people of the district gathered
round them, threatened them, and tried to attack
them. But the Japanese were too strong. The
Pagoda was conveyed in due course to Tokyo.
Such an outrage could not go unnoticed. The
story of the loss spread over the country and reached
the foreign Press. Defenders of the Japanese at first
declared that it was an obvious and incredible lie.
The Japan Mail in particular opened the vials of its
wrath and poured them upon the head of the editor
of the Korea Daily News — an English daily pub-
lication in Seoul — who had dared to tell the
154 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
tale. His story was " wholly incredible." " It is
impossible to imagine any educated man of ordinary
intelligence foolish enough to believe such a palpable
lie, unless he be totally blinded by prejudice." The
Mail discovered here again another reason for sup-
porting its plea for the suppression of " a wholly
unscrupulous and malevolent mischief-maker like the
Korea Daily News." " The Japanese should think
seriously whether this kind of thing is to be tamely
suffered. In allowing such charges at the door of the
Mikado's special Envoy who is also Minister of the
Imperial Household, the Korea Daily News delibe-
rately insults the Mikado himself. There is indeed
the reflection that this extravagance will not be
without compensation, since it will demonstrate
conclusively, if any demonstration were needed, how
completely unworthy of credence have been the
slanders hitherto ventilated by the Seoul journal to
bring the Japanese into odium." The Japan Mail,
although edited by a British subject, is generally
regarded as a semi-official Japanese Government
organ.
There were instant demands for denials, for
explanations, and for proceedings against the wicked
libeller. Then it turned out that the story was true,
and, in the end, the Japanese officials had to admit
its truth. It was said, as an excuse, that the Resident-
General had not given his consent to the theft, and
that Viscount Tanaka did not intend to keep the
Pagoda himself, but to present it to the Mikado.
The organ of the Residency-General in Seoul, the
Seoul Press, made the best excuse it could. " Vis-
THE RULE OF PRINCE ITO 155
count Tanaka," it said, " is a conscientious official,
liked and respected by those who know him, whether
foreign or Japanese, but he is an ardent virtuoso and
collector, and it appears that in this instance his
collector's eagerness got the better of his sober judg-
ment and discretion." But excuses, apologies, and
regrets notwithstanding, the Pagoda was not returned,
and it remains in Japan to this day.
CHAPTER XIII
THE ABDICATION OF YI HYEUNG
THE Court party was from the first the strongest
opponent of the Japanese. Patriotism, tradi-
tion, and selfish interests all combined to intensify
the resistance of its members. Some officials found
their profits threatened, some mourned for perquisites
that were cut off, some were ousted out of their places
to make room for Japanese, and most felt a not
unnatural anger to see men of another race quietly
assume authority over their Emperor and their
country. The Emperor led the opposition. Old perils
had taught him cunning. He knew a hundred ways
to feed the stream of discontent, without himself
coming forward. Unfortunately there was a strain
of great weakness in his character. He would
support vigorous action in secret, and then, when
men translated his speech into deeds, he would
disavow them at the bidding of the Japanese. on
one point he never wavered. All attempts to make
him formally consent to the treaty of November,
1905, were in vain. " I would sooner die first ! " he
cried. " I would sooner take poison and end all ! "
156
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ABDICATION OF YI HYEUNG 157
The palace in the heart of Seoul, with its
4,000 hangers-on, was a nest of intrigue. It is
the custom of Japanese defenders to paint this
palace as a centre of the worst Oriental debauchery.
This is wrong. The Emperor lived in a little build-
ing adjoining the American Legation, a simple
Korean house, with a modern audience-chamber
attached. In the outer courts of the palace there
were, it is true, numbers of attendants and depen-
dants of all kinds. There was the usual group of
Court eunuchs, and there were among the officials
a number of sorcerers. The Emperor was somewhat
strictly ruled by one wife. Lady Om, and the
simplicity and sobriety of his daily life was a marked
contrast to that of many Oriental monarchs. Those
sons of Nippon who speak of the debauchery of the
Korean Courts invite an obvious retort which I shall
leave to others to make.
In July, 1906, the Marquis I to began to exercise
stronger constraint on the personal life of the Emperor.
one evening a number of Japanese police were
brought into the palace. The old palace guards
were withdrawn, and the Emperor was made virtually
a prisoner. Police officers were posted at each gate,
and no one was allowed in or out without a permit
from a Japanese-nominated official. At the same
time many of the old palace attendants were cleared
out. The Resident-General thought that if the
Emperor were isolated from his friends, and if he
were constantly surrounded by enthusiastic advocates
of Japan, he might be coerced or influenced into
submission. Yet here Marquis I to had struck against
158 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
a vein of obstinacy and determination that he could
scarce have reckoned with.
The Emperor had taken every opportunity to send
messages abroad protesting against the treaty. He
managed, time after time, still to hold communica-
tion with his friends, but the Japanese took good
care that traitors should come to him and be loudest
in their ｅxpressions of loyalty. Little that he did
but was immediately known to his captors. In the
early summer of 1907 the Emperor thought that he
saw his chance at last of striking a blow for freedom
through the Hague Conference. He was still con-
vinced that if he could only assure the Powers that he
had never consented to the treaty robbing Korea of
its independence, they would then send their Ministers
back to Seoul and cause Japan to relax her hand.
Accordingly, amid great secrecy, three Korean
delegates of high rank were provided with funds and
dispatched to the Hague under the guardianship of
Mr. Hulbert. They were not expert in the ways
of foreign diplomacy, nor was their guide. Even had
they been practised in all the finesse of European
Courts, they might have effected nothing. As it was,
they reached the Hague only to be refused a hearing.
The Conference would have nothing to say to them.
This action on the part of the Emperor gave the
Japanese an excuse they had long been looking for.
The formation of the Korean Cabinet had been
altered months before in anticipation of such a crisis,
and the Cabinet Ministers were now nominated not
by the Emperor, but by the Resident-General. The
Emperor had been deprived of administrative and
ABDICATION OF YI HYEUNG 159
executive power. The Marquis Ito had seen to it
that the Ministers were wholly his tools. The
time had come when his tools were to cut. The
Japanese Government assumed an attitude of silent
wrath. It could not allow such offences to go
unpunished, its friends declared, but what punish-
ment it would inflict it refused to say. Proceed-
ings were much more cleverly stage-managed than
in November, 1905. Nominally, the Japanese had
nothing to do with the abdication of the Emperor.
Actually the Cabinet Ministers held their gathering
at the Residency-General to decide on their policy,
and did as they were instructed. They went to
the Emperor and demanded that he should abandon
the throne to save his country from being swallowed
up by Japan. At first he refused, upon which their
insistence grew greater. No news of sympathy or
help reached him from foreign lands. Knowing the
perils surrounding him, he thought that he would
trick them all by a simple device. He would make
his son, the Crown Prince, temporary Emperor,
using a Chinese ideograph for his new title which
could scarce be distinguished from the title giving
him final and full authority. Here he over-reached
himself, for, once out, he was out for good. on
July 19th, at six o'clock in the morning, after an
all-night conference, the Emperor was persuaded to
abdicate. A few hours later he issued his final
decree. It was not without pathos.
" Let Heaven hear ! For over forty years We have
followed the work of our illustrious ancestors. Many
troubles have come on us, and events have gone
i6o THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
opposite to what We desired. Perhaps We have
not always selected the best men for the national
posts. Disturbances have constantly grown more
acute, and all efforts to remedy them have generally
failed. Difficulties have become pressing, and never
has the distress among our people, or the heavy work
of governing them, been so harassing as now. We
are in fear and trepidation, and We feel as though
walking on ice covering deep water. Occupants of
our throne have become weary of their duties
before us, and have resorted to abdication. We
hereby hand over to the Crown Prince the task of
administering the great affairs of State, and order
the Bureau of Ceremony of the Imperial Household
to carry out the details thereof"
The new Emperor, feeble of intellect, could be
little more than a tool in the hands of his advisers.
His father, however, intended to remain by his side,
and to rule through him. In less than a week the
Japanese had prepared a new treaty, providing still
more strictly for the absolute control of everything
in the country by Japan. The six curt clauses of
this measure were as far-reaching as they could
possibly be made. No laws were to be acted upon
or important measures taken by the Government
unless the consent and approval of the Resident-
General had been previously given. All officials
were to hold their positions at the pleasure of the
Resident-General, and the Government of Korea
agreed to appoint any Japanese the Resident-
General might recommend to any post. Finally, j
the Government of Korea was to engage no
ABDICATION OF YI HYEUNG i6i
foreigner without the consent of the Japanese
head.
A few days later a fresh rescript was issued in
the name of the new Emperor, ordering the disband-
ment of the Korean Army, This was written in the
most insulting language possible. " Our existing
army, which is composed of mercenaries, is unfit
for the purposes of national defence," it declared.
It was to make way " for the eventual formation of
an efficient army." To add to the insult, the Korean
Premier, Yi, was ordered to write a request to the
Resident-General, begging him to employ the
Japanese forces to prevent disturbances when
the disbandment took place. It was as though
the Japanese, having their heel on the neck of the
enemy, slapped his face to show their contempt for
him. on the morning of August ist some of the
superior officers of the Korean Army were called to
the residence of the Japanese commander, General
Hasegawa, and the Order was read to them. They
were told that they were to assemble their men next
morning, without arms, and to dismiss them after
paying them gratuities, while at the same time their
weapons would be secured in their absence. one
officer. Major Pak, commander of the smartest and
best of the Korean battalions, returned to his
barracks in despair, and committed suicide. His
men learnt of what had happened and rose in
mutiny. They burst upon their Japanese military
instructors and nearly killed them. They then
forced open the ammunition-room, secured weapons
and cartridges, posted themselves behind the win-
12
i62 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
dows of their barracks, and fired at every Japanese
they saw. News quickly reached the authorities,
and Japanese companies of infantry hurried out and
surrounded their barracks. one party attacked the
front with a machine-gun, and another assaulted
from behind. Fighting began at half-past eight in
the morning. The Koreans defended themselves
until noon, and then were finally overcome by a
bayonet charge from the rear. Their gallant
defence excited the greatest admiration even
among their enemies, and it was notable that for
a few days at least the Japanese spoke with more
respect of Korea and the Korean people than they
had ever done before. only one series of incidents
disgraced the day. The Japanese soldiers behaved
well and treated the wounded well, but that night
parties of low-class bullies emerged from the
Japanese quarter, seeking victims. They beat
they stabbed and murdered any man they could
find whom they suspected of being a rebel. Dozens
of them would set on one helpless victim and do him
to death. This was stopped as soon as the Resi-
dency-General knew what was happening, and a
number of offenders were arrested.
Marquis Ito was made a Prince, a few months
afterwards, by the Mikado for his services in Korea.
CHAPTER XIV
THE CROWNING OF THE PUPPET EMPEROR
LATE in August the new Emperor of Korea was
crowned amid the sullen silence of a resentful
people. Of popular enthusiasm there was none. A
few flags were displayed in the streets by the order
of the police. In olden times a coronation had been
marked by great festivities, lasting many weeks.
Now there was gloom, apathy, indifference. News
was coming in hourly from the provinces of up-
risings and murders. The II Chin Hoi — they call
themselves reformers, but the nation has labelled
them traitors — attempted to make a feast, but the
people stayed away. " This is the day not for feast-
ing but for the beginning of a year of mourning,"
men muttered one to the other.
The Japanese authorities who controlled the
coronation ceremony did all they could to mini-
mise it and to prevent independent outside pub-
licity. In this they were well advised. No one
who looked upon the new Emperor as he entered
the hall of state, his shaking frame upborne by two
officials, or as he stood later, with open mouth, fallen
jaw, indifferent eyes, and face lacking even a flicker-
163
i64 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
ing gleam of intelligent interest, could doubt that the
fewer who saw this the better. Yet the ceremony,
even when robbed of much of its ancient pomp and
all its dignity, was unique and picturesque.
The main feature of this day was not so much
the coronation itself as the cutting of the Emperor's
top-knot.
on the abdication of the old Emperor, the Cabinet
— who are enthusiastic hair-cutters — saw their oppor-
tunity. The new Emperor was informed that his
hair must be cut. He did not like it. He thought
that the operation would be painful, and he was quite
satisfied with his hair as it was. Then his Cabinet
showed him a brilliant uniform, covered with gold
lace. He was henceforth to wear that on ceremonial
occasions, and not his old Korean dress. How could
he put on the plumed hat of a Generalissimo with a
top-knot in the way ? The Cabinet were determined.
A few hours later a proclamation was spread through
the land informing all dutiful subjects that the
Emperor's top-knot was coming off, and urging
them to imitate him.
A new Court servant was appointed — the High
Imperial Hair-cutter. He displayed his uniform in
the streets around the palace, a sight for the gods.
He strutted along in white breeches, voluminous
white frock-coat, white shoes, and black silk hat,
the centre of attention.
Early in the morning there was a great scene
in the palace. The Imperial Hair-cutter was in
attendance. A group of old Court officials hung
around the Emperor. With blanched faces and
CROWNING OF PUPPET EMPEROR 165
shaking voices they implored him not to aban-
don the old ways. The Emperor paused, Tearful,
What power would be filched from him by the
shearing of his locks ? But there could be no
hesitating now. Resolute men were behind who
knew what they were going to see done. A few
minutes later the great step was taken.
The Residency-General arranged the coronation
ceremony in such a manner as to include as many
Japanese and to exclude as many foreigners as
possible. There were nearly a hundred Japanese
present, including the Mayor of the Japanese settle-
ment and the Buddhist priest. There were only
six white men — five Consuls-General and Bishop
Turner, chief of the Anglican Church in Korea. The
Japanese came arrayed in splendid uniforms. It is
part of the new Japanese policy to attire even
the most minor officials in sumptuous Court dress,
with much gold lace and many orders. This enables
Japan to make a brilliant show in official ceremonies,
a thing that is not without effect in Oriental Courts.
Shortly before ten o'clock the guests assembled in
the throne-room of the palace, a modern apartment
with a raised dais at one end. There were Koreans
to the left and Japanese to the right of the Emperor,
with the Cabinet in the front line on one side and
the Residency-General officials on the other. The
foreigners faced the raised platform.
The new Emperor appeared, borne to the plat-
form by the Lord Chamberlain and the Master of
the Household. He was dressed in the ancient
costume of his people, a flowing blue garment
i66 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
reaching to the ankles, with a robe of softer
cream colour underneath. on his head was a
quaint Korean hat, with a circle of Korean orna-
ments hanging from its high, outstanding horse-
hair brim. on his chest was a small decorative
breastplate. Tall, clumsily built, awkward, and
vacant-looking— such was the Emperor.
In ancient days all would have kow-towed before
him, and would have beaten their foreheads on
the ground. Now no man did more than bow,
save one Court herald, who knelt. Weird Korean
music started in the background, the beating of
drums and the playing of melancholy wind instru-
ments. The Master of Ceremonies struck up a
chant, which hidden choristers continued. Amid
silence, the Prime Minister, in smart modern attire,
advanced and read a paper of welcome. The
Emperor stood still, apparently the least interested
man in the room. He did not even look bored —
simply vacant.
After this there was a pause in the proceed-
ings. The Emperor retired and the guests went
into the anterooms. Soon all were recalled, and
the Emperor reappeared. There had been a quick
change in the meantime. He was now wearing his
new modern uniform, as Generalissimo of the Korean
Army. Two high decorations — one, if I mistake not,
from the Emperor of Japan — hung on his breast.
He looked much more manly in his new attire.
In front of him vv^as placed his new head-dress, a
peaked cap with a fine plume sticking up straight
in front. The music now was no longer the ancient
CROWNING OF PUPPET EMPEROR 167
Korean, but modern airs from the very fine
European-trained band attached to the palace.
The Korean players had gone, with the old dress
and the old life, into limbo.
The Japanese Acting Resident-General and mili-
tary commander, General Baron Hasegawa, strong
and masterful-looking, stepped to the front with a
message of welcome from his Emperor. He was
followed by the doyen of the Consular Corps, M.
Vincart, with the Consular greetings. This Consular
message had been very carefully sub-edited, and all
ｅxpressions implying that the Governments of the
different representatives approved of the proceed-
ings had been eliminated. Then the coronation
was over.
Two figures were conspicuous by their absence.
The ex-Emperor was not present. According to
the official explanation, he was unable to attend
because " his uniform had not been finished in time."
Really, as all men knew, he was sitting resentful
and protesting within a few score yards of the spot
where his son was crowned.
The second absent figure was the Russian
Consul-General, M. de Plangon. It was announced
that M. de Plancon was late, and so could not attend.
Seeing that M. de Plancon lives not ten minutes'
walk from the palace, and that the guests had to
wait nearly an hour after the time announced before
the ceremony began, he must have over-slept very
much indeed on that particular morning. Oddly
enough, M. de Plancon is usually an early riser.
CHAPTER XV
A JOURNEY TO THE "RIGHTEOUS ARMY"
THE Korean Emperor had been deposed and
his army disbanded. The people of Seoul,
sullen, resentful, and powerless, victims of the apathy
of their sires and of their own indolence and folly,
saw their national existence filched from them, and
scarce dared mutter a protest. The triumphant
Japanese soldiers stood at the city gates and within
the palace. Princes must obey their slightest wish,
even to the cutting of their hair and the fashioning
of their clothes. General Hasegawa's guns com-
manded every street, and all men dressed in white
need walk softly.
But it soon became clear that if Seoul, the capital,
was overawed, some parts of the country were not.
Refugees from distant villages, creeping after night-
fall over the city wall, brought with them marvellous
tales of the happenings in the provinces. District
after district had risen against the Japanese. A
" Righteous Army " had been formed, and was
accomplishing amazing things. Detachments of
Japanese had been annihilated and others driven
i68
JOURNEY TO "RIGHTEOUS ARMY" 169
back. Sometimes the Japanese, it is true, were
victorious, and then they took bitter vengeance,
destroying a whole countryside and slaughtering
the people in wholesale fashion. So the refugees
said. How far were these stories true ? I am
bound to say that I, for one, regarded them with
much scepticism. Familiar as I was with the
offences of individual Japanese in the country, it
seemed impossible that outrages could be carried
on systematically by the Japanese Army under the
direction of its officers. I was with a Japanese
army during the v/ar, and had marked and admired
the restraint and discipline of the men of all ranks
there. They neither stole nor outraged. Still more
recently I had noted the action of the Japanese
soldiers when repressing the uprising in Seoul
itself. Yet, whether the stories of the refugees
were true or false, undeniably some interesting
fighting was going on.
By the first week in September it was clear that
the area of trouble covered the eastern provinces
from near Fusan to the north of Seoul. The rebels
were evidently mainly composed of discharged
soldiers and of hunters from the hills. We heard
in Seoul that trained officers of the old Korean
Army were drilling and organising them into
volunteer companies. The Japanese were pouring
fresh troops into these centres of trouble, but the
rebels, by an elaborate system of mountain-top
signalling, were avoiding the troops and making
their attacks on undefended spots. Reports showed
that they were badly armed and lacked ammuni-
I70 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
tion, and there seemed to be no effective organisation
for sending them weapons from the outside.
The first rallying-place of the malcontent Koreans
was in a mountain district from eighty to ninety
miles east of Seoul. Here lived many famous Korean
tiger-hunters. These banded themselves together
under the title of Eui-pyung(the "Righteous Army").
They had conflicts with small parties of Japanese
troops and secured some minor successes. When
considerable Japanese reinforcements arrived they
retired to some mountain passes further back.
The tiger-hunters, sons of the hills, iron-nerved,
and operating in their own country, are naturally
awkward antagonists even for the best regular troops.
They are probably amongst the boldest sportsmen in
the world, and they formed the most picturesque and
romantic section of the rebels. Their only weapon
is an old-fashioned percussion gun, with long barrel
and a brass trigger seven to eight inches in length.
Many of them fire not from the shoulder, but hold
their guns low. They never miss. They can only
fire one charge in an attack, owing to the time
required to load. They are trained to stalk the
tiger, to come quite close to it, and then to kill it
at one shot. No tiger-hunter in the field to-day has
ever failed to hit his prey. The man who fails once
dies ; the tiger attends to that.
Some of the stories of Korean successes reaching
Seoul were at the best improbable. The tale of one
fight, however, came to me through so many different
and independent sources that there was reason to
suspect it had substantial foundation. It recalled the
JOURNEY TO "RIGHTEOUS ARMY" 171
doings of the people of the Tyrol in their struggle
against Napoleon. A party of Japanese soldiers,
forty-eight in number, were guarding a quantity of
supplies from point to point. The Koreans prepared
an ambuscade in a mountain valley overshadowed
by precipitous hills on either side. When the troops
reached the centre of the valley they were over-
whelmed by a flight of great boulders rolled on
them from the hill-tops, and before the survivors
could rally a host of Koreans rushed upon them
and did them to death.
Proclamations by Koreans were smuggled into the
capital, written in the usual bombastic national style.
Parties of Japanese troops were constantly leaving
Chinkokai, the Japanese quarter in Seoul, for the
provinces. There came a public notice from General
Hasegawa himself, which showed the real gravity of
the rural situation. It ran as follows : —
" I, General Baron Yoshimichi Hasegawa, Com-
mander of the Army of Occupation in Korea, make
the following announcement to each and every one
of the people of Korea throughout all the provinces.
Taught by the natural trend of affairs in the world
and impelled by the national need of political
regeneration, the Government of Korea, in obedi-
ence to His Imperial Majesty's wishes, is now
engaged in the task of reorganising the various
institutions of State. But those who are ignorant
of the march of events in the world and who fail
correctly to distinguish loyalty from treason have
by wild and baseless rumours instigated people's
minds and caused the rowdies in various places to
172 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
rise in insurrection. These insurgents commit all
sorts of horrible crimes, such as murdering peaceful
people, both native and foreign, robbing their pro-
perty, burning official and private buildings, and
destroying means of communication. Their offences
are such as are not tolerated by Heaven or earth.
They affect to be loyal and patriotic and call them-
selves volunteers. But none the less they are
law-breakers, who oppose their Sovereign's wishes
concerning political regeneration and who work the
worst possible harm to their country and people.
" Unless they are promptly suppressed the trouble
may assume really calamitous proportions. I am
charged by His Majesty, the Emperor of Korea, with
the task of rescuing you from such disasters by
thoroughly stamping out the insurrection. I charge
all of you, law-abiding people of Korea, to prosecute
your respective peaceful avocations and be troubled
with no fears. As for those who have joined the
insurgents from mistaken motives, if they honestly
repent and promptly surrender they will be pardoned
of their offence. Any of you who will seize insur-
gents or will give information concerning their
whereabouts will be handsomely rewarded. In case
of those who wilfully join insurgents, or afford them
refuge, or conceal weapons, they shall be severely
punished. More than that, the villages to which
such offenders belong shall be held collectively
responsible and punished with rigour. I call upon
each and every one of the people of Korea to under-
stand clearly what I have herewith said to you and
avoid all reprehensible action."
o
<
JOURNEY TO "RIGHTEOUS ARMY" 173
The Koreans in America circulated a manifesto
directed against those of their countrymen who were
working with Japan, under the expressive title of
"explosive thunder," which breathed fury and
vengeance. "Our twenty million people," they
declared, "are getting very angry. Their patriotic
wrath has reached the heavens, and their patriotic
blood is as high as the highest tide. We are going
to burn down your houses and cut off your heads,
and then we will divide your flesh into twenty million
pieces that will be eaten by twenty million people.
Then we will divide your blood into twenty million
cups that will be drunk by all of us again. Even
after eating and drinking your flesh and blood we
will not be satisfied. You are unique criminals, you
base-born wretches, hid in foreigners' houses and
walking with the protection of foreign troops. Even
the children know your cry."
Groups of Koreans in the provinces issued other
statements which, if not quite so picturesque, were
quite forcible enough. Here is one : —
" Our numbers are twenty million, and we have
over ten million strong men, excluding old, sick, and
children. Now, the Japanese soldiers in Korea are
not more than eight thousand, and Japanese merchants
at various places are not more than some thousands.
Though their weapons are sharp, how can one man
kill a thousand ? We beg you our brothers not to
act in a foolish way and not to kill any innocent
persons. We will fix the day and the hour for you
to strike. Some of us, disguised as beggars and
merchants, will go into Seoul. We will destroy the
174 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
railway, we will kindle flames in every port, we will
destroy Chinkokai, kill Ito and all the Japanese,
Yi Wang Yong and his underlings, and will not
leave a single rebel against our Emperor alive.
Then Japan will bring out all her troops to fight us.
We have no weapons at our hands, but we will keep
our own patriotism. We may not be able to fight
against the sharp weapons of the Japanese, but we
will ask the Foreign Consuls to help us with their
troops, and maybe they will assist the right persons
and destroy the wicked ; otherwise let us die. Let
us strike against Japan, and then, if must be, ail
die together with our country and with our Emperor,
for there is no other course open to us. It is better
to lose our lives now than to live miserably a little
time longer, for the Emperor and our brothers will
all surely be killed by the abominable plans of Ito,
Yi Wang Yong, and their associates. It is better
to die as a patriot than to live having abandoned
one's country. Mr. Yi Chun went to foreign lands
to plead for our country, and his plans did not carry
well, so he cut his stomach asunder with a sword and
poured out his blood among the foreign nations to
proclaim his patriotism to the world. These of our
twenty million people who do not unite offend
against the memory of Mr. Yi Chun. We have to
choose between destruction or the maintenance of
our country. Whether we live or die is a small
thing, the great thing is that we make up our minds
at once whether we work for or against our country."
A group of Koreans in the southern provinces
petitioned Prince Ito, in the frankest fashion : —
JOURNEY TO "RIGHTEOUS ARMY" 175
'' You spoke much of the kindness and friendship
between Japan and Korea, but actually you have
drawn away the profits from province after province
and district after district until nothing is left wherever
the hand of the Japanese falls. The Korean has
been brought to ruin, and the Japanese shall be
made to follow him downwards. We pity you very
much ; but you shall not enjoy the profits of the ruin
of our land. When Japan and Korea fall together
it will be a misfortune indeed for you. If you would
secure safety for yourself follow this rule : memorialise
our Majesty to impeach the traitors and put them to
right punishment. Then every Korean will regard
you with favour, and the Europeans will be loud in
your praise. Advise the Korean authorities to carry
out reforms in various directions, help them to
enlarge the schools, and to select capable men for
the Government service ; then the three countries,
Korea, China, and Japan, shall stand in the same
line, strongly united and esteemed by foreign nations.
If you will not do this, and if you continue to encroach
on our rights, then we will be destroyed together,
thanks to you.
" You thought there were no men left in Korea ;
you will see. We country people are resolved to
destroy your railways and your settlements and your
authorities. on a fixed day we shall send word to
our patriots in the north, in the south, in Ping-yang
and Kyung Sang, to rise and drive away all Japanese
from the various ports, and although your soldiers
are skilful with their guns it will be very hard for
them to stand against our twenty million people.
176 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
We will first attack the Japanese in Korea, but when
we have finished them we will appeal to the Foreign
Powers to assure the independence and freedom of
our country. Before we send the word to our fellow-
countrymen we give you this advice."
It was clear that some interesting fighting was
going on. I resolved to try to see it. This, I soon
found, was easier attempted than done.
The first difficulty came from the Japanese
authorities. They refused to grant me a passport,
declaring that, owing to the disturbances, they could
not guarantee my safety in the interior. An inter-
view followed at the Residency-General, in which
I was duly warned that if I travelled without a pass-
port I would be liable, under International treaties, to
" arrest at any point on the journey and punishment."
This did not trouble me very much. My real fear
had been that the Japanese would consent to my
going, but would insist on sending a guard of
Japanese soldiers with me. It is more than doubtful
if, as things are now, the Japanese have any right
to stop a foreigner from travelling in Korea, for
the passport regulations have long been virtually
obsolete. This was a point that I was prepared to
argue out at leisure after my arrest and confinement
in a Consular gaol. So the preparations for my
departure were continued.
The traveller in Korea, away from the railroads,
must carry everything he wants with him, except
food for his horses. He must have at least three
horses or ponies : one for himself, one pack-pony,
and one for his bedding and his " boy." Each pony
JOURNEY TO "RIGHTEOUS ARMY" 177
needs its own " mafoo," or groom, to cook its food
and to attend to it. So, although travelling h'ghtly
and in a hurry, I would be obliged to take two horses,
one pony, and four attendants with me.
My friends in Seoul, both white and Korean, were
of opinion that if I attempted the trip I would
probably never return. No white man had gone
in the worst regions since the beginning of the
trouble. Korean tiger-hunters and disbanded soldiers
were scattered about the hills, waiting for the chance
of pot-shots at passing Japanese. They would
certainly in the distance take me for a Japanese,
since the Japanese soldiers and leaders all wear
foreign clothes, and they would make me their target
before they found out their mistake. A score of
suggestions were proffered as to how I should avoid
this. one old servant of mine begged me to travel
in a native chair, like a Korean gentleman. This
chair is a kind of small box, carried by two or four
bearers, in which the traveller sits all the time
crouched up on his haunches. Its average speed
is less than two miles an hour. I preferred the
bullets. A member of the Korean Court urged me
to send out messengers each night to the villages
where I would be going next day, telling the people
that I was an " Ingoa tai " (English gentleman) and
so they must not shoot me. And so on and so forth.
This exaggerated idea of the risks of the trip
unfortunately spread abroad. The horse merchant
demanded specially high terms for the hire of his
beasts, because he might never see them again. I
needed a "boy," or native servant, and although
13
178 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
there are plenty of " boys " in Seoul none was to
be had.
I engaged one servant, a fine upstanding young
Korean, Wo by name, who had been out on many
hunting and mining expeditions. I noticed that he
was looking uneasy, and I was scarcely surprised
when at the end of the third day he came to me
with downcast eyes. " Master," he said, " my heart is
very much frightened. Please excuse me this time."
"What is there to be frightened about?" I
demanded.
" Korean men will shoot you and then will kill me
because my hair is cut." The rebels were reported
to be killing all men not wearing top-knots.
Exit Wo. Some one recommended Han, also with
a great hunting record. But when Han heard the
destination he promptly withdrew. Sin was a good
boy out of place. Sin was sent for, but forwarded
apologies for not coming.
one Korean was longing to accompany me — my
old servant in the war, Kim Min Gun. But Kim
was in permanent employment and could not obtain
leave. " Master," he said contemptuously, when he
heard of the refusals, " these men plenty much afraid."
At last Kim's master very kindly gave him per-
mission to accompany me, and the servant difficulty
was surmounted.
My preparations were now almost completed, pro-
visions bought, horses hired, and saddles overhauled.
The Japanese authorities had made no sign, but they
knew what was going on. It seemed likely that they
would stop me when I started out.
JOURNEY TO "RIGHTEOUS ARMY" 179
Then fortune favoured me. A cablegram arrived
for me from London. It was brief and emphatic : —
" Proceed forthwith Siberia."
My expedition was abandoned, the horses sent away,
and the saddles thrown into a corner. I cabled
home that I would soon be back. I made the
hotel ring with my public and private complaints
about this interference with my plans. I visited the
shipping offices to learn of the next steamer to Vladi-
vostock.
A few hours before I was to start for the south I
chanced to meet an old friend, who questioned me
confidentially, " I suppose it is really true that you
are going away, and that this is not a trick on your
part ? " I left him thoughtful, for his words had
shown me the splendid opportunity in my hands.
Early next morning, long before dawn, my ponies
came back, the boys assembled, the saddles were
quickly fixed and the packs adjusted, and soon we
were riding as hard as we could for the mountains.
The regrettable part of the affair is that many
people are still convinced that the whole business
of the cablegram was arranged by me in advance
as a blind, and no assurances of mine will convince
them to the contrary.
As in duty bound, I sent word to the acting
British Consul-General, telling him of my departure.
My letter was not delivered to him until after I had
left. on my return I found his reply awaiting me at
my hotel.
i8o THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
" I consider it my duty to inform you," he wrote
"that I received a communication on the 7th inst.
from the Residency-General informing me that, in
view of the disturbed conditions in the interior, it is
deemed inadvisable that foreign subjects should be
allowed to travel in the disturbed districts for the
present. I would also call your attention to the
stipulation in Article V. of the treaty between Great
Britain and Korea, under which British subjects
travelling in the interior of the country without a
passport are liable to arrest and to a penalty."
In Seoul no one could tell where or how the
" Righteous Army " might be found. The informa-
tion doled out by the Japanese authorities was
fragmentary, and was obviously and naturally
framed in such a manner as to minimise and dis-
credit the disturbances. It was admitted that the
Korean volunteers had a day or two earlier
destroyed a small railway station on the line to
Fusan. We knew that a small party of them had
attacked the Japanese guard of a store of rifles, not
twenty miles from the capital, and had driven them
off and captured the arms and ammunition. Most
of the fighting, so far as one could judge, appeared to
have been around the town of Chung-ju, four days'
journey from Seoul, It was for there I aimed,
travelling by an indirect bridle-path in order to avoid
the Japanese as far as possible.
The country in which I soon found myself pre-
sented a field of industry and of prosperity such as
I have seen nowhere else in Korea. Between the
somewhat desolate mountain ranges and great
JOURNEY TO "RIGHTEOUS ARMY" i8i
stretches of sandy soil we came upon innumerable
thriving villages. Every possible bit of land, right
up the hillsides, was carefully cultivated. Here were
stretches of cotton, with bursting pods all ready for
picking, and here great fields of buckwheat white
with flower. The two most common crops were rice
and barley, and the fields were heavy with their
harvest. Near the villages one would see more
ornamental lines of chilies and beans and seed plants
for oil, with occasional clusters of kowliang, fully
twelve and thirteen feet high.
In the centre of the fields was a double-storied
summer-house, made of straw, the centre of a system
of high ropes, decked with bits of rag, running over
the crops in all directions. Two lads would sit on
the upper floor of each of these houses, pulling the
ropes, flapping the rags, and making all kinds of
harsh noises, to frighten away the birds preying on
the crops.
The villages themselves were pictures of beauty
and of peace. Most of them were surrounded by a
high fence of wands and matting. At the entrance
there sometimes stood the village "joss," although
many villages have now destroyed their idols. This
" joss " is a thick stake of wood, six or eight feet
high, with the upper part roughly carved into the
shape of a very ugly human face, and crudely
coloured in vermilion and green. It is supposed to
frighten away the evil spirits.
The village houses, low, mud-walled, and thatch-
roofed, were seen this season at their best. Gay
flowers grew around. Melons and pumpkins,
i82 THE TRAGEDY OF KOR^A
weighted with fruit, ran over the walls. Nearly
every roof displayed a patch of vivid scarlet, for the
chilies had just been gathered, and were spread out
on the housetops to dry. In front of the houses were
boards covered with sliced pumpkins and gherkins
drying in the sun for winter use. Every courtyard
had its line of black earthenware jars, four to six feet
high, stored with all manner of good things, mostly
preserved vegetables of many varieties, for the coming
year.
I had heard much of the province of Chung-
Chong-Do as the Italy of Korea, but its beauty and
prosperity required seeing to be believed. It afforded
an amazing contrast to the dirt and apathy of Seoul,
Here every one worked. In the fields the young
women were toilmg in groups, weeding or har-
vesting. The young men were cutting bushes on the
hillsides, the father of the family preparing new
ground for the fresh crop, and the very children
frightening off the birds. At home the housewife
was busy with her children and preparing her
simples and stores ; and even the old men busied
themselves over light tasks, such as mat-making.
Every one seemed prosperous, busy, and happy.
There were no signs of poverty. The uprising had
not touched this district, save in the most incidental
fashion.
My inquiries as to where I should find any signs
of the fighting always met with the same reply —
" The Japanese have been to I-Chhon, and have
burned many villages there." So we pushed on for
I-Chhon as hard as we could.
JOURNEY TO "RIGHTEOUS ARMY" 183
The chief problem that faces the traveller in Korea
who ventures away from the railways is the question
of how to hasten the speed of his party. " You
cannot travel faster than your pack," is one of those
indisputable axioms against which the impatient
man frets in vain. Now, the pack-pony is led by a
horseman, who really controls the situation. If he
sulks and determines to go slowly nothing can be
done. If he hurries, the whole party must move
quickly.
The Korean mafoo regards seventy li (about
twenty-one miles) as a fair day's work. He prefers
to average sixty li, but if you are very insistent he
may go eighty. It was imperative that I should cover
from a hundred to a hundred and twenty li a day.
I tried a mixture of harsh words, praise, and
liberal tips. I was up at three in the morning,
setting the boys to work at cooking the animals'
food, and I kept them on the road until dark. Still
the record was not satisfactory. It is necessary in
Korea to allow at least six hours each day for the
cooking of the horses' food and feeding them. This
is a time that no wise traveller attempts to cut.
Including feeding-times, we were on the go from
sixteen to eighteen hours a day. Notwithstanding
this, the most we had reached was a hundred and
ten li a day.
Then came a series of little hindrances. The
pack-pony would not eat its dinner ; its load was
too heavy. " Hire a boy to carry part of its load," I
replied. A hundred reasons would be found for
halting, and still more for slow departure.
i84 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
It was clear that something more must be done.
I called the pack-pony leader on one side. He was a
fine, broad-framed giant, a man who had in his time
gone through many fights and adventures. " You
and I understand one another," I said to him.
" These others with their moanings and cries are
but as children. Now let us make a compact. You
hurry all the time and I will give you " (here I
whispered a figure into his ear that sent a gratified
smile over his face) " at the end of the journey. The
others need know nothing. This is between men."
He nodded assent. From that moment the trouble
was over. Footsore mafoos, lame horses, grumbling
inn-keepers — nothing mattered. " Let the fires burn
quickly." " Out with the horses." The other horse-
keepers, not understanding his changed attitude,
toiled wearily after him. At night-time he would
look up, as he led his pack-pony in at the end of
a record day, and his grim smile would proclaim that
he was keeping his end of the bargain.
CHAPTER XVI
THE STRONG HAND OF JAPAN
" T T is necessary for us to show these men some-
i. thing of the strong hand of Japan," one of the
leading Japanese in Seoul, a close associate of the
Prince I to, told me shortly before I left that city.
" The people of the eastern mountain districts have
seen few or no Japanese soldiers, and they have no
idea of our strength. We must convince them how
strong we are."
As I stood on a mountain-pass, looking down on
the valley leading to I-Chhon, I recalled these words
of my friend. The " strong hand of Japan " was
certainly being shown here. I beheld in front of me
village after village reduced to ashes.
I rode down to the nearest heap of ruins. The
place had been quite a large village, with probably
seventy or eighty houses. Destruction, thorough and
complete, had fallen upon it. Not a single house was
left, and not a single wall of a house. Every pot with
the winter stores was broken. The very earthen fire-
places were wrecked.
The villagers had come back to the ruins again,
and were already rebuilding. They had put up
185
i86 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
temporary refuges of straw. The young men were
out on the hills cutting wood, and every one else was
toiling at house-making. The crops were ready to
harvest, but there was no time to gather them in.
First of all, make a shelter.
During the next few days sights like these were to
be too common to arouse much emotion. But for
the moment I looked around on these people, ruined
and homeless, with quick pity. The old men, vener-
able and dignified, as Korean old men mostly are, the
young wives, many with babes at thei-r breasts, the
sturdy men, they formed, if I could judge by what I
saw, an exceptionally clean and peaceful community.
There was no house in which I could rest, so I sat
down under a tree, and while Min Gun was cooking
my dinner the village elders came around with their
story. one thing especially struck me. Usually the
Korean woman is shy, retiring, and afraid to open her
mouth in the presence of a stranger. Here the women
spoke up as freely as the men. The great calamity
had broken down the barriers of their silence.
" We are glad," they said, " that a European man
has come to see what has befallen us. We hope you
will tell your people, so that all men may know.
" There has been some fighting on the hills beyond
our village," and they pointed to the hills a mile or
two further on. "The Eui-pyung" (the volunteers)
" had been there, and had torn up some telegraph
poles. The Eui-pyung came down from the eastern
hills. They were not our men, and had nothing to
do with us. The Japanese soldiers came, and there
was a fight, and the Eui-pyung fell back.
THE STRONG HAND OF JAPAN 187
"Then the Japanese soldiers marched out to our
village, and to seven other villages. Look around
and you can see the ruins of all. They spoke many
harsh words to us. ' The Eui-pyung broke down the
telegraph poles and you did not stop them,' they
said. ' Therefore you are all the same as Eui-pyung.
Why have you eyes if you do not watch, why have
you strength if you do not prevent the Eui-pyung
from doing mischief? The Eui-pyung came to your
houses and you fed them. They have gone, but we
will punish you.'
" And they went from house to house, taking what
they wanted and setting all alight. one old man —
he had lived in his house since he was a babe suckled
by his mother — saw a soldier lighting up his house.
He fell on his knees and caught the foot of the
soldier. ' Excuse me, excuse me,' he said, with many
tears. ' Please do not burn my house. Leave it for
me that I may die there. I am an old man, and near
my end.'
" The soldier tried to shake him off, but the old
man prayed the more. * Excuse me, excuse me,' he
moaned. Then the soldier lifted his gun and shot
the old man, and we buried him.
" one who was near to her hour of child-birth was
lying in a house. Alas for her ! one of our young
men was working in the field cutting grass. He was
working and had not noticed the soldiers come. He
lifted his knife, sharpening it in the sun. ' There is a
Eui-pyung,' he said, and he fired and killed him.
one man, seeing the fire, noticed that all his family
records were burning. He rushed in to try and
i88 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
pull them out, but as he rushed a soldier fired, and
he fell."
A man, whose appearance proclaimed him to be of
a higher class than most of the villagers, then spoke
in bitter tones. " We are rebuilding our houses," he
said, " but of what use is it for us to do so ? I was a
man of family. My fathers and fathers' fathers had
their record. Our family papers are destroyed.
Henceforth we are a people without a name, dis-
graced and outcast."
I found, when I went further into the country, that
this view was fairly common. The Koreans regard
their family existence with peculiar veneration. The
family record means everything to them. When it
is destroyed, the family is wiped out. It no longer
exists, even though there are many members of it
still living. As the province of Chung-Chong Do
prides itself on the large number of its substantial
families, there could be no more effective way of
striking at them than this.
I rode out of the village heavy-hearted. What
struck me most about this form of punishment, how-
ever, was not the suffering of the villagers so much
as the futility of the proceedings, from the Japanese
point of view. In place of pacifying a people, they
were turning hundreds of quiet families into rebels.
During the next few days I was to see at least
one town and many scores of villages treated
as this one. To what end? The villagers were
certainly not the people fighting the Japanese. All
they wanted to do was to look quietly after their
own affairs. Japan professes a desire to conciliate
THE STRONG HAND OF JAPAN 189
Korea and to win the affection and support of her
people. In one province at least the policy of house-
burning has reduced a prosperous community to ruin,
increased the rebel forces, and sown a crop of bitter
hatred which it will take generations to root out.
We rode on through village after village and hamlet
after hamlet burned to the ground. The very attitude
of the people told me that the hand of Japan had struck
hard there. We would come upon a boy carrying a
load of wood. He would run quickly to the side of
the road when he saw us, expecting he knew not
what. We passed a village with a few houses left.
The women flew to shelter as I drew near. Some
of the stories that I heard later helped me to judge
why they should run. Of course they took me for
a Japanese.
All along the route I heard tales of the Japanese
plundering, where they had not destroyed. Here
the village elders would bring me an old man badly
beaten by a Japanese soldier because he resisted
being robbed. Then came darker stories. In Seoul
I had laughed at them. Now, face to face with the
victims, I could laugh no more.
That afternoon we rode into I-Chhon itself. This
is quite a large town. I found it practically deserted.
Most of the people had fled to the hills, to escape
from the Japanese. I slept that night in a school-
house, now deserted and unused. There were the
cartoons and animal pictures and pious mottoes
around, but the children were far away. I passed
through the market-place, usually a very busy spot.
There was no sign of life there.
190 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
I turned to some of the Koreans.
" Where are your women ? Where are your chil-
dren ? " I demanded. They pointed to the high and
barren hills looming against the distant heavens.
" They are up there," they said. " Better for them
to lie on the barren hillsides than to be outraged
here."
CHAPTER XVII
THE RUINS OF CHEE-CHONG
DAY after day we travelled through a succession
of burned-out villages, deserted towns, and
forsaken country. The fields were covered with a
rich and abundant harvest, ready to be gathered,
and impossible for the invaders to destroy. But
most of the farmers were hiding on the mountain-
sides, fearing to come down. The few courageous
men who had ventured to come back were busy
erecting temporary shelters for themselves before
the winter cold came on, and had to let the harvest
wait. Great flocks of birds hung over the crops,
feasting undisturbed.
Up to Chong-ju nearly one-half of the villages
on the direct line of route had been destroyed by
the Japanese. At Chong-ju I struck directly across
the mountains to Chee-chong, a day's journey.
Four-fifths of the villages and hamlets on the main
road between these two places were burned to the
ground.
The few people who had returned to the ruins
always disclaimed any connection with the " Righ-
teous Army." They had taken no part in the fight-
192 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Ing, they said. The volunteers had come down
from the hills and had attacked the Japanese ; the
Japanese had then retaliated by punishing the local
residents. The fact that the villagers had no arms,
and were peaceably working at home-building,
seemed at the time to show the truth of their
words. Afterwards when I came up with the Korean
fighters I found these statements confirmed. The
rebels were mostly townsmen from Seoul, and not
villagers from that district.
Between 10,000 and 20,000 people had been driven
to the hills in this small district alone, either by the
destruction of their homes or because of fear excited
by the acts of the soldiers.
Soon after leaving I-Chhon I came on a village
where the Red Cross was flying over one of the
houses. The place was a native Anglican church.
I was later on to see the Red Cross over many houses,
for the people had the idea that by thus appealing
to the Christians' God they made a claim on the
pity and charity of the Christian nations.
In the evening, after I had settled down in the
yard of the native inn, the elders of the Church
came to see me, two quiet-spoken, grave, middle-
aged men. They were somewhat downcast, and
said that their village had suffered considerably, the
parties of soldiers passing through having taken
what they wanted and being guilty of some outrages.
A gardener's wife had been violated by a Japanese
soldier, another soldier standing guard over the
house with rifle and fixed bayonet. A boy, at-
tracted by the woman's screams, ran and fetched
l'lioh<i;ni['li (nj
I /•. .1. .Ill /vV;i-;;i-.
THK STKOXC; IIANU 01- JAl'AX : A MoTllKK MOlKNlNli IIKU TKX-YliAR-OLU
DAIGHTKK SHOT IJY TllIC JAI'AXKSE SOLUIKKS.
THE RUINS OF CHEE-CHOXG 193
the husband. He came up, knife in hand. " But
what could he do?" the elders asked. "There was
the soldier, with rifle and bayonet, before the door."
Later on I was to hear other stories, very similar
to this. These tales were confirmed on the spot, so
far as confirmation was possible. In my judgment
such outrages were not numerous, and were limited
to exceptional parties of troops. But they produced
an effect altogether disproportionate to their num-
bers. The Korean has high ideals about the sanctity
of his women, and the fear caused by a comparatively
few offences was largely responsible for the flight of
multitudes to the hills.
In the burning of villages, a certain number of
Korean women and children were undoubtedly
killed. The Japanese troops seem in many cases to
have rushed a village and to have indulged in miscel-
laneous wild shooting, on the chance of there being
rebels around, before firing the houses. In one hamlet,
where I found two houses still standing, the folk
told me that these had been left because the
Japanese shot the daughter of the owner of one of
them, a girl of ten. " When they shot her," the
villagers said, " we approached the soldiers, and
said, ' Please excuse us, but since you have killed
the daughter of this man you should not burn his
house.' And the soldiers listened to us."
In towns like Chong-ju and Won-ju practically all
the women and children and better-class families had
disappeared. The shops were shut and barricaded
by their owners before leaving, but many of them
had been forced open and looted. The destruction in
14
194 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
other towns paled to nothing, however, before the
havoc wrought in Chee-chong. Here was a town
completely destroyed.
Chee-chong was, up to the late summer of this
year, an important rural centre, containing between
2,000 and 3,000 inhabitants, and beautifully situ-
ated in a sheltered plain, surrounded by high
mountains. It was a favourite resort of high
officials, a Korean Bath or Cheltenham. Many of
the houses were large, and some had tiled roofs — a
sure evidence of wealth.
When the " Righteous Army " began operations,
one portion of it occupied the hills beyond Chee-
chong. The Japanese sent a small body of troops
into the town. These were attacked one night on
three sides, several were killed, and the others were
compelled to retire. The Japanese despatched rein-
forcements, and after some fighting regained lost
ground. They then determined to make Chee-chong
an example to the countryside. The entire town
was put to the torch. The soldiers carefully tended
the flames, piling up everything for destruction.
Nothing was left, save one image of Buddha and
the magistrate's yamen. When the Koreans fled, five
men, one woman, and a child, all wounded, were left
behind. These disappeared in the flames.
It was a hot early autumn when I reached Chee-
chong. The brilliant sunshine revealed a Japanese
flag waving over a hillock commanding the town, and
glistened against the bayonet of a Japanese sentry.
I dismounted and walked down the streets and over
the heaps of ashes. Never have I witnessed such com-
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75
THE RUINS OF CHEE-CHONG 195
plete destruction. Where a month before there had
been a busy and prosperous community, there was
now nothing but Hnes of little heaps of black and grey
dust and cinders. Not a whole wall, not a beam, and
not an unbroken jar remained. Here and there a
man might be seen poking among the ashes, seeking
for aught of value. The search was vain. Chee-
chong had been wiped off the map. " Where are
your people ? " I asked the few searchers. " They
are lying on the hillsides," came the reply.
Up to this time I had not met a single rebel soldier,
and very few Japanese. My chief meeting with the
Japanese occurred the previous day at Chong-ju. As
I approached that town, I noticed that its ancient
walls were broken down. The stone arches of the
city gates were left, but the gates themselves and
most of the walls had gone. A Japanese sentry and
a gendarme stood at the gateway, and cross-examined
me as I entered. A small body of Japanese troops
were stationed here, and operations in the country
around were apparently directed from this centre.
I at once called upon the Japanese Colonel in
charge. His room, a great apartment in the local
governor's yamen, showed on all sides evidences of
the thoroughness with which the Japanese are con-
ducting this campaign. Large maps, with red marks,
revealed strategic positions now occupied. A little
printed pamphlet, with maps, evidently for the use of
officers, lay on the table.
The Colonel received me politely, but expressed his
regrets that I had come. The men he was fighting were
mere robbers, he said, and there was nothing for mc
196 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
to see. He gave me various warnings about dangers
ahead. Then he very kindly explained that the
Japanese plan was to hem in the volunteers, two
sections of troops operating from either side and
making a circle around the seat of trouble. These
would unite and gradually drive the Koreans
towards a centre.
The maps which the Colonel showed me settled
my movements. A glance at them made clear that
the Japanese had not yet occupied the line of country
between Chee-chong and Won-ju. Here, then, was
the place where I must go if I would meet the
Korean bands. So it was towards Won-ju that I
turned our horses' heads on the following day, after
gazing on the ruins of Chee-chong.
CHAPTER XVIII
WITH THE REBELS
IT soon became evident that I was very near to the
Korean forces. At one place, not far from
Chee-Chong, a party of them had arrived two days
before I passed, and had demanded arms, A little
further on Koreans and Japanese had narrowly
escaped meeting in the village street, not many
hours before I stopped there. As I approached one
hamlet, the inhabitants fled into the high corn, and
on my arrival not a soul was to be found. They
mistook me for a Japanese out on a shooting and
burning expedition.
It now became more difficult to obtain carriers.
Our ponies were showing signs of fatigue, for we
were using them very hard over the mountainous
country. It was impossible to hire fresh animals, as
the Japanese had commandeered all. Up to Won-ju
I had to pay double the usual rate for my carriers.
From Won-ju onwards carriers absolutely refused
to go further, whatever the pay.
" on the road beyond here many bad men are to
be found," they told me at Won-ju. " These bad
men shoot every one who passes. We will not go
197
198 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
to be shot." My own boys were showing some
uneasiness. Fortunately, I had in my personal ser-
vant Min Gun, and in the leader of the pack-pony
two of the staunchest Koreans I have ever known.
The country beyond Won-ju was splendidly suited
for an ambuscade, such as the people there promised
me. The road was rocky and broken, and largely
lay through a narrow, winding valley, with over-
hanging cliffs. Now we would come on a splendid
gorge, evidently of volcanic origin ; now we would
pause to chip a bit of gold-bearing quartz from the
rocks, for this is a famous gold centre of Korea. An
army might have been hidden securely around.
Twilight was just gathering as we stopped at a
small village where we intended remaining for the
night. The people were sullen and unfriendly, a
striking contrast to what I had found elsewhere. In
other parts they all came and welcomed me, some-
times refusing to take payment for the accommodation
they supplied. "We are glad that a white man has
come." But in this village the men gruffly informed
me that there was not a scrap of horse food or of rice
to be had. They advised us to go on to another
place, fifteen li ahead.
We started out. When we had ridden a little way
from the village I chanced to glance back at some
trees skirting a corn-field. A man, half-hidden by
a bush, was fumbling with something in his hands,
something which he held down as I turned. I took
it to be the handle of a small reaping-knife, but it
was growing too dark to see clearly. A minute
later, however, there came a smart " ping " past
WITH THE REBELS 199
my ear, followed by the thud of a bullet striking
metal.
I turned, but the man had disappeared. It would
have been merely foolish to blaze back with a "380
Colt at a distance of over a hundred yards, and there
was no time to go back. So we continued on our way.
Before arriving at Won-ju we had been told that
we would certainly find the Righteous Army around
there. At Won-ju men said that it was at a place
fifteen or twenty miles ahead. When we reached
that distance we were directed onwards to Yan-gun.
We walked into Yan-gun one afternoon, only to be
again disappointed. Here, however, we learned that
there had been a fight that same morning at a village
fifteen miiles nearer Seoul, and that the Koreans had
been defeated.
Yan-gun presented a remarkable sight. A dozen
red crosses waved over houses at different points.
In the main street every shop was closely barricaded,
and a cross was pasted on nearly every door. These
crosses, roughly painted on paper in red ink, were
obtained from the elder of the Roman Catholic
church there. A week before some Japanese
soldiers had arrived and burned a few houses. They
spared one house close to them waving a Christian
cross. As soon as the Japanese left nearly every
one pasted a cross over his door.
At first Yan-gun seemed deserted. The people
were watching me from behind the shelter of their
doors. Then men and boys crept out, and gradually
approached. We soon made friends. The women had
fled. I settled down that afternoon in the garden of
200 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
a Korean house of the better type. My boy was
preparing my supper in the front courtyard, when
he suddenly dropped everything to rush to me.
" Master," he cried, highly excited, " the Righteous
Army has come. Here are the soldiers."
In another moment half a dozen of them entered
the garden, formed in line in front of me and saluted.
They were all lads, from eighteen to twenty-six.
one, a bright-faced, handsome youth, still wore the
old uniform of the regular Korean Army. Another
had a pair of military trousers. Two of them were
in slight, ragged Korean dress. Not one had leather
boots. Around their waists were home-made cotton
cartridge belts, half full. one wore a kind of tar-
boosh on his head, and the others had bits of rag
twisted round their hair.
I looked at the guns they were carrying. The six
men had five different patterns of weapons, and not
one of them was any good. one proudly carried
an old Korean sporting gun of the oldest type of
muzzle-loaders known to man. Around his arm
was the long piece of thin rope which he kept
smouldering as touch-powder, and hanging in front
of him were the powder horn and bullet bag for
loading. This sporting gun was, I afterwards found,
a common weapon. The ramrod, for pressing down
the charge, was home-made and cut from a tree.
The barrel was rust-eaten. There was only a strip
of cotton as a carrying strap.
The second man had an old Korean army rifle,
antiquated, and a very bad specimen of its time.
The third had the same. one had a tiny sporting
WITH THE REBELS 201
gun, the kind of weapon, warranted harmless, that
fathers give to their fond sons at the age of ten.
Another had a horse-pistol, taking a rifle cartridge.
Three of the guns bore Chinese marks. They were
all eaten up with ancient rust.
These were the men — think of it — who for weeks
had been bidding defiance to the Japanese Army !
Even now a Japanese division of regular soldiers
was manoeuvring to corral them and their comrades.
Three of the party in front of me were coolies. The
smart young soldier who stood at the right plainly
acted as sergeant, and had done his best to drill his
comrades into soldierly bearing. A seventh man
now came in, unarmed, a Korean of the better class,
well dressed in the long robes of a gentleman, but
thin, sun-stained and wearied like the others.
A pitiful group they seemed — men already doomed
to certain death, fighting in an absolutely hopeless
cause. But as 1 looked the sparkling eyes and
smiles of the sergeant to the right seemed to rebuke
me. Pity ! Maybe my pity was misplaced. At
least they were showing their countrymen an
example of patriotism, however mistaken their
method of displaying it might be.
They had a story to tell, for they had been in the
fight that morning, and had retired before the
Japanese. The Japanese had the better position,
and forty Japanese soldiers had attacked 200 of
them and they had given way. But they had killed
four Japanese, and the Japanese had only killed
two of them and wounded three more. Such was
their account.
202 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
I did not ask them why, when they had killed
twice as many as the enemy, they had yet retreated.
The real story of the fight I could learn later. As
they talked others came to join them — two old
men, one fully eighty, an old tiger-hunter, with
bent back, grizzled face, and patriarchal beard.
The two new-comers carried the old Korean sporting
rifles. Other soldiers of the retreating force were
outside. There was a growing tumult in the street.
How long would it be before the triumphant
Japanese, following up their victory, attacked the
town ?
I was not to have much peace that night. In
the street outside a hundred noisy disputes were
proceeding between volunteers and the townsfolk.
The soldiers wanted shelter ; the people, fearing the
Japanese, did not wish to let them in. A party of
them crowded into an empty building adjoining the
house where I was, and they made the place ring
with their disputes and recriminations.
Very soon the officer who had been in charge of
the men during the fight that day called on me. He
was a comparatively young man, dressed in the
ordinary long white garments of the better-class
Koreans. I asked him what precautions he had
taken against a night attack, for if the Japanese
knew where we were they would certainly come on
us. Had he any outposts placed in positions?
Was the river-way guarded ? " There is no need for
outposts," he replied. " Every Korean man around
watches for us."
I cross-examined him about the constitution of the
WITH THE REBELS 203
rebel army. How were they organised ? From what
he told me, it was evident that they had pract.'cally
no organisation at all. There were a number of
separate bands held together by the loosest ties.
A rich man in each place found the money. This he
secretly gave to one or two open rebels, and they
gathered adherents around them.
He admitted that the men were in anything but
a good way. " We may have to die," he said.
" Well, so let it be. It is much better to die as
a free man than to live as the slave of Japan."
He had not been gone long before still another
called on me, a middle-aged Korean gentleman,
attended by a staff of officials. Here was a man
of rank, and I soon learned that he was the
Commander-in-Chief for the entire district. I was in
somewhat of a predicament. I had used up all my
food, and had not so much as a cigar or a glass of
whisky left to offer him. one or two flickering
candles in the covered courtyard of the inn lit up his
careworn face. I apologised for the rough surround-
ings in which I received him, but he immediately
brushed my apologies aside. He complained bitterly
of the conduct of his subordinate, who had risked an
engagement that morning when he had orders not
to. The commander, it appeared, had been called
back home for a day on some family affairs, and
hurried back to the front as soon as he knew of the
trouble. He had come to me for a purpose. " Our
men want weapons," he said. " They are as brave as
can be, but you know what their guns are like, and
we have very little ammunition. We cannot buy.
204 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
but you can go to and fro freely as you want. Now,
you act as our agent. Buy guns for us and bring
them to us. Ask what money you like, it does not
matter. Five thousand dollars, ten thousand dollars,
they are yours if you will have them. only bring
us guns ! "
I had, of course, to tell him that I could not do
anything of the kind. When he further asked me
questions about the positions of the Japanese I was
forced to give evasive answers. To my mind, the
publicist who visits fighting forces in search of informa-
tion, as I had done, is in honour bound not to com-
municate what he learns to the other side. ! could
no more tell the rebel leader of the exposed Japanese
outposts I knew, and against which I could have sent
his troops with the certainty of success, than I could
on return tell the Japanese the strength of his forces.
All that night the rebels dribbled in. Several
wounded men who had escaped from the fight the
previous day were borne along by their comrades,
and early on the following morning some soldiers
came and asked me to do what I could to heal them.
I went out and examined the men. one had no less
than five bullet -holes in him and yet seemed remark-
ably cheerful. Two others had single shots of a rather
more dangerous nature. I do not profess to be a
surgeon, and it was manifestly impossible for me to
jab into their wounds with my hunting-knife in the
hope of extracting the bullets. I found, however,
some corrosive sublimate tabloids in my leather
medicine case. These I dissolved, and washed the
wounds in them to stop suppuration. I had some
WITH THE REBELS 205
Listerine, and I washed their rags in it. I bound the
clean rags on the wounds, bade the men lie stiU and
eat little, and left them.
Soon after dawn the rebel regiments paraded in
the streets. They reproduced on a larger scale the
characteristics I had noted among the few men
who came to visit me the evening before, poor
weapons and little ammunition. They sent out men
in advance before I departed in the morning to warn
their outposts that I was an Englishman who must not
be injured. I left them with mutual good wishes,
but I made a close inspection of my party before we
marched away to see that all our weapons were in
place. Some of my boys begged me to give the
rebels our guns so that they might kill the Japanese !
We had not gone very far before we descended
into a rocky and sandy plain by the river. Suddenly
I heard one of my boys shout at the top of his
voice, as he threw up his arms, " Ingoa Tai." We
all stopped, and the others took up the cry. " What
does this mean ? " I asked. " Some rebel soldiers
are surrounding us," said Min Gun, " and they are
going to fire. They think you are a Japanese." I
stood against the sky-line and pointed vigorously to
myself to show that they were mistaken. " Ingoa
Tai ! " I shouted, with my boys. It was not dignified,
but it was very necessary. Now we could see creep-
ing, ragged figures running from rock to rock, closer
and closer to us. The rifles of some were covering
us while the others advanced. Then a party of a
couple of dozen rose from the ground near to hand,
with a young man in a European officer's uniform
206 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
at their head. They ran to us, while we stood and
waited. At last they saw who I was, and when they
came near they apologised very gracefully for their
blunder. " It was fortunate that you shouted when
you did," said one ugly-faced young rebel, as he
slipped his cartridge back into his pouch ; "I had you
nicely covered and was just going to shoot." Some
of the soldiers in this band were not more than
fourteen to sixteen years old. I made them stand
and have their photographs taken, and the picture on
the page opposite will show their appearances better
than much description.
By noon I arrived at the place from which the
Korean soldiers had been driven on the day before.
The villagers there were regarded in very unfriendly
fashion by the rebels, who thought they had
betrayed them to the Japanese. The villager? told
me what was evidently the true story of the fight.
They said that about twenty Japanese soldiers
had on the previous morning marched quickly to
the place and attacked 200 rebels there. one
Japanese soldier was hurt, receiving a flesh
wound in the arm, and five rebels were wounded.
Three of these latter got away, and these were the
ones I had treated earlier in the morning. Two
others were left on the field, one badly shot in
the left cheek and the other in the right shoulder.
To quote the words of the villagers, " As the
Japanese soldiers came up to these wounded men
they were too sick to speak, and they could only
utter cries like animals — 'Hula, hula, hula!' They
had no weapons in their hands, and their blood was
WITH THE REBELS 207
running on the ground. The Japanese soldiers heard
their cries, and went up to them and stabbed them
through and through and through again with their
bayonets until they died. The men were torn very
much with the bayonet stabs, and we had to take
them up and bury them." The expressive faces of
the villagers told more eloquently than mere descrip-
tion how horrible the bayonetting was.
Were this an isolated instance, it would scarcely
be necessary to mention it. But what I heard on
all sides went to show that in a large number of
fights in the country the Japanese systematically
killed all the wounded and all who surrendered
themselves. This was not so in every case, but it
certainly was in very many. The fact is confirmed
by the Japanese accounts of many fights, where the
figures given of Korean casualties are so many killed,
with no mention of wounded or prisoners.
Another point deserves mention. In place after
place the Japanese, besides burning houses, shot
numbers of men whom they suspected of assisting the
rebels. When describing these executions to me the
Koreans always finished up by mentioning how, after
the volley had been fired, the Japanese ofificer in com-
mand of the firing party went up to the corpse and
plunged his sword into it or hacked it. An English-
man, of whose accuracy I have every reason to be
assured, heard the same tale. He lived near a
Japanese military station on the outskirts of the
rebellion, and he attended one of the executions
there to see if this was so. The prisoner was led
out, his hands tied behind him, and a Japanese
2o8 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
soldier leading him by a halter around the neck.
As they passed along on their way to the firing-
ground the Japanese soldier noticed the watching
foreigner. Thereupon he deliberately jerked the
halter to make the prisoner stumble, and then gave
him a heavy prod in the stomach with the butt-end
of his rifle. on this occasion, however, there was no
slashing of the body after death.
CHAPTER XIX
THE SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM
IT may be asked why the Europeans and Ameri
cans living in Korea did not make the full facts
about the Japanese administration known at an
earlier date. Some of them did attempt it, but the
strong feeling that generally existed abroad in favour
of the Japanese people — a feeling due to the magnifi-
cent conduct of the nation during the war — caused
complaints to go unheeded. The American Minister
at Seoul, Dr. Allen, was recalled as the indirect result
of an effort to show his Government that the Japanese
claims and assumptions should not be taken without
some critical examination. Many missionaries in
Korea, while indignant and resentful at the injury
done to their native neighbours, counselled patience,
and believed that the abuses were temporary and
would soon come to an end. It must be remembered
that, at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War,
every foreigner in the country, except a small group
of pro-Russians, sympathised with Japan. We had
all been alienated by the follies and mistakes of the
Russian Far Eastern policy ; we saw Japan at her
very best, and we believed that her people would act
15 «^
2IO THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
well by this weaker race. Our favourable impres-
sions were strengthened by the first doings of the
Japanese soldiers, and when scandals were whispered,
and oppression began to appear, we all looked upon
them as momentary disturbances due to a condition
of war. We were unwilling to believe anything but
the best, and it took some time to destroy our favour-
able prepossessions. I speak here not only for
myself, but for many another white man in Korea
at the time.
I might support this by many quotations. I take,
for instance. Professor Hulbert, the editor of the
Korea Review^ to-day one of the most persistent and
active critics of Japanese policy. At the opening of
the war Professor Hulbert used all his influence in
favour of Japan. " What Korea wants," he wrote,
" is education, and until steps are taken in that line
there is no use in hoping for a genuinely independent
Korea. Now, we believe that a large majority of
the best-informed Koreans realise that Japan and
Japanese influence stand for education and enlighten-
ment, and that while the paramount influence of any
one outside Power is in some sense a humiliation,
the paramount influence of Japan will give far less
genuine cause for humiliation than has the paramount
influence of Russia. Russia secured her predomi-
nance by pandering to the worst elements in Korean
officialdom. Japan holds it by strength of arm, but
she holds it in such a way that it gives promise of
something better. The word reform never passed
the Russians' lips. It is the insistent cry of Japan.
The welfare of the Korean people never showed its
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 211
head above the Russian horizon, but it fills the whole
vision of Japan ; not from altruistic motives mainly
but because the prosperity of Korea and that of
Japan rise and fall with the same tide." ^
Month after month, when stories of trouble came
from the interior, the Korea Review endeavoured to
give the best explanation possible for them, and to
reassure the public. It was not until the editor was
forced thereto by consistent and sustained Japanese
misgovernment that he reversed his attitude.
Foreign visitors of influence were naturally drawn
to the Japanese rather than to the Koreans. They
found in the officials of the Residency General a body
of courteous and delightful men, who knew the Courts
of Europe, and were familiar with world affairs. on
the other hand, the Korean spokesmen had no power
or skill in putting their case so as to attract European
sympathy. one distinguished foreigner, who returned
home and wrote a book largely given up to laudation
of the Japanese and contemptuous abuse of the
Koreans, admitted that he had never, during his
journey, had any contact with Koreans save those
his Japanese guides brought to him. Some foreign
journalists were also at first blinded in the same way.
Such a state of affairs obviously could not last.
Gradually the complaints of the foreign community
became louder and louder, and visiting publicists
began to take more notice of them. Here they were
met by a fresh difficulty. Editors at home were as
unwilling to believe anti-Japanese stories as the
journalists themselves had been, and, in some cases
' Korea Review, February, 1904.
212 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
known to me, the criticisms were entirely suppressed
by the home editors. This did not always happen.
Thus, the London Tribune permitted Mr. Douglas
Story, in the spring of 1906, to present the case of
the Korean Emperor. In the summer of the same
year, the London Daily Mail printed several articles
by myself, giving a detailed criticism of the Japanese
policy, backed up by numerous stories of outrages
and suffering, and based on a recent tour through the
country. It was then uphill work to attempt to
make the Korean case known, but there has been,
since that time, a growing willingness to hear both
sides of the question. When, in the autumn of 1905,
I spoke fully on the new issues, I was sharply taken
to task by influential English journals. " It is too
late to talk," they said. " The thing is done." No
single word of encouragement or sympathy was
uttered. That is now no longer the case.
The main credit of standing up for the Korean
people must be given to a young English journalist,
Mr. E. T. Bethell, editor of the Korea Daily News.
In the summer of 1904, he settled in Seoul as tem-
porary correspondent of a London daily paper, and
started a modest bi-lingual journal, the Korea Daily
News, printed partly in English and partly in Korean.
The first number was barely issued before the nation
was agitated by the great Nagamori land question.
Mr. Bethell took up an attitude of sharp hostility to
the granting of the Nagamori claims, and subsequent
events have justified him. He came, in consequence,
into direct conflict with the Japanese Legation, and
after some attempts had been made to win him over
\iu'. i:. T. iiKTiii;i.i., liiMiiiv' (II nil- kohka ikulv xims.
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 213
or secure his silence, it was resolved to crush him.
This naturally led to his close association with the
Korean Court. The Daily News became openly pro-
Korean ; its one daily edition was changed into two
separate papers — one, the Dai Han Mai II Shinpo,
printed in the Korean language, and the other,
printed in English, still calling itself by the old name.
Several of us thought that Mr. Bethell at first
weakened his case by extreme advocacy and by his
indulgence in needlessly vindictive writing. Yet it
must be rememberered, in common justice to him, that
he was playing a very difficult part. The Japanese
were making his life as uncomfortable as they
possibly could, and were doing everything to obstruct
his work. His mails were constantly tampered with ;
his servants were threatened or arrested on various
excuses, and his household was subjected to the
closest espionage. He displayed surprising tenacity,
and held on month after month without showing any
sign of yielding. The complaint of extreme bitterness
could not be urged against his journal to the same
extent after the spring of 1907. From that time he
adopted a more quiet and convincing tone. He
attempted on many occasions to restrain what he
considered the unwise tactics of some Korean ex-
tremists. He opposed the dispatch of the delegates
to the Hague, and he did his best to influence
public opinion against taking up arms to fight
Japan.
Failing to conciliate the editor, the Japanese
sought to destroy him. In order to cut the
ground from under his feet an opposition paper,
214 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
printed in English, was started. An able Japanese
journalist, Mr. Zumoto, became the editor. Mr.
Zumoto is well known to all who have followed
modern Japanese affairs as Prince Ito's leading
spokesman in the Press. A member of the Civil
Service and ambitious for a diplomatic career, he
was taken from his Government work first to be
permanent secretary to Ito when Premier, and
then to act as editor to the Japan Times, the
semi-official Japanese Government organ in Tokyo.
When Ito was made Resident-General Mr. Zumoto
accompanied him as official member of his staff.
Let it be said here that few could have done the
work in Seoul better than Mr. Zumoto. A broad-
minded Japanese, a man of delightful personality
and rich culture, he has won the universal esteem
of all who know him.
Mr. Zumoto's personal charms, however, failed
to enable his paper, the Seoul Press, to supplant
the Daily News. Here we had and have the
amazing journalistic situation of two daily papers
being published in the English language in a
city containing probably not more than a hundred
white men. one of these papers is able to keep
up a handsome office, with safes, typewriters,
and sumptuous electric fittings that would do
credit to a daily with a circulation of 50,000.
Native journals were also started under Japanese
editorship, to compete with the Dai Han Mai II
Shinpo. But here again Mr. Bethell's native
paper more than held its ground, for the Korean
people, as they have told me in parts, regard it as
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 215
the only mouthpiece through which they can
voice their wrongs.
These Japanese-edited papers have in some cases
taken up a decidedly anti-white line. one example
may show this. Let me quote from the Tai Kan
Nippo, a Seoul daily, printed in Korean, but controlled
by the Japanese. In the issue of September 6, 1907,
it wrote : "It is great folly for our countrymen
to believe the flattery of the Korea Daily News,
and not to realise the approaching danger. They
are like Chinese opium-smokers.
"The editor of the Korea Daily News is an
Englishman, with deep-set eyes and white nose,
with white face and yellow hair. The difference
between his and our races is great. To-day race
is against race. Is it wise for the Korean people
to give their confidence to men of another race,
and to alienate men of their own race ?
" The Korea Daily Nezus takes advantage of
the ignorance of the Koreans, and secures a large
circulation for itself. Be its motives great or small,
we are not inclined to discuss them.
"The tone of the paper has done great damage
to our country. A ruinous problem confronts us.
The Japanese have great interests here. If our
people trust their own Government they will
support them. If, however, our people follow the
guiding of the Englishman Bethell's cooked pen
we cannot tell what will happen to them. Separated
from their Government and creating strife among
their neighbours, their trouble will be very great.
" Asia for the Asiatics and Europe for the
2i6 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Europeans is the law of nature. The interests
of our country and the welfare of the people depend
on proximity and friendship. If we turn these
upside down the results will be ruinous. Briefly,
it is our advice to our own people to trust men
of their own colour, and to read no papers but
those of their own people, such as the Whang Sun,
Che Kuk, the Kuk Min, and our own."
English-speaking papers in the Far East, under
Japanese influence, were also called into service
against the little Seoul daily. Of these the Japan
Daily Mail was easily first. This paper is edited
by Captain Brinkley, a well-known Irishman for-
merly in the Japanese Government service and
since Foreign Adviser to the premier Japanese
shipping company, the Nippon Yusen Kaisha.
Captain Brinkley's great knowledge of Japanese life
and language is admitted and admired by all. His
independence of judgment is, however, weakened
by his close official connection with the Japanese
Government, and by his personal interest in Japanese
industry. His journal is regarded generally as a
Government mouthpiece, and he has succeeded in
making himself a more vigorous advocate of the
Japanese claims than even the Japanese themselves.
It can safely be forecasted that whenever a dis-
pute arises between Japanese and British interests
Captain Brinkley and his journal will play the part,
through thick and thin, of defenders of the Japanese.
The Japan Daily Mail sought to prepare
public opinion for the suppression of the Korea
Daily News. At the end of 1906 it wrote: "Our
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISIM 217
own belief is that the most expedient course in
this case is the most drastic. Press regulations
should be enated such as would bring a paper
like the Korea Daily News into immediate collision
with the criminal law. What is the conceivable
use of such a journal and on what moral principle
is its editor entitled to publicly ventilate day
after day his malevolent prejudices ? We cannot
see that any place exists for a character of the
kind on the stage of legitimate journalism, and as
Englishmen we should feel pleased were this
persistent enemy of our ally thrust out of sight."
The Korea Daily News itself stated its position
about the same time : —
" We wish our readers happiness in the coming
year. We take advantage of this occasion to say
a few words about ourselves, our ideas, and about
the people among whom we dwell. Antagonists
have on many occasions endeavoured to persuade
others that the Korea Daily News is by way of
being an 'outcast' newspaper; that its existence
is precarious, and that it is irresponsible. Further
we have noticed that an impression prevails that
the outspoken tone which the newspaper has
adopted from the first brings the editor into
personal danger.
"Nothing could be further from the truth. It
is recognised, we believe, by everybody in Korea
that we write from conviction and with a full
sense of responsibility, and we may add that the
Japanese, whose proceedings we have so frequently
to call into question, were the first to recognise
2i8 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
this. They have tried to bribe us, it is true, and
they have also supplied us with the kind of news
which they would like to see published, but in all
their dealings with us they have been amiability
itself.
" one thorn still sticks in our side, and that is
the miserable system of — apparently — irresponsible
espionage. This even we hope will presently be
done away with.
" So much for our personal affairs, and now
for our ideas. From the inception of this newspaper
we have held the belief that any interference by
Japan in Korean affairs could only be disastrous.
We still hold this belief, and are confident that
the future will bring our justification. During
the war there were many straws which showed us
whither the wind was blowing, and it was plain
enough that the alleged treaty of November 17,
1905, was the inevitable solution (so far as the
Japanese Government was concerned) of an almost
impossible situation. The Japanese people were
persuaded that the treaty of Portsmouth gave them
Korea, and a ceremony resembling annexation had
to be carried out.
" All this we realise and appreciate, but we none
the less believe that a modification of the ideas of
the Japanese people and of the methods of the
Japanese Government is imperative or desirable
in the near future.
" Korea is not for Japan. This we believe, and
shall always believe. Japan's attempts to assume
control here can only result in waste of money
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 219
and an increase of the ill-feeling which already
unmistakably exists.
" It is true that corruption prevails in Korean
official circles, but it is equally true that many
of the Japanese who have obtained positions here
are quite as corrupt as the most corrupt Korean."
Diplomacy was now brought into play. During
the summer of 1906 the Japanese authorities caused
a number of articles to be translated from the Dai
Han Mai II Shmpo, and submitted them to the
British Governm.ent, with a request that Mr. Bethell's
journals might be suppressed. It must be under-
stood that the British journalist in the Far East
occupies a somewhat different position to that of
his colleagues at home. He is governed by a
series of " Orders in Council " issued by the
British Government, and is practically at the mercy
of his own Minister, who can, for cause shown,
have his paper suppressed and possibly himself
expelled from the territory. Several incidents of
this kind have occurred. Thus in 1876 Sir Harry
Parkes suppressed the Bankoku Shivibun^ a verna-
cular Japanese paper, started by Mr. Black, of Yoko-
hama. The contents of this paper were entirely
inoffensive, but the Tokyo Government strongly
objected to a foreigner issuing a paper in the
native language, without being under the control
of their Press laws. This led Sir Harry Parkes
to issue a notification forbidding British subjects,
under severe penalties, from printing or publish-
ing papers in Japanese. Later, Mr. Lillie, editor
of the Siam Free Press, was deported by the
220 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Government of Siam, on the charge of attacking the
Government of the country, permission first having
been obtained from the British Minister. There
was still another case in Siam where Mr. Tilleke,
the proprietor of a journal published in Bangkok,
was convicted of crime and sentenced to six months'
imprisonment. The editor of Mr. Tilleke's journal
strongly criticised the sentence, declaring it to be
a miscarriage of justice. In consequence an order
for his deportation was issued by the acting judge
at the Consular Court, and was only held over on
his making an apology. The Supreme Court later
unanimously quashed Mr. Tilleke's conviction, but
this did not affect the power of the Consular Court
to punish the editor. So recently as 1904 the
British in Northern China were stirred by an
attempt to coerce Mr. John Cowen, the editor of
the China Times. Mr. Cowen had been writing
somewhat freely about the action of the Russian
authorities during the war, and the Consul-General
at Tientsin ordered him to find security that he
would not repeat the offence, and threatened him
with deportation. The journalist defied the Consul-
General, and in the end won.
It can be understood that when the news went
abroad that the Japanese authorities were attempt-
ing to persuade the British Government to suppress
the Korea Daily News, it caused considerable
interest to all Far Eastern residents. In order
to strengthen the hands of the authorities on the
spot the British Foreign Office issued, early in 1907,
a fresh series of " Orders in Council " dealing with
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 221
British journalism in the Far East The heads of
the British Legation in Tokyo, who are, p-^rhaps
not unnaturally, whole-hearted advocates of the
Japanese cause, were very sympathetic towards a
policy of vigorous action. In September, 1907,
Mr. Cockburn, the British Consul-General, at Seoul
visited Tokyo, and it was common talk at the time
that he had been summoned there to discuss what
should be done with the Daily News and its
obstinate editor.
The blow fell soon after Mr. Cockburn's return.
on Saturday, October 12th, Mr. Bethell received
a summons to appear on the following Monday
at a specially appointed Consular Court, to answer
the charge of adopting a course of action likely to
cause a breach of the peace. Proceedings were
taken, not as had been expected under the revised
"Order" issued in 1907, but under Article 83 of the
China and Korea Order in Council of 1904: —
" Where it is proved that there is reasonable
ground to apprehend that a British subject is
about to commit a breach of the public peace —
or that the acts or conduct of a British subject
are or is likely to produce or excite to a breach
of the public peace — the Court may, if it thinks
fit, cause him to be brought before it, and require
him to give security, to the satisfaction of the Court,
to keep the peace or for his future good behaviour, as
the case may require."
The trial took place in the Consular buildings, Mr.
Cockburn acting as judge. The short notice made
it impossible for Mr. Bethell to obtain counsel
222 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
or legal advice, as there are no English lawyers in
Seoul, and he would have had to send to Shanghai
or Kobe. This placed him at an obvious dis-
advantage. He had to plead his own cause with
practically no preparation, without legal knowledge,
and without trained advice. I have no wish here to
make the slightest reflection on Mr. Cockburn's
personal attitude in this case, for he has won the
high esteem and confidence of all under him. He
was acting as the mouthpiece and agent of his
superiors in Tokyo, and it would be unfair to
saddle him with responsibility.
Eight articles were produced in court as the
basis of the charge against Mr. Bethell, some of
these having appeared in the Korea Daily News,
some in the Dai Han Mai II Shinpo, and some
in both papers. Six articles were comments on
or descriptions of the fighting then taking place
in the interior. one dealt with the proposed visit of
the Crown Prince of Japan to Korea, and one was
an article in Korean, urging the people to value and
cherish their independence. The articles on the
fighting were no stronger than, if as strong, as the
statements which I myself have made in the pre-
vious chapters of this book, when telling what I
saw on my autumn journey. In order that a fair
judgment may be passed I print the articles
verbatim at the end of this chapter.
The trial, trivial as it may have appeared to
some, was yet the most deadly blow struck at
the freedom of the British Press within this gene-
ration. None, however, would have imagined its
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 223
seriousness by the looseness of the proceedings.
Mr, Bethell, not being a lawyer, was unable to
take advantage of the hundred and one points
that arose in his favour. He wanted to know
who was the real complainant in the case. The
charge had been nominally advanced by Mr.
Holmes, a member of the staff at the British
Consulate, but it was obvious that he was
merely a cover for the real movers. When the
accused asked at whose instigation the proceedings
were taken, the judge refused to permit the question
to be answered. one official of the Japanese Resi-
dency-General, Mr. Komatz, came forward and swore
that, in his opinion, the ill-feeling between the
Japanese and Koreans was caused by Mr. Bethell's
two papers. Bishop Turner was called upon to
testify that the Koreans were hostile to the Japan-
ese. His evidence could not have been quite
palatable to the Japanese themselves.
The Judge. Are there any Koreans in Seoul
who hold anti-Japanese opinions? In other words,
what is the feeling of the Korean people towards
the Japanese in Korea ?
Bishop Turner. In conversation with Koreans
I have certainly noticed a very strong feeling against
the Japanese.
The Judge. Do you from your general know-
ledge think the feeling widespread ?
The Bishop. Yes, I do.
The Judge. Widespread?
The Bishop. Yes, very widespread.
Another witness, Major Hughes, the only one
224 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
called for the defence, declared that in his opinion
Mr. Bethell's articles were not calculated to excite a
breach of the public peace. The judge's decision was
as anticipated. He convicted the editor, and ordered
him to enter into recognisances of ^300 to be of
good behaviour for six months. The Korea Daily
News itself, in commenting on the matter, said,
" The effect of the judgment is that for a period of
six months this newspaper will be gagged, and there-
fore no further reports of Japanese reverses can be
published in our columns."
The last has not yet been heard of this case. The
British Foreign Office, upon which the real responsi-
bility must lie, has by its action placed itself among
those who condone the doings of the Japanese troops
in the interior, for it was mainly on the publication
of the details of the acts of these troops that the
charges were based. It is impossible to think that
our Foreign Office should have moved in this way for
any other reason than from want of knowledge, and
it has yet to be seen if British public opinion will
permit British officials to silence those who, despite
possible faults of style and maybe, in the opinion of
some, faults of taste, are making a fight, and a fight
against heavy odds, for justice to a weaker race.
The articles in the Korea Daily News, on which
the charges were based, were as follows : —
September 2, 1907.
" We have repeatedly commented upon the manner
in which Japan has gone to work to subjugate Korea,
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 225
and reports that have just reached us from the
country are illustrative of the unpleasant and unn^^ces-
sary methods she is now using. If it is the desire of
the authorities to create a terrible race hatred among
the Korean people for Japan, we can only say that
their desire will be consummated very rapidly, unless
the great question of humanity is a little more studied.
" on Saturday afternoon last two Korean ex-
soldiers were shot by Japanese troops outside the
west gate of the city of Su Won. The officer in
charge then drew his sword, and going up to the two
poor wretches who were dying, plunged it into their
stomachs, almost disembowelling them.
" The act has caused great excitement and rage
in the city, and as a result, when four more men were
led out to be shot on Sunday, all Koreans were for-
bidden to approach within a quarter of a mile of the
place of execution. Japanese civilians were, how-
ever, allowed to be present.
" At Yong-san on Saturday evening a Korean and
his wife, the latter with a baby tied to her back,
were quietly walking along the high-road near the
Japanese barracks, when a Japanese soldier, with-
out any reason, fired at them.
" The bullet struck the woman in the side, killing
her instantly. The baby's fingers on one hand were
blown to pieces.
" In wild despair the husband rushed to the
barracks and poured out the tragic tale to the officer.
He was listened to, and then offered a small sum of
money as compensation. on his refusing, he was
driven out into the road. No information can be
16
226 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
obtained as to whether the murderer has been
punished or not ; but it is safe to assume that no
notice has been taken of his act.
" In the peaceful Httle village of Cha Ma-Chang,
just a few miles from the east gate of Seoul, the
Japanese soldiers on their way to I-Chhon and Chang
Chu have caused considerable trouble. They are
compelling the local farmers to act as their coolies,
and on refusal seize them by force and carry them
away. The women have also been assaulted, and
the whole village is in a state of terror.
" The farmers argue very logically that it is unfair
to expect them to act as baggage coolies to Japanese
soldiers. They reason that as good Korean patriots
it is unreasonable to expect them to carry ammuni-
tion that will be used to shoot down their fellow-
countrymen ; as if they do, they are likely to be
attacked and fired upon by other Koreans. That no
wages are paid for their services ; that they are
not coolies, but are respectable farmers ; and that it
is a busy time just now in the fields and the crops
cannot be neglected. These reasons would appear
convincing to most, but have no effect on the officers.
" on the Coronation Day several men were seized
and marched off with heavily-laden jiggies at the
point of the bayonet. Ponies are being comman-
deered in all directions, whilst no payment is offered
for anything that is taken. The majority of the
villagers have fled to the mountains.
" If the latter incidents happen within a few miles
of Seoul, one is tempted to ask what is going on far
out in the country.''
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 227
September 10, 1907.
" The trouble in the interior has become so serious
that the Japanese military authorities have decided
to use extreme measures to stamp it out. The pro-
clamation of General Baron Hasegawa, Acting
Resident-General and military Commander-in-Chief,
is one of those frank announcements which, although
possibly necessary, create feelings of horror and pity.
Horror, because of the ruthlessness of the order ;
pity, because of the tragedies and sufferings that are
inevitable among the people. Over all these hangs
the supreme tragedy : the hopelessness of the struggle.
one is compelled to admire the misguided patriotism
of the people who have determined to strike a blow
for their country and die. It is the highest order of
courage ; it is also the most pitiful.
" The proclamation orders the destruction of all
villages where insurrection has taken place. Such
an order should be the last resort of all ; for it means
the carrying on of war against women and children
and aged people. It means suffering unutterable ; it
means the murder of the defenceless. The situation
is not so bad as to really cause the adoption of
extreme measures. Gentler methods could have
been used to suppress the trouble, and could have
been used effectually. The bitter winter will soon
be here ; and the burning of entire villages and
towns is simply inexcusable. As a last resort it
might have been pardonable ; but in the present
condition of affairs it is a revival of barbaric
methods.
228 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
"What is the condition of things in Korea? In
the south about 2,000 people have risen and attacked
the Japanese officers. The majority of them are
armed with old weapons. Artillery, they are with-
out. To replenish their stock of ammunition is very
difficult, whilst their organisation is of a rather low
order. Against them we have trained Japanese
troops with the latest magazine rifles, with light,
quick-firing machine guns, and with infinite resources
so far as reinforcements and commissariat are con-
cerned. If it is impossible for the Japanese, with
these advantages over the Koreans, to suppress the
rising without burning to the ground hundreds and
thousands of houses, then we have to say that the
army now in Korea has sadly deteriorated in com-
parison with the Japanese armies who fought in
Manchuria. The ancients had a saying that those
whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.
The critic of Japan may well remember this old
aphorism ; for if Japan persists in carrying out these
extreme methods of suppression she will succeed in
building up a race hatred quite as fierce and quite as
relentless as Oliver Cromwell did among the people
of Ireland.
" Marquis Ito, for the apparent purpose of obtain-
ing publicity abroad, has sought to make it under-
stood that Japan's policy in Korea is a conciliatory
one. General Hasegawa has by his proclamation
taken the wind out of Marquis Ito's sails. We may
say, however, that General Hasegawa is acting under
instructions from Tokyo, which have been sent to
him with the complete approval of Marquis Ito.
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 229
And so we have Marquis Ito openly preaching the
gospel of conciliation, and we have General Hase-
gawa, who is the Acting Resident-General, promising
the destruction of all Koreans who are suspected of
disaffection. There are two orators and two plat-
forms. Marquis Ito addresses himself in velvet to
the civilised nations. General Hasegawa threatens
the Koreans with the armed forces of Japan. Of
General Hasegawa's proclamation we have little to
say ; but the inducements which are extended to
Koreans to betray their neighbours or friends are
very clearly not in accordance with the ideas of
honour which prevail amongst Western nations, and
fall far behind the standard which two Japanese
barons so sedulously sought to impress upon the
white man in Europe and America during Japan's
travail."
Septeinber 12, 1907.
" The rising in the south of Korea is now marked
with the worst attributes of warfare. It is no longer
civilised warfare ; it has developed into war without
mercy. We by no means wish to insinuate that it is
only the Japanese who are the offenders. on the
contrary, we freely admit that the Korean insurgents
have copied the examples of the Japanese soldiers
and are burning houses and killing people. We
would merely like to point out that the authorities
started these methods and that the Koreans have
followed suit. They have evidently an understanding
of the old proverb, ' What is sauce for the goose is
sauce for the gander.'
230 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
" Reliable information has reached us from the
interior, and we publish it without comment. Our
informant deals with the condition of things in
Chhung-Chhung-Do. He arrived on Tuesday evening
from Pyeng Tak, having walked from his home near
Chhung-Chu city. He reports that for a distance of
nearly seventy li along the high-road from Chei Chyen
city the Japanese troops have burned to the ground
every village and every house. The desolation is
appalling. There is nothing left but ruins and
smoking straw.
" on Monday last the magistrate of Chin-Tchun
called in the aid of fifty Japanese soldiers, and the
townsmen having provided the soldiers with whatever
they required, the volunteers held a meeting, and
decided to punish what they considered treachery on
the part of their countrymen. A few hours later they
assembled in large numbers and attacked the town.
" At the first signs of attack the insurgents fled to
the hills, upon which the volunteers then attacked the
Japanese garrison of fifty men. They defeated the
Japanese, killing eight soldiers and driving the rest
in the direction of An Song. They then burnt the
entire town, which is by no means a small one.
The Korean volunteers are using ancient rifles, and
are said to be short of ammunition, but during this
fight they captured a considerable number of modern
rifles and a fair amount of ammunition.
" At the same time another body of volunteers
ambuscaded a small party of Japanese soldiers in
one of the valleys in the mountains, and killed them
all.
I'lioloi^rtit'li hyi
[F. .1. M, k'l'iizic.
Jnl NNAI.ISM IN KoKliA ; Till': COMl'OSlToUS Iv'ooM ol A
DAILY HAI'KK.
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 231
" In Chhung-Chu city there are over 1,000
Japanese soldiers. The officers have adopted the old
methods of warfare, for they are paying practically
nothing for the stores they seize. It is also reported,
but we do not vouch for the report, that the soldiers
are killing both women and children.
" Thousands of non-combatants have been robbed
and rendered houseless by the Japanese soldiers,
which has naturally resulted in a large increase of
the volunteer forces."
September 21, 1907.
" Telegraphic messages from Tokyo, which reached
us this morning, say that the Crown Prince of Japan,
Prince Yoshi-hito, will arrive in Seoul on October
lOth, on a 'visit of inspection.' This visit appears
to make a departure from the tradition which has
hitherto been observed when the two nations have
held intercourse with each other. Korea has had
many visitors from Japan who carried messages from
one Emperor to the other, and has always recipro-
cated on equal terms, but this expedition, uninvited,
to the best of our belief, to Korea, is a very distinct
advance from a ceremonial point of view, upon
anything which Japan has so far attempted in Korea ;
and we cannot see, much as we must admire the
Imperial family of Japan, how this new step can
conduce in any way to the improvement of the
relations between the two countries, especially at a
time when Japanese troops are butchering Korean
patriots — misguided surely, but still patriots.
"And what has become of the Imperial House
232 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
of Korea? To all intents and purposes the Emperor
is now sufifering at Japanese hands in much the same
way as the common Korean people have suffered
for some years. He is being quartered upon. No
one can imagine for a moment that the Emperor
spontaneously invited the Crown Prince of Japan
to come to Korea. Neither can it be believed that
the weak Emperor looks forward to the coming
visitation with feelings other than those of the greatest
trepidation.
" It was only two days ago, possibly in anticipation
of the visit of H.I.J.H. the Prince Yoshi-hito, that
the retired Emperor and the reigning Emperor were
separated from each other on orders of the men who
comprise the Cabinet Council. This separation
rudely broke a companionship which had continued
unbroken for over a quarter of a century ; as for
this time the Emperor and his father lived, ate, and
slept in the same house.
" The present Emperor can by no means be
described as a strong man. The retired Emperor
had his weaknesses, but had many accomplishments
which enabled him to preserve his balance upon the
throne so long as he did. If common report is
correct, the new Emperor has none of these advan-
tages, and the separation from his father will
probably leave him more than ever at sea.
" That this separation was forcible is clear to every
one who lives at Seoul, and that it carries behind
it further designs upon Korea — Independence, In-
tegrity, Welfare, Imperial Dignity, and so forth —
is generally apprehended. During the war the brick
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 233
which the Japanese most frequently threw at the
Koreans was labelled ' intrigue.' And now in our
humble way we heave that brick back to where it
belongs."
September 24, 1907.
" We have received a long letter from a valued
correspondent (a foreigner) concerning the trouble
in the interior. He has only recently returned from
the scene, and he writes of things that he saw. Our
correspondent is an unbiassed man with no axe to
grind for either party.
" He says : ' This business is a big thing. The
Japanese by their methods are either deliberately or
through ignorance and incapacity causing it to grow
rapidly. In Chhin-Chun Eup the Eui-pyeng, or
Righteous Army, drove out two Japanese who had
somehow got possession of Korean houses and burnt
their belongings. on September 9th twenty-seven
Japanese soldiers entered the town and burnt sixty-
five houses ; I saw these myself, and they were nothing
more than a heap of ashes. The Kun gu's official
residence was destroyed, and part of the large house
of Mr. Yi Han Eung. The Japanese then took
possession of the remaining part of the house and
slept in it, having driven the owners away, and after
a few days left it in a filthy condition. They even
dragged doors and windows off their hinges, pulled
the paper off the walls and strewed filth, fragments
of cigarettes, food, and broken beer-bottles through-
out the best rooms of the house. As the owner of
the house had already been beaten by the volunteers
234 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
for refusing to aid them (he is a rich man) the
Japanese acts of vandalism at his house seem some-
what unnecessary and inhuman.
" ' Whilst I was in this town a body of ten
volunteers passed through in the evening. It was
a moving sight to see these poor patriots marching
in single file with their ancient muskets slung over
their right shoulder and a fuse in their left hand.
They were perfectly orderly and quiet and made no
disturbance in the town whatever.
" ' I was twice accosted by the Eui-pyeng in my
travels, but was always treated politely. one of
them told me that they were glad to see any
foreigners in the country, except the Japanese, and
that they wished to learn from foreigners mechanical
and other arts, and were determined to save their
country or die in the attempt.
" * Both here and in every other village where I
stopped I warned Koreans of the uselessness of
fighting for their independence as things are now,
and implored them to bear their humiliation for a
number of years, during which they must acquire
Western arts and sciences, and not to put their trust
in Russia, England, China, America, or any other
nation, but to trust in the future and prepare them-
selves to be ready to claim their independence when
the time comes.
" ' They were quite respectful but determined to
fight on. I hope, however, that I have deterred many
from joining them, and I may say without boasting
that I believe I have done more to pacify the Koreans
than any Japanese in this country. one Korean,
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 235
pointing to his ruined home, said to me, " Our religion
teaches us to love our enemies, but it is very hard to
love the Japanese when you see that sort of thing."
"'Not a single Japanese soldier or civilian did
I see, and only one or two fugitive Koreans with
their hair cut, not one individual displayed in foreign
elastic-sided boots and green or purple stockings.
It was a disappointment.
'" In one village I was in, the Eui-pyeng captured
a member of the notorious II Chin Hoi, but although
I inquired very carefully, I could not hear that they
had done him any damage.
" ' The people all speak well of the Eui-pyeng,
whom they declare to be strictly disciplined and
well officered. The Japanese, guided by men of the
II Chin Hoi, men who are now the avowed, but who
always have been the real, enemies of their country,
go about in considerable numbers, and live the life of
ruthless brigands. They live by plunder and theft,
and destroy wherever they go. At the same time
they are utterly incapable of suppressing the dis-
turbances, which grow rapidly under the inhuman
outrages.
" ' These freebooters pillage, assault, and kill
wherever they go. one village I was in the people
were full of deep wrath because they had shot a
small boy who was cutting firewood on the hillside.
He was quite alone, they told me, and there were
none of the Eui-pyeng within miles of the place.
They plunder isolated villages, and seize horses and
oxen. They never pay a cent for anything, and no
one is safe from their violence and greed. To call
236 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
the Righteous Army rebels is ridiculous when one
goes among them and realises that they are fighting
for home and country against a set of ruffians.
" ' I saw four places where engagements had been
fought. At one place it had been a drawn battle,
the Japanese retiring with five killed. The other
three were Japanese victories, owing to the long
range of their rifles and their superior ammunition ;
and only one of their victories was obtained without
casualties to themselves. I saw enough to realise
that it was no picnic for the Japanese.
" * The Chinese are about as usual in all the places
I visited, and everybody is perfectly safe, with the
exception of the Japanese and the II Chin Hoi.
" ' one is forced to ask who is in charge of these
men who are nothing more than brigands. Their
mode of warfare seems to be purposely designed to
stir every honest man into a frenzy. Is this their
object ? If not, why do they practise so wicked, so
mad a policy ? Let the authorities either police the
whole disaffected districts effectually and properly,
or else confess their incapacity for controlling Korea.
" ' In spite of all this misery and destruction the
harvest promises well in most parts ; while, although
there has been so long a drought, the rice crop is on
the whole a heavy one. Even now, by the constant
attention and clever manipulation of the water
supply, many of the rows are still covered with two
or three inches of that most necessary element'
" So writes our correspondent. We make no
comment. It is needless."
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 237
September 26, 1907.
" We are informed that a bad fight took place
about eight miles frou Su-won on Sunday, Septem-
ber 1 2th. Thirty volunteers were surrounded by
Japanese troops, and although no resistance was
offered, were shot down in the most cold-blooded
fashion. This not being quite enough to satisfy the
conquerors, two other volunteers who had been
captured were brought out and were decapitated by
one of the officers. We may mention that this news
does not come from native sources ; it comes from
European."
October i, 1907.
" Reliable information from the south states that
on the 26th ult. several Japanese soldiers arrived in
Yea San and arrested Mr. Yi Nam Kiu, a former
high official in the district. In their anxiety his son
and servants followed the party and begged to know
the reason of the seizure, upon which the soldiers
opened fire upon them, killing the majority. They
then put Mr. Yi against a post and shot him."
The article which appeared solely in the Dai Han
Mai II Shinpo (October ist) was : —
"Valuing that which is Valuable.
" Oh ! Korean nation ! Is not independence the
most valuable thing in the world ?
"The rights of a people exist by virtue of the
independence of their country, and the more com-
238 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
plete the independence the fuller the rights of the
people. If independence is impaired so are the rights
of the people, and if it is completely lost the rights
of the people are lost with it. Independence is the
life and soul, body and limbs of a nation. Having
it, a nation lives, without it, it dies ; therefore the
two words Tok-lip (Independence) represent one of
the most valuable things in the world, difficult to
obtain and difficult to keep.
"Even the Jewel of Bouhoo and the Jade of Whasi
were not easily obtained or carelessly guarded ;
therefore how much more difficult it is to obtain
and maintain that independence which concerns the
life or death of a whole race of people !
" Think ! What are the histories of the struggles
for independence in America, Greece, and Italy?
How many patriots suffered great misery ? How
many lost all they had, and how many lost their
lives ?
" The glorious independence of these nations now
shines to the four directions of the compass, yet the
blessings which the present generations enjoy were
purchased with the blood of their ancestors.
" Korea came by her independence easily ; the
nation did not struggle for it and the people did not
suffer to obtain it. It was a gift from God, and,
coming easily, was lightly guarded. The people did
not try to appreciate the nature of the gift and the
value of national independence. An ancient philo-
sopher has written that if a man receives 1,000
taels of gold without cause, great blessings or great
calamities will befal him. Independence came to us
SUPPRESSION OF FOREIGN CRITICISM 239
without any effort on our part, and great calamity
was therefore to come to us.
"If directly we had received our independence
we had devoted ourselves to strengthening and con-
serving our new position, and if our Government and
all political parties had united to work unceasingly
for the progress and enlightenment of our people,
then great blessings would have been ours and the
foundations of independence laid ten years ago would
have been rendered safe. With no appreciation of
the value of independence, we did the exact opposite.
Not valuing the blessings of God, we spent in idle
pleasure the time and energy which should have been
devoted to education and the strengthening of the
nation. We spurned the gift of God, and our un-
happy condition to-day is our own fault. Independ-
ence, the great safeguard of a nation, came to us
easily, and, valuing it lightly, we lost it almost at once.
Chomeng once gave away something he valued, but
finding that it was not appreciated, he stole it back
again, and similarly those who gave us independence
have now deprived us of it.
" History tells us that the independence of the
United States, Italy, and Greece was only gained
after many years of affliction and trouble, and by
the loss of many thousands of lives, and in the same
way the people of Korea must pay the proper price
before they attain full happiness. Tiiere are usually
failures before success is reached, and why, there-
fore should our hearts fail us now and our footsteps
falter ?
"Our independence, to be complete, must be
240 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
gained by our own efforts and held by our own
strength. Let our watchword, then, be ' Independ-
ence' ; and though our troubles be infinite, let us not
break even though we are bent ten thousand times,
and in the end we shall shake off outside oppression
and restraint and once more build up an independent
nation,
" If we do this, we shall prove our capacity to the
world ; if we do not, there will be no place for us in
all the wide world or on all the broad ocean.
" Therefore consider this and act."
CHAPTER XX
THE PROSPECTS FOR FOREIGN TRADE
UP to the year 1904 Korea presented a possible
and expanding field for British trade and
British influence. The Customs Service was under
an Englishman. British houses had their branches
in Chemulpho and elsewhere. British goods, more
particularly cottons, were acquiring an ever-grow-
ing market, and our Open Door rights were made
secure by treaty. To-day the British chief of the
Customs has gone and a Japanese has taken his
place. The numerous European assistants in the
Customs Service have nearly all been sent adrift and
their positions occupied by a greatly augmented
number of Japanese. While we still have a nominal
Open Door, it is freely charged that Japanese
merchants are able to bring their goods into the
country on more advantageous terms than our own
people. Our trade in Korea is doomed as surely
as our Formosan trade was doomed when Japan
took over that island. The Residency-General has
adopted on the surface a policy of encouragment to
the foreigner, but in truth a policy of exclusion.
17 ^41
242 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
The encouragement is confined to gracious words
and fair promises, but the reality consists of
conditions so onerous and uncertain that foreign
capitalists will not put fresh money into the land.
It was perhaps natural that, when Japan took over
Korea, one of the earliest rules of the Residency-
General was that Japanese should be employed for
every service, and that contracts should always go to
Japanese firms wherever they could possibly supply
the goods. It was reasonable, too, that the
Residency-General should seek to improve the old
loose and uncertain methods of granting conces-
sions. But it was soon found that under the
seeming fairness in trade regulations provisos were
inserted that would hoplessly cripple any non-
Japanese.
This can be well illustrated by the case of the
mining laws. When the Japanese came to Korea
in 1904 there was good promise of considerable
mining enterprise in the country. Representatives
of various nations had already secured concessions,
and the American mines yielded high profits. Great
financial groups in London, Paris, and New York
had their representatives on the spot, seeking
power to open up fresh fields. The Japanese first
announced that they would delay granting any
concessions until proper regulations should be
framed. Japanese prospectors were given a free
hand to travel over the country, while the white
prospectors were kept back. Then, in 1906, the
new mining regulations appeared. In many re-
spects these were fair and even liberal, but they
PROSPECTS FOR FOREIGN TRADE 243
were wholly vitiated by certain clauses which
placed the holders of the rights entirely at the
mercy of the Minister of Agriculture, a Japanese-
appointed official. Articles 9 and 10 declared that
the owners of a mining right could not amalgamate,
divide, sell, assign, or mortgage a claim without per-
mission from the Minister of Agriculture. Article 1 1
gave the same Minister the right to stop all opera-
tions at will. " In case the holder of a mining right
does not carry on operations properly, or when his
method of work is considered to involve danger, or
to be injurious to public interests, the Minister of
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry shall order the
required improvement or precautionary measures or
the suspension of operations." In Article 12 the
power of absolute forfeiture was laid down. " The
Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry,
may revoke the permission to carry on mining
operations when the mining operations are con-
sidered to be injurious to public interests."
The result of this has been what one would expect.
Great financiers now refuse to advance money for
Korean enterprises ; the biggest syndicate of all is
withdrawing from the country, and British engineers,
known to me, are, as I write this in London, looking
for fresh engagements because the Japanese mining
regulations have made it impossible for them to
continue their work in Korea. No one will put
half a million of money in mining development
and plant to have before him the possibility of
it being confiscated at the whim of an official.
" We have refused no English requests for a mining
244 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
right," the Japanese say. No, but they have made
the mining rights not worth having, or certainly not
worth investing the heavy sums in development that
are necessary if good work is to be done.
There has been considerable talk during the last
year of a Customs alliance between Japan and Korea.
This is advocated by men like Count Okuma, who
call insistently for the sweeping away of old Korean
treaties. The foreign merchants in Korea believe that
unless active steps are taken this union will come,
and they point out that, if it comes, the last vestiges
of their trade will be taken away. Foreign goods
would then have to pay the high Japanese tariff when
brought into Korea, and Japanese goods would be
admitted free. The probability of this coming to
pass is wholly denied by the responsible authorities
at the Residency-General. " only the greedy com-
mercial party in Japan wants it," a high official once
assured me. There are great difficulties in the way
of carrying out such a proposal. It could not be done
without the consent of the various Powers possessing
treaty rights with Korea. Japan might, of course,
denounce such treaties and refuse to acknowledge
them further, but such a course would do her so much
harm that it is not likely to be followed. From the
point of view of the Residency-General the step is
undesirable at this time, because it would destroy
one of the principal sources of Korean revenue.
There is an old and true story of how some years i
after Korea had been opened to foreign trade a
foreign Minister rose in the House of Commons to
reply to a question on the Hermit Kingdom. " The
l'liolot<rat>h by] 1 '• ■ A.McK'iiizU:
JAI'ANKSK INIANTUY 01:T ACJAINST KOKKANS.
PROSPECTS FOR FOREIGN TRADE 245
honourable member asks if we are taking steps to
protect British trade in Korea," he said. "There
is no such thing as British trade there. There is not
a single British firm in Korea, and no British goods
go there." At the time one of the leading British
houses in the Far East had been settled in Che-
mulpho for eighteen months, and was doing well.
But word of this enterprise had not yet reached
Downing Street.
No one can deny the reality of British trade in
Korea now. But there is still danger that the same
indifference in official circles may sweep it away. I
refuse to contemplate the possibility of our Govern-
ment giving its consent to the abrogation of our
Open Door rights there. But, apart from so
extreme a measure, we are permitting other things
to go on that cannot fail to harm us. one of the
most annoying and dangerous of these is the free
sale of Japanese fraudulent imitation of well-known
British goods. This affects our trade not only in
Korea, but also in Manchuria and China. Not long
since I was walking through a town in Northern
Asia with an American Consul stationed there. My
friend pointed out to me article after article in the
big stores with an English label, but which we could
see in a moment were nothing but the bogus products
of an Osaka factory. " You British are wonderful
people," he said. " You make good things and earn
a high reputation for them. Then you will allow a
sneaking little Japanese trader to spread the vilest
counterfeits of your stuff all over Asia. Your reputa-
tion is destroyed, not merely for those particular
246 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
goods, but for many others. And yet you do not
even protest, and you have no officials on the spot
to safeguard your interests."
Early last year English commercial men were
aroused by the reports of an amazing case in
Japan, which shed vivid light on the difficulties
before our manufacturers there. The Japanese
agents for " Black and White " whisky summoned
a man, Nishiwaka, for imitating their trade mark.
Nishikawa made no secret of the fact that he had
copied the " Black and White " trade-mark as closely
as he could. " I wanted to make the whisky look as
much as possible as though it had been imported
from abroad, and I considered the ' Black and
White' the best," he told the court. For all
practical purposes the two labels — I have seen both
— were not distinguishable. There was no dispute
about the facts, and there was no question that
people had been deceived. The court dismissed the
charge, on the ground that it did not constitute an
offence in Japanese law. This decision has been
upheld on appeal.
The " Black and White" case was only a very bad
instance of what is going on constantly. In Korea
British trade feels the result of this. When you buy
English goods in the Japanese quarter in Seoul you
must look very carefully at the label. Usually, a
mis-spelled word or a letter turned upside down
gives away the imitation. A friend of mine bought
a so-called Christy's hat for her little boy. The boy
went out in the rain and was soaked. The hat
promptly went soft and shapeless, the lining came
PROSPECTS FOR FOREIGN TRADE 247
out, and underneath the lining was a padding of
Japanese newspapers.
The British merchant and manufacturer have
a right to expect that their Government will do
something to protect them against this kind of
unfair competition. Friendly representations to the
Japanese Government would go far to check it. The
Japanese imitation is destroying the reputation of
the British original from Canton to Harbin.
The piece-goods trade in Korea is gradually being
wiped out by Japanese competition. A paragraph
from the report of Messrs. Noel, Murray & Co.,
of Shanghai, last August, gives the attitude of the
leading British houses engaged in this business in
the Far East.
"The feelings of many of the British import
houses here who have been for years interested in
the trade of Korea can better be imagined than
described as they see its total extinction slowly but
surely getting nearer and nearer. Probably because
the British trade with that country does not figure
to any great extent in the Board of Trade Returns,
the Government does not consider the actions of
Japan towards that country are worthy of notice.
But for years past a steady trade in Manchester
goods have been done through Shanghai, and this
is altogether doomed if Japan is quietly allowed to
absorb the trade, as she is evidently trying to do,
by bringing about a Customs Union. The report
that the United States is willing to aid and abet
her in doing so, as a sop to counteract the awkward
situation that has been raised over the immigration
248 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
question, is only natural, considering her commercial
relations with Korea are of no importance. It is,
however, quite time a halt was called and a re-valua-
tion made of the Open Door and ' fair field and
no favour' protestations that were so much to the
fore a few years ago both with regard to the
Manchurian and Korean trades."
Those who explain the expansion of Japanese
commerce in Korea solely by unfair means make
a serious mistake. The Japanese traders are show-
ing great enterprise in many ways. Not unnaturally,
they secure subsidies wherever they can, both from
the Japanese and Korean Governments. one of
their successful methods was displayed last Sep-
tember when a big exhibition was opened in the
centre of Seoul. The exhibition secured a heavy
grant of money from the Korean Government and
was run under direct official patronage. Great
efforts were made to compel the new Emperor to
open it in person. But the Emperor was obstinate,
and refused to come. Parties of geisha and oiran,
dressed in scarlet knickers and fancy garments,
paraded the streets with music, advertising the
show. There were constant geisha entertainments
in the grounds, and everything was done to attract
the people.
The exhibition was mainly a display of Japanese
manufactured goods of all kinds, with a few general
educational items added. I seardied carefully for
Korean or foreign articles, but all that I could
find were reputed French wines, displayed by a
Japanese firm. Koreans attended in great num-
PROSPECTS FOR FOREIGN TRADE 249
bers, and the exhibition resulted in a great impetus
to the sale of Japanese goods in Korea,
The articles shown might have been a revelation
to those who are still inclined to pooh-pooh Japanese
manufactures. They were nearly all, it is true,
imitations of European designs. In furniture, in
pottery, in foods, in medicines, the one idea seemed
to be to approach the European styles as closely
as possible. The European discovers much to
amuse him in the little variations between these
copies and our own originals. The Korean buyer,
however, does not notice the difference. To him the
Japanese imitation is as good as the other. It is far
cheaper. It is pushed on him by a man who speaks
his language and knows his ways. No wonder that
it sells, while the European wares lie unpacked in
the warehouse.
CHAPTER XXI
THE WIDER VIEW
THE policy of Japan in Korea to-day cannot be
fully understood unless it is regarded not as an
isolated manifestation, but as a part of a great
Imperial scheme. Japan has set out to be a supreme
world-Power, and she is rapidly realising her ambi-
tion. Yesterday her territory was limited, her people
were desperately poor, her army and fleet were
thought to be negligible quantities, and her aspira-
tions were pityingly looked upon as the fevered
dreams of an undeveloped people. To-day we are
in danger of over-estimating the Japanese force and
strength as greatly as yesterday our fathers under-
estimated it. Japan has found Imperialism a costly,
dangerous, and burdensome policy. Her navy and
her army have won her world-glory, but she is still
struggling and staggering under a load that even yet
may be too much for her.
Japanese statesmen realise that they must have
fresh territories in which to settle their people. Their
own land is crowded and over-populated. Each year
sees an increase of from 6oo,ocK) to 700,000 people.
The 33,000,000 in the Japan of 1872 are now just on
250
THE WIDER VIEW 251
50,000,000, and the rate of increase grows greater
each year. The vast majority of these people are
still very poor, and Japan to-day has slums in her
cities and problems of child-labour, sweated labour,
and starvation, rivalling those of Western nations.
Unbacked by great natural resources or by consider-
able reserves of wealth, her Government is trying to
carry through the most gigantic and costly of tasks
on a foundation of patriotism and splendid national
spirit.
For myself, necessary as I have thought it to be
in carrying out my duty as a publicist to criticise
the more dangerous sides of this expansion, I
cannot but feel the most profound and genuine
respect for the loyalty and high racial ambitions that
have carried the nation so far. The casual visitor
to Japan to-day sees great and glaring faults, but
those of us who have lived longer among her people
and have gone deeper into her problems, wonder not
that there are faults, but that development has reached
a stage when faults are noted.
Not long since I was on the train from Seoul to
Fusan. It was five hours late. It had broken down
twice. The locomotive, badly cleaned and badly
handled, was scarce able to drag its load, and
carriages had been discarded to lighten it.
Some of us, standing in the Korean station —
wet, cold, and miserable — were passing caustic
remarks about Japanese engine-drivers and the way
they muddled and misused their engines. A quiet
Scotsman turned on us with a single question.
" Do you ever reflect," he asked, " on the wonder
252 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
that these people can do as well as they do?
Think of it," he continued. " The driver was
probably two years ago an agricultural labourer in
a village, and had never seen an engine. He is
running this train badly, it is true, but he is running
it, and in twelve months' time he will be handling it
well. What man of another nation could have done
the same?"
The quiet Scotsman had touched the heart of the
problem. It is barely thirty years since Japan was
still torn in the struggle between feudalism and
modernity. The men who to-day are managing
cotton mills wore, in their younger manhood, two
swords and fantastic armour. Yesterday the kiheitai
(irregular soldiers) walked through their districts
armed to the teeth, terrorising peaceful farmers ;
now the same kiheitai work their ten hours a day in
the factory for fifteen pence. Yesterday the dainty
wife sat modestly at home waiting for her lord to
return from his political brawls ; to-day the same
wife is busy over the spinning-jenny in the factory,
while her lord is doing his share in shop or ware-
house. The thing is a world-miracle, and the longer
one contemplates it the greater the miracle appears.
Japan has broken her solemn promises to Korea
and has evaded in every way her pledged obligations
to maintain the policy of equal opportunities, because
she is driven thereto by heavy taxation, by the poverty
of her people, and by the necessity of obtaining fresh
markets and new lands for settlement. Her people
are now the most heavily taxed in proportion to
income of any in the world. At the beginning of
THE WIDER VIEW 253
the Russo-Japanese War a scheme of Imperial taxa-
tion was instituted that was thought to read, the
final extreme possible to bear as a national war
burden. This taxation was further increased in 1905,
it being understood that the extraordinary special
taxes were to be abolished on the last day of the
year following the restoration of peace. The land
tax was increased during the war from 120 to 700
per cent., the business tax 150 per cent., the income
tax from 80 to 270 per cent., and the sugar duties
from 100 to 195 per cent. There were also various
other increases. Great national industries, such as
tobacco and railways, were nationalised, and Japan
succeeded in sending up her ordinary income from
;^25,ooo,ooo to over ;^40,ooo,ooo. At the end of the
war the Government announced that under existing
circumstances the promised remission of the war
tax could not be carried out, so they were kept on to
their full extent. Now for the financial year of 1908-9
the Government is compelled to impose a number of
taxes over and above the war burden, and despite
this it is faced by the probability of a heavy deficit
next year.
So long as Japan could meet the deficiency by
foreign loans, the problem of making both ends meet
was capable of easy solution. But the most opti-
mistic financier hesitates, at the present time, to
suggest a loan either in the European or American
markets. For months a careful campaign has been
waged to enable a new loan to be floated in Paris,
but so far without success. The Manchurian Rail-
way issue was an open failure, although only half
254 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
of the money really needed was asked for. The
Japanese Finance Commissioners who were in Europe
last summer returned home disappointed. " You can
rest assured," one of them was told by a leading
financial authority, " that Europe has not another
sovereign to lend Japan for increased arma-
ments."
The monetary difficulties have been increased by
the disastrous results of commercial speculation in
the summer of 1907, when large numbers of banks
and institutions failed. The situation is such to-day
that the Government must decide on one of two
alternatives. It must either reduce expenditure, and
thus limit some of its cherished schemes, or it must
find excuse for an aggressive campaign against its
wealthy neighbour, China. It is this which may
explain the Japanese breaches of the Open Door
policy. The Government, no doubt, feels that it
cannot afford to miss anything that would expand
its commerce and improve its national income.
The financial problem has led, in turn, to the labour
problem. The inevitable result of high taxation has
been to raise the cost of living. It is probably an
understatement that the cost of living has doubled
in Japan in a few years.
one outcome of this rise in the cost of living has
been a series of formidable strikes, particularly
among the miners — strikes often accompanied by
violence and loss of life. In April last several
hundred miners at the Horolai coal-mine attempted
to destroy the mine buildings, fought the police,
wounding five of them, and set fire to the mine
THE WIDER VIEW 255
offices and the go-downs, using dynamite to destroy
the buildings.
At the Ashio copper-mine the men rose, cut down
the telegraph lines, extinguished all the lights in the
pits, blew up the watch-houses with dynamite, and
started a general riot. A bomb was thrown into the
watch-house and blew it to atoms. The rioters were
thoroughly organised, and had supplies of kerosene
and explosives for their work. In the end a heavy
body of troops and over 300 police had to come
and restore order. In this riot no less than 830
houses were burnt and a number of lives were lost.
At the Besshi copper-mine, in June, there were
serious disturbances and grave fights, involving a
direct loss of ^200,000. Offices were set on fire, and
damage done which it will take a year to repair. In
September some thousands of dyeing operatives went
on strike. An epidemic of strikes ran through many
industries.
The outcome of these upheavals has been that the
men have generally obtained large increases of wages,
in some cases as much as 45 per cent. The strike
movement is not yet over ; it may be said barely to
have begun.
This rapid increase in wages is wounding the new
Japanese manufacturers in their most vital point. An
attempt was made to obtain cheap labour last year
by importing a number of Chinese coolies. The
Government quickly intervened, and had the coolies
expelled, to the accompaniment of considerable in-
dignity and suffering. Japan has no hesitation in
protecting herself from cheaper labour, whatever she
256 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
may say about America having similar protection
for her people.
This labour question raises yet another issue.
Japan's success as a manufacturing nation has so far
been largely due to the low wages of her toilers. The
cotton mills, with an unlimited supply of women
workers at fivepence a day, and children at a few
pence a week, the factories with skilled workmen earn-
ing an average wage of sixty sen (i5d.) a day, are able
to turn out goods very cheaply. The Japanese work-
ing man is, in the opinion of all competent authorities,
not nearly so capable a handler of machinery as is
the European. Generally speaking, it takes two
Japanese to do the work of one European where
much machinery is used. Japanese deftness lies
largely in handicrafts.
So long as human material was cheap this did not
much matter. But now we have labour appreciating
all the time, until in some districts known to me
two shillings a day has to be paid. Firms that land
goods at Japanese ports are already becoming loud in
their complaints of the cost of handling freight.
The Japanese manufacturer thus finds his labour
bill rising, while his direct taxation is double or
treble what it once was. At the same time a new
commercial rival is arising. The factory system is
being introduced into parts of China, especially
around the Yangtze Valley, and the Chinese are
beginning to produce, on a considerable scale,
certain lines of goods in competition with Japan.
In China labour is still paid a minimum wage
and taxation is low. The Chinese worker is at
THE WIDER VIEW 257
least equal to the Japanese. What China has lacked
up to now has been Government direction, and skilled
Government aid in finance, in securing cheap freight,
and in finding and keeping customers. Dear labour
and high taxation threaten Japan more nearly and
more seriously than any Armada from foreign lands.
What are the main causes of these crushing
national burdens ? They are, without doubt, mainly
due to the great amount spent on the army and the
navy and on commercial subsidies. A great parade
was made in some quarters, at the beginning of
1908, because of an announcment that the Japanese
Government had resolved to modify its military and
naval expenditure for the coming year. The com-
mentators were probably not aware that this so-called
modification was merely a slight clipping off in
a great scheme of expansion. Japan still spends
twice as much on her fighting forces as five years
ago. The national policy since the conclusion of the
treaty of Portsmouth has been, as it was previously,
strongly in favour of the rapid and considerable
enlargement of both the fleet and the army. There
's, it is true, a party, both in the Cabinet and out of
it, that would keep defence expenditure within
bounds. But this party is at present only able to
exercise a slightly moderating influence.
A comparison of the fighting strength of the
nation immediately before the war and to-day will
best show this. At the end of 1903 Japan had six
good battleships. To-day she has thirteen, and three
more are being built. Of these thirteen ships, two—
the Satsuma and the Aki — are of the Dreadnought
18
258 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
class, and exceed the Dreadnought in displacement.
The three now building will far surpass in tonnage,
horse-power, and armaments our own coming
monsters, the Belkrophon, Temeraire^ and the Superb.
Here is an exact comparison : —
Displacement. I.H.P. Armaments.
Bellerophon...^ . ( lo 12", and 27
Superb"'' "') 1 small Q.F.
Displacement. I.H.P. Armaments.
Japanese battleships 22,000 26,500
(-12 12",
\ 10 8", and
( 12 47 Q-P-
Before the war Japan had six efficient armoured
cruisers. To-day she has twelve, besides four now
being built, of which one is near completion. Some
of these new armoured cruisers are battleships in all
but name. As against fourteen protected cruisers
before the war, there are now eighteen. Her nineteen
destroyers have risen to fifty-four, and her forty-five
torpedo-boats to eighty-five. In addition, she has
accumulated a considerable fleet of submarines.
There are seven in commission and six now under
construction. It is not too much to say that the
Japanese Navy is to-day nearly twice as efficient and
powerful as it was three months before the outbreak
of the Russian War.
The increase in the army has been also consider-
able. At the close of the Russian campaign the
Minister for War, General Terauchi, wanted to
resign, and was only induced to continue in office by
a promise that his plans for the expansion of the
THE WIDER VIEW 259
army would be considered as favourably as possible.
The war party asked that the army should be in-
creased from thirteen to twenty-five divisions. This
was afterwards reduced by the Minister to twenty-
one divisions. The Finance Department declared
that such a programme was impossible, for the
country could not bear the burden. As a com-
promise, it was decided early last year to enlarge
the army to seventeen divisions, with two further
divisions in Korea and Manchuria. Other increases
took place, which still further added to the military
strength. Thus the time for infantry training was
reduced from three years to two. As need hardly
be pointed out, this will give the infantry a reserve,
in a few years, 50 per cent, greater than before. A
thousand men were added to each division.
The Japanese military authorities also seriously set
themselves to eradicate the various weaknesses
revealed in their organisation during the Russian
War. In England a number of open scandals pre-
ceded the very effective changes which have been
made in our land forces since the Peace of Vereenig-
ing. Japan managed better. Scandals were sup-
pressed, and all dirty linen was washed in private,
but a most careful and relentless inquiry was insti-
tuted behind closed doors.
Cavalry had been a conspicuously weak arm of
the service during the war. Experts were called
in from Austria and other countries, fresh breeding
stock was introduced, and the authorities will accom-
plish the seemingly impossible task of making real
horse-masters of some of their countrymen. The
\
260 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
Japanese field artillery was hopelessly out-classed by
the Russian. If Japan were fighting to-day much
of her field artillery would be found equal to that
of any other Power. Vast sums have been spent
to create steel foundries in Japan, in order that
the country may be able to supply within its own
borders the steel used for war material. This policy
has since been carried a step further, and late last
year the Japanese finally concluded an agreement
with Messrs. Armstrong, and Vickers and Maxim
by which Armstrong, Vickers and the Japanese are to
build, in co-partnership, works in Japan itself. These
works will have the benefit of the Armstrong and
Vickers secrets and designs, and it is expected that
a monster arsenal will be created at the Hokaido,
doing for Asia what Krupps, Armstrong, Vickers,
and Creusot have accomplished for Europe.
Steps have been taken to increase the esprit and
the military pride of the soldiery. Soon after the
war more ornamental dressings were given to
military uniforms, and the Japanese soldier now, in
his red and gold-trimmed dress, looks very different
from the shapeless and slouching yokel who formerly
excited the derision of superficial European onlookers.
There is nothing extraordinary in this. Japan is
only following the line taken by many great conquer-
ing nations before, and those who would follow the
reasons for her action need but study Napoleonic
history. Her army and navy are at once her
strength and danger. Her soldiers, strong, successful,
and determined, look with some scorn on the quiet
and somewhat sober statesmen who keep them in
THE WIDER VIEW 261
check. They are working out, under new conditions,
the same conclusions that have always made the
Samurai the strength of and potentially the most
dangerous class in Japan.
Happily for the world, while the military clans are
strong, they are not yet omnipotent. There is a
school of statesmen, not perhaps a growing school,
that sees the real hope of Japan's future in peaceful
expansion. A generation ago, Okubo, leader of those
who overthrew the Shogunate, died under the hands
of an assassin for loyalty to his principles. Twelve
years ago Ito kept his countrymen in check when
they were furious to avenge the insults that were put
upon them by Russia. The school of Okubo and Ito
is not yet dead. Ito, it is true, is laughed at by many
of the younger men, who declare that while his ways
were good enough for their fathers, they have entered
into a wider inheritance, and will prove themselves
worthy of it. The future of Japan, the future of the
East, and, to some extent, the future of the world,
lies in the answer to the question whether the
militarists or the party of peaceful expansion gain
the upper hand in the immediate future. If the
one, then we shall have harsher rule in Korea, steadily
increasing aggression in Manchuria, growing inter-
ference with China, and, in the end, a Titanic
conflict, the end of which none can see. Under the
others Japan will enter into an inheritance wider,
more glorious and more assured than any Asiatic
power has attained for many centuries. Given peace
and fair dealing, her commerce cannot fail to expand
by leaps and bounds. once her merchants have learnt
262 THE TRAGEDY OF KOREA
to purge themselves of their inherited trickery, once
they have discovered that bogus trade-marks, poor
substitutes, and smartness do not build up permanent
connections, their future is certain. Japan has it in
her yet to be, not the Mistress of the East, reigning,
sword in hand, over subject races — for that she can
never permanently be — but the bringer of peace to
and the teacher of the East. Will she choose the
nobler end ?
APPENDICES
THE TRIAL OF VISCOUNT MIURA
THE following is the full text of the findings of the Japanese Court
of Preliminary Inquiries that tried Viscount Miura and his
associates for the murder of the Queen of Korea : —
"Okamoto Ryunosuke, born the 8th month of the 5th year of
Kaei (1852), Adviser to the Korean Departments of War and
of the Household, shizoku of Usu, Saiga Mura, Umibe Gun,
Wakayama Ken.
" Miura Goro, Viscount, Sho Sammi, first-class Order, Lieutenant-
General (first reserve), born nth month 3rd year Kokwa
(1846), kwazoku of Nakotomisaka Cho, Koishikawa ku, Tokyo
Shi, Tokyo Fu.
"Sugimura Fukashi, Sho Rokui, First Secretary of Legation, born
1st month ist year Kaei (1848), heimin of Suga Cho,
Yotsuyaku, Tokyo Shi, Tokyo Fu, and forty-five others.
" Having, in compliance with the request of the Public Procurator,
conducted preliminary examinations in the case of murder and sedition
brought against the above-mentioned Okamoto Ryunosuke and forty-
seven others, and that of wilful homicide brought against the afore-
mentioned Hirayama Iwawo, we find as follows : —
"The accused, Miura Goro, assumed his official duties as His
Imperial Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
at Seoul; on the ist September, the 28th year of Meiji (1895).
According to his observations, things in Korea were tending in a
wrong direction. The Court was daily growing more and more
arbitrary, and attempting wanton interference with the conduct of
State affairs. Disorder and confusion were in this way introduced into
the system of administration that had just been reorganised under the
guidance and advice of the Imperial Government. The Court went
so far in turning its back on Japan that a project was mooted for
263
264 APPENDICES
disbanding the Kunrentai troops, drilled by Japanese officers, and
punishing their officers. Moreover, a report came to the know-
ledge of the said Miura that the Court had under contemplation a
scheme for usurping all political power by degrading some and
killing others of the Cabinet Ministers suspected of devotion to the
cause of progress and independence. Under these circumstances, he
was greatly perturbed, inasmuch as he thought that the attitude
assumed by the Court not only showed remarkable ingratitude
towards this country which had spent labour and money for the
sake of Korea, but was also calculated to thwart the work of
internal reform and jeopardise the independence of the Kingdom.
The policy pursued by the Court was consequently considered to be
injurious to Korea, as well as prejudicial, in no small degree, to
the interests of this country. The accused felt it to be of urgent
importance to apply an eflective remedy to this state of things, so
as on the one hand to secure the independence of the Korean
Kingdom, and, on the other, to maintain the prestige of this
Empire in that country. While thoughts like these agitated his
mind, he was secretly approached by the Tai Won Kun with a
request for assistance, the Prince being indignant at the untoward
turn that events were taking, and having determined to undertake
the reform of the Court and thus discharge his duty of advising the
King. The accused then held at the Legation a conference with
Sugimura Fukashi and Okamoto Ryunosuke, on the 3rd October
last. The decision arrived at on that occasion was that assistance
should be rendered to the Tai Won Kun's entry into the palace by
making use of the Kunrentai, who, being hated by the Court, felt
themselves in danger, and of the young men who deeply lamented
the course of events, and also by causing the Japanese troops stationed in
Seoul to offer their support to the enterprise. It was further resolved
that this opportunity should be availed of for taking the life of the
Queen, who exercised overwhelming influence in the Court. They
at the same time thought it necessary to provide against the
possible danger of the Tai Won Kun's interfering with the conduct
of State affairs in the future — an interference that might prove of a
more evil character than that which it was now sought to over-
turn. To this end, a docunjent containing pledges required of the
Tai Won Kun on four points was drawn by Sugimura Fukashi.
The document was carried to the country residence of the Tai Won
Kun at Kong-tok-ri on ihe 15th of the month by Okamoto
Ryimosuke, the latter being on intimate terms with His Highness.
After informing the Tai Won Kun that the turn of events demanded
His Highness's intervention once more, Okamoto presented the
APPENDICES 265
note to the Prince, saying that it embodied what Minister Miura
expected from him. The Tai Won Kun, together with his son
and grandson, gladly assented to the conditions proposed and alsu wrote
a letter guaranteeing his good faith. Miura Goro and others
decided to carry out the concerted plan by the middle of the
month. Fearing lest Okamoto's visit to Kong-tok-ri (the Tai Won
Kun's residence) should excite suspicion and lead to the exposure
of their plan, it was given out that he had proceeded thither
simply for the purpose of taking leave of the Prince before depart-
ing from home, and to impart an appearance of probability to
this report it was decided that Okamoto should leave Seoul for
Ninsen (Inchhon), and he took his departure from the capital on
the 6th. on the following day. An Keiju, the Korean Minister of
State for War, visited the Japanese Legation by order of the
Court. Referring to the projected disbanding of the Kunrentai
troops, he asked the Japanese Minister's views on the subject. It was
now evident that the moment had arrived, and that no more delay
should be made. Miura Goro and Sugimura Fukashi consequently
determined to carry out the plot on the night of that very day. on
the one hand a telegram was sent to Okamoto requesting him to
come back to Seoul at once, and on the other they delivered to
Horiguchi Kumaichi a paper containing a detailed programme
concerning the entry of the Tai Won Kun into the palace, and
caused him to meet Okamoto at Yong-san so that they might proceed
to enter the palace. Miura Goro further issued instructions to
Umayabara Muhon, Commander of the Japanese Battalion in Seoul,
ordering him to facilitate the Tai Won Kun's entry into the palace by
directing the disposition of the Kunrentai troops, and by calling
out the Imperial force for their support. Miura also summoned
the accused, Adachi Kenzo and Kunitomo Shigeakira, and requested
them to collect their friends, meeting Okamoto at Yong-san, and
act as the Tai Won Kun's bodyguard on the occasion of His High-
ness's entrance into the palace. Miura told them that on the success of
the enterprise depended the eradication of the evils that had
done so much mischief in the Kingdom for the past twenty years,
and instigated them to dispatch the Queen when they entered the
palace. Miura ordered the accused, Ogiwara Ilidejiro, to proceed
to Yong-san, al the head of the police force under him, and after
consultation with Okamoto to take such steps as might be neces-
sary to expedite the Tai Won Kun's entry into the palace.
"The accused, Sugimura Fukashi, summoned Suzuki Shigemoto
and Asayama Kenzo to the Legation, and after acquainting them
with the projected enterprise, directed the former to send the
266 APPENDICES
accused, Suzuki Junken, to Yong-san to act as interpreter, and the
latter to carry the news to a Korean named Li Shukwei, who was
known to be a warm advocate of the Tai Won Kun's return to the
palace. Sugimura further drew up a manifesto explaining the
reason of the Tai Won Kun's entry into the palace, and charged
Ogiwara Hidejiro to deliver it to Horiguichi Kumaichi.
" The accused, Iloriguchi Kumaichi, at once departed for Yong-
san on horseback. Ogiwara Hidejiro issued orders to the police-
men that were off duty to put on civilian dress, provide themselves
with swords and proceed to Yong-san. Ogiwara himself also went
to the same place.
" Thither also repaired by his order the accused, Watanabe
Takajiro, Nariai Kishiro, Oda Yoshimitsu, Kiwaki Sukunorin, and
Sakai Masataro.
" The accused, Yokowo Yutaro, joined the party at Yong-san.
Asayama Kenzo saw Li Shukwei, and informed him of the pro-
jected enterprise against the palace that night. Having ascertained
that Li had then collected a few other Koreans and proceeded
towards Kong-tok-ri, Asayama at once left for Yong-san. Sukuzi
Shigemoto went to Yong-san in company with Sukuzi Junken.
The accused, Adachi Kenzo and Kunitomo Shigearika, at the
instigation of Miura, decided to murder the Queen, and took steps
for collecting accomplices. The accused, Hirayama Iwabiko, Sassa
Masayuki, Matsumura Tatsuki, Sasaki TaHasu, Ushijima Hidewo,
Kobayakawa Hidewo, Miyazumi Yuki, Sato Keita, Sawamura
Masao, Katano Takevvo, Fuji Masashira, Hirata Shizen, Kikuchi
Kenjo, Yoshida Tomokichi, Nakamura Takewo, Namba Harukichi,
Terasaki Taikichi, lyuri Kakichi, Tanaka Kendo, Kumabe Yone-
kichi, Tsukinari Taru, Yamada Ressei, Sase Kumatetsu, and
Shibaya Kotoji, responded to the call of Adachi Kenzo and Kuni-
tomo Shigeakira by Miura's order to act as bodyguard to the
Tai Won Kun on the occasion of his entry to the palace.
Hirayama Iwahiko and more than ten others were directed by Adachi
Kenzo, Kunitomo Shigeakira, and others to do away with the
Queen, and they resolved to follow the advice. The others, who
were not admitted into this secret but who joined the party from
mere curiosity, also carried weapons. With the exception of Kunitomo
Shigeakira, Tsukinari Taru, and two others, all the accused men-
tioned above went to Yong-san in company with Adachi Kenzo.
"The accused, Okamoto Ryunosuke, on receipt of a telegram
stating that time was urgent, at once left Ninsen for Seoul. Being
informed on his way, about midnight, that Horiguchi Kumaichi was
APPENDICES 267
waiting for him at Mapho, he proceeded thither and met the persons
assembled there. There he received from Horiguchi Kumaichi a
letter from Miura Gore, the draft manifesto already alluded to, and
other documents. After he had consulted with two or three others
about the method of effecting an entry into the palace, the whole party
started for Kong-tok-ri, with Okamoto as their leader. At about
3 a.m. on the 8lh they left Kong-tok-ri, escorting the Tai Won Kun's
palanquin, together with Li Shukwei and other Koreans, When
on the point of departure, Okamoto assembled the whole party
outside the front gate of the Prince's residence, declaring that on
entering the palace the ' fox ' should be dealt with according as
exigency might require, the obvious purport of this declaration being to
instigate his followers to murder Her Majesty the Queen. As the
result of this declaration Sakai Masataro and a few others, who had
not yet been initiated into the secret, resolved to act in accordance
with the suggestion. Then slowly proceeding towards Seoul, the
party met the Kunrentai troops outside the west gate of the
capital, where they waited some time for the arrival of the Japanese
troops.
" With the Kunrentai as vanguard, the party then proceeded towards
the palace at a more rapid rate. on the way they were joined by
Kunitomo Shigeakira, Tsukinari Taru, Yamada Ressei, Sase Kuma-
tetsu, and Shibuya Katoji. The accused, Hasumoto, Yasumaru, and
Oura Shigehiko, also joined the party, having been requested by
Umagabara Muhon to accompany as interpreters the military officers
charged with the supervision of the Kunrentai troops. About dawn
the whole party entered the palace through the Kwang-hwa Gate, and
at once proceeded to the inner chambers.
" Notwithstanding these facts, there is no sufficient evidence to prove
that any of the accused actually committed the crime originally medi-
tated by them. Neither is there sufficient evidence to establish the
charge that Hirayama Iwahiko killed Li Koshoku, the Korean Minister
of the flousehold, in front of the Kon-Chong palace.
" As to the accused, .Shiba Shiro, Osaki Masakichi, Yoshida Hanji,
Mayeda Shunzo, Hirayama Katsukuma, and Hiraishi Yoshitaro, there
is not sufficient evidence to show that they were in any way connected
with the aff"air.
" For these reasons the accused, each and all, are hereby discharged
in accordance with the provisions of article 165 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure. The accused, Miura Goro, Suginuira Fukashi,
Okamoto Ryunosuke, Adachi Kenzo, Kunitomo Shigeakira, Terasaki
Taikichi, Hirayama Iwahiko, Nakamura Takewo, Fuji Masashira, lyuri
Kakichi, Kiwaki Sukenori, and Sokoi Masutaro, are hereby released
268 APPENDICES
from confinement. The documents and other articles seized m con-
nection with this case are restored to their respective owners.
" Given at the Hiroshima Local Court by
" YOSHIDA YOSHIKIDE,
" Judge of Preliminary Enquiry ;
" Tamura Yoshiharu,
"Clerk of the Court.
" Dated, 20th day of the ist month of the 29th year of Meiji.
"This copy has been taken from the original text. — Clerk of the
Local Court of Hiroshima."
THE JAPANESE-KOREAN TREATY, FEBRUARY 26, 1876
The Governments of Japan and Chosen, being desirous to resume the
amicable relations that of yore existed between them, and to promote
the friendly feelings of both nations to a still firmer basis, have for this
purpose appointed their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say : The
Government of Japan, Kuroda Kiyotaka, High Commissioner Extra-
ordinary to Chosen, Lieutenant-General and Member of the Privy
Council, Minister of the Colonisation Department, and Inouye Kaoru,
Associate High Commissioner Extraordinary to Chosen, Member of
the Genro In ; and the Government of Chosen, Shin Ken, Han-Choo-
Su-Fu, and In-Jisho, Fu-So-Fu, Fuku-s6-Kwan, who, according to the
powers received from their respective Governments, have agreed upon
and concluded the following Articles : —
Art. I. — Chosen being an independent state enjoys the same
sovereign rights as does Japan.
In order to prove the sincerity of the friendship existing between the
two nations, their intercourse shall henceforward be carried on in terms
of equality and courtesy, each avoiding the giving of offence by
arrogance or manifestations of suspicion.
In the first instance, all rules and precedents that are apt to obstruct
friendly intercourse shall be totally abrogated, and, in their stead, rules,
liberal and in general usage fit to secure a firm and perpetual peace,
shall be established.
Art. II. — The Government of Japan, at any time within fifteen
months from the date of signature of this Treaty, shall have the right to
send an Envoy to the Capital of Chosen, where he shall be admitted to
confer with the Rei-sohan-sho on matters of a diplomatic nature. He
may either reside at the capital or return to his country on the com-
pletion of his mission.
The Government of Chosen in like manner shall have the right to
send an Envoy to Tokyo, Japan, where he shall be admitted to confer
with the Minister for Foreign Ali'airs on matters of a diplomatic nature.
269
270 APPENDICES
lie may either reside at Tokyo or return home on the completion of
his mission.
Art. III. — AH official communications addressed by the Government
of Japan to that of Chosen shall be written in the Japanese language,
and for a period of ten years from the present date they shall be
accompanied by a Chinese translation. The Government of Chosen
will use the Chinese language.
Art. I\^. — Sorio in Fusan, Chosen, where an official establishment
of Japan is situated, is a place originally opened for commercial inter-
course with Japan, and trade shall henceforward be carried on at that
place in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty, whereby are
abolished all former usages, such as the practice of Sai-ken-sen (junk
annually sent to Chosen by the late Prince of Tsushima to exchange a
certain quantity of articles between each other).
In addition to the above place, the Government of Chosen agrees
to open two ports, as mentioned in Article V. of this Treaty, for
commercial intercourse with Japanese subjects.
In the foregoing places Japanese subjects shall be free to lease land
and to erect buildings thereon, and to rent buildings the property of
subjects of Chosen.
Art. V. — on the coast of five provinces, viz. : Keikin. Chiusei,
Jenra, Kensho, and Kankio, two ports, suitable for commercial purposes,
shall be selected, and the time for opening these two ports shall be in
the twentieth month from the second month of the ninth year of Meiji,
corresponding with the date of Chosen, the first moon of the year
Hei-shi.
Art. VI. — Whenever Japanese vessels, either by stress of weather or
by want of fuel and provisions, cannot reach one or the other of the open
ports in Chosen, they may enter any ports or harbour either to take
refuge therein, or to get supplies of wood, coal, and other necessaries,
or to make repairs ; the expenses incurred thereby are to be defrayed by
the ship's master. In such events both the officers and the people of
the locality shall display their sympathy by rendering full assistance,
and their liberality in supplying the necessaries required.
If any vessel of either country be at any time wrecked or stranded on
the coasts of Japan or of Chosen, the people of the vicinity shall
immediately use every exertion to rescue her crew, and shall inform the
local authorities of the disaster, who will either send the wrecked
persons to their native country or hand them over to the officer of their
country residing at the nearest port.
Art. VII. — The coasts of Chosen, having hitherto been left un-
surveyed, are very dangerous for vessels approaching them, and in order
to prepare charts showing the positions of islands, rocks, and reefs, as
APPENDICES 271
well as the depth of water whereby all navigators may be enabled to
pass between the two countries, any Japanese mariners may freely
survey said coasts.
Art. VIII. — There shall be appointed by the Government of Japan
an officer to reside at the open ports in Chosen for the protection of
Japanese merchants resorting there, providing such arrangement be
deemed necessary. Should any question interesting both nations arise,
the said officer shall confer with the local authorities of Chosen and
settle it.
Art. IX. — Friendly relations having been established between the
two contracting parties, their respective subjects may freely carry on
their business without any interference from the officers of eitlier
Government, and neither limitation nor prohibition shall be made on
trade.
In case any fraud be committed, or payment of debt be refused by
any merchant of either country, the officers of either one or of the other
Government shall do their utmost to bring the delinquent to justice and
to enforce recovery of the debt.
Neither the Japanese nor the Chosen Government shall be held
responsible for the payment of such debt.
Art. X. — .Should a Japanese subject residing at either of the open
ports of Choseji commit any offence against a subject of Chosen, he shall
be tried by the Japanese authorities. Should a subject of Chosen
commit any offence against a Japanese subject, he shall be tried by the
authorities of Chosen. The offenders shall be punished according to
the laws of their respective countries. Justice shall be equitably and
impartially administered on both sides.
Art. .\I. — Friendly relations having been established between the
two contracting parties, it is necessary to prescribe trade relations for
the benefit of the merchants of the respective countries.
Such trade regulations, together with detailed provisions to be added
to the Articles of the present Treaty, to develop its meaning and
facilitate its observance, shall be agreed upon at the capital of Chosen
or at Kokwa Fu in the country, within six months from the present
date, by Special Commissioners appointed by the two countries.
Art. XII. — The foregoing eleven Articles are binding from the date
of the signing thereof, and shall be observed by the two contracting
parties, faithfully and invariably, whereby perpetual friendship shall be
secured to the two countries.
The present Treaty is executed in duplicate, and copies will be
exchanged between the two contracting parlies.
In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries of Japan and
Chosen, have affixed our seals hereunto, tliis twenty-sixth day of the
272 APPENDICES
second monlh of the ninth year of Meiji, and the two thousand five
hundred and thirty-sixth since the accession of Jinimu Tenno ; and, in
the era of Chosen, the second day of the second moon of the year
Heishi, and of the founding of Chosen the four hundred and eighty-
fifth.
{Signed) KURODA KlYOTAKA.
Inouye Kaoru.
Shin Ken.
In Ji-sho.
SUPPLEMENTARY TREATY BETWEEN JAPAN AND
KOREA
Whereas, on the twenty-sixth day of the second month of the ninth
year Meiji, corresponding with the Korean date of the second day of
the second month of the year Heishi, a Treaty of Amity and Friendship
was signed and concluded between Kuroda Kiyotaka, High Com-
missioner Extraordinary, Lieutenant-General of H.I.J.M. Army,
Member of the Privy Council, and Minister of the Colonisation Depart-
ment, and Inouye Kaoru, Associate High Commissioner Extraordinary
and Member of the Genro-In, both of whom had been directed to
proceed to the city of Kokwa in Korea by the Government of Japan ;
and Shin Ken, Dai Kwan, Han-Choo-Su-Fu, and Injisho, Fu-So-
Fu Fuku-so-Kwan, both of whom had been duly commissioned for that
purpose by the Government of Korea : —
Now therefore, in pursuance of Article XI. of the above Treaty,
Miyamoto Okadzu, Commissioner despatched to the capital of Korea,
Daijo of the Foreign Department, and duly empowered thereto by the
Government of Japan, and Chio Inki, Koshoo Kwan, Gisheifudosho,
duly empowered thereto by the Government of Korea, have negotiated
and concluded the following articles : —
Art. I. — Agents of the Japanese Government stationed at any
of the open ports shall hereafter, whenever a Japanese vessel has
been stranded on the Korean coast, and has need of their presence at
the spot, have the right to proceed there on their informing the local
authorities of the facts.
Art. n. — Envoys or Agents of the Japanese Government shall
hereafter be at full liberty to despatch letters or other communications
to any place or places in Korea, either by post at their own expense,
or by hiring inhabitants of the locality wherein they reside as special
couriers.
Art. hi. — Japanese subjects may, at the ports of Korea open to
them, lease land for the purpose of erecting residences thereon, the rent
to be fixed by mutual agreement between the lessee and the owner.
Any lands belonging to the Korean Government may be rented by a
19 ^73
274 APPENDICES
Japanese on his paying the same rent thereon as a Korean subject
would pay to his Government.
It is agreed that the Shumon (watch-gate) and the Shotsumon
(barrier) erected by the Korean Government near the Kokwa (Japanese
official establishment) in Sorioko, Fusan, shall be entirely removed,
and that a new boundary line shall be established according to the
limits hereinafter provided. In the other two open ports the same
steps shall be taken.
Art. IV. — The limits within which Japanese subjects may travel
from the port of Fusan shall be comprised within a radius of ten ri,
Korean measurement, the landing-place in that port being taken as a
centre.
Japanese subjects shall be free to go where they please within
the above limits, and shall be therein at full liberty either to buy
articles of local production or to sell articles of Japanese production.
The town of Torai lies outside of the above limits, but Japanese
subjects shall have the same privileges as in those places within them.
Art. V. — ^Japanese subjects shall at each of the open ports of Korea
be at liberty to employ Korean subjects.
Korean subjects, on obtaining permission from their Government,
may visit the Japanese Empire.
Art. VI. — In the case of the death of any Japanese subject residing
at the open ports of Korea, a suitable spot of ground shall be selected
wherein to inter his remains.
As to the localities to be selected for cemeteries in the two open
ports other than the port of Fusan, in determining them regard shall
be had as to the distance there is to the cemetery already established
at Fusan.
Art. VII. — Japanese subjects shall be at liberty to traffic in any
article owned by Korean subjects, paying therefor in Japanese coin.
Korean subjects, for purposes of trade, may freely circulate among
themselves at the open ports of Korea such Japanese coin as they may
have possession of in business transactions.
Japanese subjects shall be at liberty to use in trade or to carry away
with them the copper coin of Korea.
In case any subject of either of the two countries counterfeit the
coin of either of them, he shall be punished according to the laws of
his own country.
Art. VIII. — Korean subjects shall have the full fruition of all and
every article which they have become possessed of either by purchase
or gift from Japanese subjects.
Art. IX. — In case a boat despatched by a Japanese surveying vessel
to take soundings along the Korean coasts, as provided for in Article VII.
APPENDICES 275
of the Treaty of Amity and Friendship, should be prevented from
returning to the vessel, on account either of bad weather or 'he ebb
tide, the headman of the locality shall accommodate the boat party in
a suitable house in the neighbourhood. Articles required by them for
their comfort shall be furnished to them by the local authorities, and
the outlay thus incurred shall afterwards be refunded to the latter.
Art. X. — Although no relations as yet exist between Korea and
foreign countries, yet Japan has for many years back maintained
friendly relations with them ; it is therefore natural that in case a
vessel of any of the countries of which Japan thus cultivates the friend-
ship should be stranded by stress of weather or otherwise on the
coasts of Korea, those on board shall be treated with kindness by
Korean subjects, and should such persons ask to be sent back to their
homes they shall be delivered over by the Korean Government to an
Agent of the Japanese Government residing at one of the open ports
of Korea, requesting him to" send them back to their native countries,
which request the Agent shall never fail to comply with.
Art. XI. — The foregoing ten Articles, together with the Regulations
for Trade annexed hereto, shall be of equal effect with the Treaty of
Amity and Friendship, and therefore shall be faithfully observed by
the Governments of the two countries. Should it, however, be found
that any of the above Articles actually cause embarrassment to the
commercial intercourse of the two nations, and that it is necessary to
modify them, then either Government, submitting its proposition to
the other, shall negotiate the modification of such Articles on giving
one year's previous notice of their intention.
Signed and sealed this twenty-fourth day of the eighth month of the
ninth year Meiji, and two thousand five hundred and thirty-sixth
since the accession of H.M. Jimmu Tenno ; and of the Korean era,
the sixth day of the seventh month of the year Heishi, and the found-
ing of Korea the four hundred and eighty-fifth.
(Signed) Miyamoto Okadzu,
Commissioner and Dajio of the
Foreign Department.
Cho Inki,
Kbsho JCwan, Gisheifudosho.
THE AMERICAN-KOREAN TREATY
Signed at Gensan, May 22, 1882.
^{^Ratifications exchanged at Hanyang, May 19, 1883.]
Art. I. — There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between the
President of the United States and the King of Chosen and the citizens
and subjects of their respective Governments. If other Powers deal
unjustly or oppressively with either Government the other will exert
their good offices, on being informed of the case, to bring about an
amicable arrangement, thus showing their friendly feelings.
Art. II. — After the conclusion of this Treaty of amity and com-
merce the high contracting Powers may each appoint diplomatic repre-
sentatives to reside at the Court of the other, and may each appoint
Consular representatives at the ports of the other which are open to
foreign commerce, at their own convenience.
The officials shall have relations with the corresponding local
authorities of equal rank upon a basis of mutual equality. The
Diplomatic and Consular representatives of the two Governments
shall receive mutually all the privileges, rights, and immunities,
without discrimination, which are accorded to the same classes of
representatives from the most favoured nations.
Consuls shall exercise their functions only on receipt of an exe-
quatur from the Government to which they are accredited. Consular
authorities shall be bona-Jide officials. No merchants shall be per-
mitted to exercise the duties of the office, nor shall Consular officers
be allowed to engage in trade.
At ports to which no Consular representatives have been appointed
the Consuls of other Powers may be invited to act, provided that no
merchant shall be allowed to assume Consular functions, or the pro-
visions of this Treaty may be, in such case, enforced by the local
authorities.
If Consular representatives of the United States in Chosen conduct
their business in an improper manner their exequaturs may be re-
275
APPENDICES 277
voked, subject to the approval previously obtained of the Diplomatic
representative of the United States.
Art. III. — Whenever United States vessels, either because of
weather or by want of fuel or provisions, cannot reach the nearest
open port in Chosen, they may enter any port or harbour either to
take refuge therein or to get wood, coal, and other necessaries or to
make repairs; the expenses incurred thereby being defrayed by the
ship's master. In such event the officers and people of the locality
shall display their sympathy by rendering full assistance, and their
liberality by furnishing the necessities required.
If a United States vessel carries on a clandestine trade at a port not
open to foreign commerce, such vessel with her cargo shall Lie seized
and confiscated.
If a United States vessel be wrecked on the coast of Chosen the coast
authorities, on being informed of the occurrence, shall immediately
render assistance to the crew, provide for their present necessities,
and take the measures necessary for the salvage of the ship and the
preservation of the cargo. They shall also bring the matter to the
knowledge of the nearest Consular representative of the United
States, in order that steps may be taken to send the crew home and
save the ship and cargo. The necessary expenses shall be defrayed
either by the ship's master or by the United States.
Art. IV. — All citizens of the United States of America in Chosen,
peaceably attending to their own affairs, shall receive and enjoy for
themselves and everybody appertaining to them the protection of the
local authorities of the Government of Chosen, who shall defend them
from all insult and injury of any sort. If their dwellings or property be
threatened or attacked by mobs, incendiaries, or other violent or law-
less persons, the local officers, on requisition of the Consul, shall
immediately dispatch a military force to disperse the rioters, appre-
hend the guilty individuals, and punish them with the utmost rigour
of the law.
Subjects of Chosen guilty of any criminal act towards citizens of the
United States shall be punished by the authorities of Chosen accord-
ing to the laws of Chosen ; and citizens of the United States, either on
shore or in any merchant vessel, who may insult, trouble, or wound
the persons or injure the property of the people of Chosen shall be
arrested and punished only by the Consul or other public functionary
of the United Slates thereto authorised, according to the laws of the
United States.
When controversies arise in the kingdom of Chosen between citizens
of the United States and subjects of His Majesty, wiiich need to be
examined and decided by the public officers of the two nations, it is
278 APPENDICES
agreed between the two Governments of the United States and Chosen
that such case shall be tried by the proper official of the nationality of
the defendant according to the law of that nation. The properly
authorised official of the plaintiff's nationality shall be freely permitted
to attend the trial and shall be treated with the courtesy due to his
position. He shall be granted all proper facilities for watching the
proceedings in the interests of justice. If he so desire he shall have the
right to be present, to examine and cross-examine witnesses. If he is
dissatisfied with the proceedings he shall be permitted to protest against
them in detail.
It is, however, mutually agreed and understood between the high
contracting Powers that whenever the King of Chosen shall have so
far modified and reformed the statutes and the judicial procedure of his
kingdom that, in the judgment of the United States, they conform to
the laws and course of justice in the United States, the right of exterri-
torial jurisdiction over United States citizens in Chosen shall be aban-
doned, and thereafter United States citizens, when within the limits of
che kingdom of Chosen, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the native
authorities.
Art. V. — Merchants and merchant vessels of Chosen visiting the
United States for the purpose of traffic shall pay duties and tonnage
dues and fees according to the Customs regulations of the United States,
but no higher or other rates of duties and tonnage dues shall be exacted
of them than are levied upon citizens of the United States or upon
citizens or subjects of the most favoured nation.
Merchants and merchant vessels of the United States visiting Chosen
for purposes of traffic shall pay duties upon all merchandise imported
and exported. The authority to levy duties is of right vested in the
Government of Chosen. The tariff of duties upon exports and imports,
together with the Customs regulations for the prevention of smuggling
and other irregularities, will be fixed by the authorities of Chosen and
communicated to the proper officials of the United States, to be by the
latter notified to their citizens and duly observed.
It is, however, agreed in the first instance, as a general measure, that
the tariff upon such imports as are articles of daily use shall not exceed
an ad valorem duty of lO per cent. ; that the tariff upon such im-
ports as are luxuries — as, for instance, foreign wines, foreign tobacco,
clocks and watches— shall not exceed an ad valorem duty of 30 per
cent., and that native produce exported shall pay a duty not to exceed
5 per cent, ad valorem. And it is further agreed that the duty upon
foreign imports shall be paid once for all at the port of entry, and that
no other dues, duties, fees, taxes, or charges of any sort shall be levied
upon such imports either in the interior of Chosen or at the ports.
APPENDICES 279
United States merchant vessels entering the ports of Chosen shall
pay tonnage dues at the rate of five mace per ton, payable once 'n three
months on each vessel, according to the Chinese calendar.
Art. VI. — Subjects of Chosen who may visit the United States
shall be permitted to reside and to rent premises, purchase land, or to
construct residences or warehouses in all parts of the country. They
shall be freely permitted to pursue their various callings and avocation,
and to traffic in all merchandise, raw and manufactured, that is not
declared contraband by law. Citizens of the United States who may
resort to the ports of Chosen which are open to foreign commerce,
shall be permitted to reside at such open ports within the limits of the
concession and to lease buildings or land, or to construct residences or
warehouses therein. They shall be freely permitted to pursue their
various callings and avocations within the limits of the ports and to
traffic in all merchandise, raw and manufactured, that is not declared
contraband by law.
No coercion or intimidation in the acquisition of land or buildings
shall be permitted, and the land rent as fixed by the authorities of
Chosen shall be paid. And it is expressly agreed that land so
acquired in the open ports of Chosen still remains an integral part of
the kingdom, and that all rights of jurisdiction over persons and
property within such areas remain vested in the authorities of Chosen,
except in so far as such rights have been expressly relinquished by this
Treaty.
American citizens are not permitted either to transport foreign
imports to the interior for sale, or to proceed thither to purchase native
produce, nor are they permitted to transport native produce from one
open port to another open port.
Violation of this rule will subject such merchandise to confiscation,
and the merchants offending will be handed over to the Consular
authorities to be dealt with.
Art. VII.^The Governments of the United States and of Chosen
mutually agree and undertake that subjects of Chosen shall not be per-
mitted to import opium into any of the ports of the United States, and
citizens of the United States shall not be permitted to import opium into
any of the open ports of Chosen, to transport it from one open port to
another open port, or traffic in it in Chosen. This absolute prohibition
which extends to vessels owned by the citizens or subjects of either
Power, to foreign vessels employed by them, and to vessels owned by
the citizens or subjects of either Power and employed by other persons
for the transportation of opium, shall be enforced by appropriate
legislation on the part of the United Slates and of Chosen, and
oflenders against it shall be severely punished.
28o APPENDICES
Art. VII. — \\Tienever the Government of Chosen shall have reason
to apprehend a scarcity of food within the limits of the kingdom, His
Majesty may by decree temporarily prohibit the export of all bread-
stuffs, and such decree shall be binding upon all citizens of the United
States in Chosen upon due notice having been given them by the
authorities of Chosen through the proper officers of the United States ;
but it is to be understood that the exportation of rice and breadstuffs
of every description is prohibited from the open port of Yin-Chuen.
Chosen having of old prohibited the exportation of red ginseng, if
citizens of the United States clandestinely purchase it for export it shall
be confiscated and the offenders punished.
Art. IX. — Purchase of cannon, small arms, swords, gunpowder,
shot, and all munitions of war is permitted only to officials of the
Government of Chosen, and they may be imported by citizens of the
United States only under written permit from the authorities of Chosen.
If these articles are clandestinely imported they shall be confiscated,
and the offending party shall be punished.
Art. X. — The officers and people of either nation residing in
the other shall have the right to employ natives for all kinds of
lawful work.
Should, however, subjects of Chosen, guilty of violation of the laws
of the kingdom, or against whom any action has been brought, conceal
themselves in the residences or warehouses of United States citizens or
on board United States merchant vessels the Consular authorities of
the United States, on being notified of the fact by the local authoritie.s,
will either permit the latter to despatch constables to make the arrests,
or the persons will be arrested by the Consular authorities and handed
over to the local constables.
Officials or citizens of the United States shall not harbour such
persons.
Art. XI. — Students of either nationality who may proceed to the
country of the other in order to study the language, literature, law,
or arts, shall be given all possible protection and assistance, in
endence of cordial goodwill.
Art. XII. — This being the first Treaty negotiated by Chosen, and
hence being general and incomplete in its provision, shall, in the first,
instance, be put into operation in all things stipulated therein. As to
stipulations not contained herein, after an interval of five years, when
the officers and people of the two Powers shall have become more
familiar with each other's language, a further negotiation of com-
mercial provisions and regulations in detail, in conformity with inter-
national law and without unequal discriminations on either part, shall
be had.
APPENDICES 281
Art. XIII. — This Treaty and future official correspondence between
the two contracting Governments shall be made on the part of Chosen
in the Chinese language.
The United States shall either use the Chinese language, or if
English be used it shall be accompanied with a Chinese version in
order to avoid misunderstanding.
Art. XIV. — The high contracting Powers hereby agree that should
at any time the King of Chosen grant to any nation or to the merchants
or citizens of any nation, any right, privilege, or favour connected
either with navigation, commerce, political or other intercourse, which
is not conferred by this Treaty, such right, privilege, and favour shall
freely enure to the benefit of the United States, its public officers,
merchants, and citizens ; provided always, that whenever such right,
privilege, or favour is accompanied by any condition or equivalent
concession granted by the other nation interested, the United States,
its officers and people, shall only be entitled to the benefit of such
right, privilege, or favour upon complying with the conditions or
concessions connected therewith.
In faith whereof the respective Commissioners Plenipotentiary have
signed and sealed the foregoing at Yin-Chuen, in English and Chinese,
being three originals of each text of even tenor and date, the ratifica-
tions of which shall be exchanged at Yin-Chuen within one year from
the date of its execution, and immediately hereafter this Treaty shall be,
in all its provisions, publicly proclaimed and made known by both
Governments in their respective countries in order that it may be
obeyed by their citizens and subjects respectively.
R. W. Shufeldt,
Commodore United States Navy, Envoy of the
United States to Chosen.
Shin Chen,
Chin Hong Chi,
Members of the Royal Cabinet of Chosen.
BRITISH-KOREAN TREATY
Signed at Hanyang, November 26, 1883.
\_RatiJications exchanged at Hanyajtg, April 28, 1884.]
Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, Empress of India, and His Majesty the King of Korea,
being sincerely desirous of establishing permanent relations of
friendship and commerce between their respective dominions, have
resolved to conclude a Treaty for that purpose, and have therefore
named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say :
Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, Empress of India, Sir Harry Smith Parkes, Knight
Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and
Saint George, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of
the Bath, Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni-
potentiary to His Majesty the Emperor of China ;
His Majesty the King of Korea, Min Yong-Mok, President of His
Majesty's Foreign Office, a Dignitary of the First Rank, Senior Vice-
President of the Council of State, Member of His Majesty's Privy
Council, and Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince ;
Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full
powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded
the following Articles : —
Art. I.
1. There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between Her
Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom and Ireland, Empress
of India, her heirs and successors, and His Majesty the King of Korea,
his heirs and successors, and between tbeir respective dominions and
subjects, who shall enjoy full security and protection for their persons
and property within the dominions of the other.
2. In case of differences arising between one of the High Contracting
Parties and a third Power, the other High Contracting Party, if
282
APPENDICES 283
requested to do so, shall exert its good offices to bring about an
amicable arrangement.
Art. II.
1. The High Contracting Parties may each appoint a Diplomatic
Representative to reside permanently or temporarily at the capital
of the other, and may appoint a Consul-General, Consuls, or Vice-
Consuls, to reside at any or all of the ports or places of the other
which are open to foreign commerce. The Diplomatic Representatives
and Consular functionaries of both countries shall freely enjoy the
same facilities for communication, personally or in writing, with the
authorities of the country where they respectively reside, together with
all other privileges and immunities as are enjoyed by Diplomatic or
Consular functionaries in other countries.
2. The Diplomatic Representative and the Consular functionaries
of each Power and the members of their official establishments shall
have the right to travel freely in any part of the dominions of the
other, and the Korean authorities shall furnish passports to such British
officers travelling in Korea, and shall provide such escort for their
protection as may be necessary.
3. The Consular officers of both countries shall exercise their
functions on receipt of due authorisation from the Sovereign or
Government of the country in which they respectively reside, and
shall not be permitted to engage in trade.
Art. III.
1. Jurisdiction over the persons and property of British subjects in
Korea shall be vested exclusively in the duly authorised British
judicial authorities, who shall hear and determine all cases brought
against British subjects by any British or other foreign subject or
citizen without the intervention of the Korean authorities.
2. If the Korean authorities or a Korean subject make any charge
or complaint against a British subject in Korea, the case shall be heard
and decided by the British judicial authorities.
3. If the British authorities or a British subject make any charge
or complaint against a Korean subject in Korea, the case shall be
heard and decided by the Korean authorities.
4. A British subject who commits any offence in Korea shall be
tried and punished by the British judicial authorities according to
the laws of Great Britain.
5. A Korean subject who commits in Korea any offence against a
British subject shall be tried and punished by the Korean authorities
according to the laws of Korea.
284 APPENDICES
6. Any complaint against a British subject involving a penalty or
confiscation by reason of any breach either of this Treaty or of any
regulation annexed thereto, or of any regulation that may hereafter
be made in virtue of its provisions, shall be brought before the British
judicial authorities for decision, and any penalty imposed, and all
property confiscated in such cases shall belong to the Korean
Government.
7. British goods, when seized by the Korean authorities at an open
port, shall be put under the seals of the Korean and the British
Consular authorities, and shall be detained by the former until the
British judicial authorities shall have given their decision. If this
decision is in favour of the owner of the goods, they shall be
immediately placed at the Consul's disposal. But the owner shall be
allowed to receive them at once on depositing their value with the
Korean authorities pending the decision of the British judicial
authorities.
8. In all cases, whether civil or criminal, tried either in Korean
or British Courts in Korea, a properly authorised official of the
nationality of the plaintiff" or prosecutor shall be allowed to attend
the hearing, and shall be treated with the courtesy due to his position,
lie shall be allowed, whenever he thinks it necessary, to call, examine,
and cross-examine witnesses, and to protest against the proceedings
or decision.
9. If a Korean subject who is charged with an off"ence against the
laws of his country takes refuge on premises occupied by a British
subject, or on board a British merchant-vessel, the British Consular
authorities, on receiving an application from the Korean authorities,
shall take steps to have such person arrested and handed over to
the latter for trial. But, without the consent of the proper British
Consular authority, no Korean officer shall enter the premises of
any British subject without his consent, or go on board any British
ship without the consent of the officer in charge.
10. on the demand of any competent British Consular authority,
the Korean authorities shall arrest and deliver to the former any
British subject charged with a criminal offence, and any deserter from
a British ship of war or merchant- vessel.
Art. IV.
1. The ports of Chemulpho (Jeuchuan), Wunsan (Gensan), and Pusan
(Fusan), or, if the latter port should not be approved, then such other
port as may be selected in its neighbourhood, together with the city
of Hanyang and of the town of Yanghwa Chin, or such other place in
APPENDICES 285
that neighbourhood, as may be deemed desirable, shall, from the
day on which this Treaty comes into operation, be opened to British
commerce.
2. At the above-named places British subjects shall have the right to
rent or to purchase land or houses, and to erect dwellings, warehouses,
and factories. They shall be allowed the free exercise of their religion.
All arrangements for the selection, determination of the limits, and
laying out of the sites of the foreign Settlements, and for the sale of
land at the various ports and places in Korea open to foreign trade,
shall be made by the Korean authorities in conjunction with the com-
petent foreign authorities.
3. These sites shall be purchased from the owners and prepared for
occupation by the Korean Government, and the expense thus incurred
shall be a first charge on the proceeds of the sale of the land. The
yearly rental agreed upon by the Korean authorities in conjunction with
the foreign authorities shall be paid to the former, who shall retain a
fixed amount thereof as a fair equivalent for the land tax, and the
remainder, together with any balance left from the proceeds of land
sales, shall belong to a municipal fund to be administered by a Council,
the constitution of which shall be determined hereafter by the Korean
authorities in conjunction with the competent foreign authorities.
4. British subjects may rent or purchase land or houses beyond the
limits of the foreign settlements, and within a distance of 10 Korean li
from the same. But all land so occupied shall be subject to such con-
ditions as to the observance of Korean local regulations and payment
of land tax as the Korean authorities may see fit to impose.
5. The Korean authorities will set apart, free of cost, at each of the
places open to trade, a suitable piece of ground as a foreign cemetery,
upon which no rent, land tax, or other charges shall be payable, and
the management of which shall be left to the Municipal Council above
mentioned.
6. British subjects shall be allowed to go where they please without
passports within a distance of 100 Korean li from any of the ports and
places open to trade, or within such limits as may be agreed upon
between the competent authorities of both countries. British subjects
arc also authorised to travel in Korea for pleasure or for purposes of
trade, to transport and sell goods of all kinds, except books and other
printed matter disapproved of by the Korean Government, and to
purchase native produce in all parts of the country under passports
which will be issued by their Consuls and countersigned or sealed by
the Korean local authorities. These passports, if demanded, must be
produced for examination in the districts passed through. If the pass-
port be not irregular, the liearcr will be allowed to proceed, and he
286 APPENDICES
shall be at liberty to procure such means of transport as he may require.
Any British subject travelling beyond the limits above named without a
passport, or committing when in the interior any offence, shall be
arrested and handed over to the nearest British Consul for punishment.
Travelling writhout a passport beyond the said limits will render the
offender liable to a fine not exceeding lOO Mexican dollars, with or
without imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month.
7. British subjects in Korea shall be amenable to such municipal,
police, and other regulations for the maintenance of peace, order, and
good government as may be agreed upon by the competent authorities
of the two countries.
Art. V.
1. At each of the ports or places open to foreign trade, British subjects
shall be at full liberty to import from any foreign port, or from any
Korean open port, to sell to or to buy from any Korean subjects or
others, and to export to any foreign or Korean open port, all kinds of
merchandise not prohibited by this Treaty, on paying the duties of the
Tariff annexed thereto. They may freely transact their business with
Korean subjects or others without the intervention of Korean officials
or other persons, and they may freely engage in any industrial
occupation.
2. The owners or consignees of all goods imported from any foreign
port upon which the duty of the aforesaid Tariff shall have been paid
shall be entitled, on re-exporting the same to any foreign port at any
time within thirteen Korean months from the date of importation, to
receive a drawback certificate for the amount of such import duty,
provided that the original packages containing such goods remain
intact. These drawback certificates shall either be redeemed by the
Korean Customs on demand, or they shall be received in payment of
duty at any Korean open port.
3. The duty paid on Korean goods, when carried from one Korean open
port to another, shall be refunded at the port of shipment on production
of a Customs certificate showing that the goods have arrived at the port
of destination, or on satisfactory proof being produced of the loss of the
goods by shipwreck.
4. All goods imported into Korea by British subjects, and on which
the duty of the Tariff annexed to this Treaty shall have been paid, may
be conveyed to any Korean open port free of duty, and, when trans-
ported into the interior, shall not be subject to any additional tax,
excise or transit duty whatsoever in any part of the country. In like
manner, full freedom shall be allowed for the transport to the open
ports of all Korean commodities intended for exportation, and such
APPENDICES 287
commodities shall not, either at the place of produclion, or when being
conveyed from any part of Korea to any of the open ports, be subject to
the payment of any tax, excise or transit duty whatsoever.
5. The Korean Government may charter British merchant-vessels for
the conveyance of goods or passengers to unopened ports in Korea, and
Korean subjects shall have the same right, subject to the approval of
their own authorities.
6. Whenever the Government of Korea shall have reason to apprehend
a scarcity of food within the kingdom, His Majesty the King of Korea
may, by Decree, temporarily prohibit the export of grain to foreign
countries from any or all of the Korean open ports, and such pro-
hibition shall become binding on British subjects in Korea on the
expiration of one month from the date on which it shall have been
officially communicated by the Korean authorities to the British Consul
at the port concerned, but shall not remain longer in force than is abso-
lutely necessary.
7. All British ships shall pay tonnage dues at the rate of 30 cents
(Mexican) per register ton. one such payment will entitle a vessel to
visit any or all of the open ports in Korea during a period of four
months without further charge. All tonnage dues shall be appropriated
for the purposes of erecting lighthouses and beacons, and placing buoys
on the Korean coast, more especially at the approaches to the open
ports, and in deepening or otherwise improving the anchorages. No
tonnage dues shall be charged on boats employed at the open ports in
landing or shipping cargo.
8. In order to carry into effect and secure the observance of the pro-
visions of this Treaty, it is hereby agreed that the Tariff and Trade
Regulations hereto annexed shall come into operation simultaneously
with this Treaty. The competent authorities of the two countries may,
from time to time, revise the said Regulations with a view to the
insertion therein, by mutual consent, of such modifications or additions
as experience shall prove to be expedient.
Art. VI.
Any British subject who smuggles, or attempts to smuggle, goods
into any Korean port or place not open to foreign trade shall forfeit
twice the value of such goods, and the goods shall be confiscated. The
Korean local authorities may seize such goods, and may arrest any
British subject concerned in such smuggling or attempt to smuggle.
They shall immediately forward any person so arrested to the nearest
Britisii Consul for trial by the proper British judicial authority, and may
detain such goods until the case shall have been finally adjudicated.
288 APPENDICES
Art. VII.
1 . If a British ship be wrecked or stranded on the coast of Korea,
the local authorities shall immediately take such steps to protect the
ship and her cargo from plunder, and all the persons belonging to her
from ill-treatment, and to render such other assistance as may be
required. They shall at once inform the nearest British Consul of the
occurrence, and shall furnish the shipwrecked persons, if necessary,
with means of conveyance to the nearest open port.
2. All expenses incurred by the Government of Korea for the rescue,
clothing, maintenance, and travelling of shipwrecked British subjects,
for the recovery of the bodies of the drowned, for the medical treatment
of the sick and injured, and for the burial of the dead, shall be repaid
by the British Government to that of Korea.
3. The British Government shall not be responsible for the repay-
ment of the expenses incurred in the recovery or preservation of a
wrecked vessel, or the property belonging to her. All such expenses
shall be a charge upon the property saved, and shall be paid by the
parties interested therein upon receiving delivery of the same.
4. No charge shall be made by the Government of Korea for the
expenses of the Government officers, local functionaries, or police who
shall proceed to the wreck, for the travelling expenses of officers
escorting the shipwrecked men, nor for the expenses of official
correspondence. Such expenses shall be borne by the Korean
Government.
5. Any British merchant-ship compelled by stress of weather or by
want of fuel or provisions to enter an unopened port in Korea shall be
allowed to execute repairs, and to obtain necessary supplies. All such
expenses shall be defrayed by the master of the vessel.
Art. VIII.
1. The ships of war of each country shall be at liberty to visit all the
ports of the other. They shall enjoy every facility for procuring supplies
of all kinds, or for making repairs, and shall not be subject to trade or
harbour regulations, nor be liable to the payment of duties or port
charges of any kind.
2. When British ships of war visit unopened ports in Korea, the
officers and men may land, but shall not proceed into the interior unless
they are provided with passports.
3. Supplies of all kinds for the use of the British Navy may be landed
at the open ports of Korea, and stored in the custody of a British
officer, without the payment of any duty. But if any such supplies are
sold, the purchaser shall pay the proper duty to the Korean authorities.
APPENDICES 289
4. The Korean Government will afford all the facilities in their
power to ships belonging to the British Government which may be
engaged in making surveys in Korean waters.
Art. IX,
1. The British authorities and British subjects in Korea shall be
allowed to employ Korean subjects as teachers, interpreters, servants,
or in any other lawful capacity, without any restriction on the part of
the Korean authorities ; and, in like manner, no restrictions shall be
placed upon the employment of British subjects by Korean authorities
and subjects in any lawful capacity.
2. Subjects of either nationality who may proceed to the country of
the other to study its language, literature, laws, arts, or industries, or
for the purpose of scientific research, shall be afforded every reasonable
facility for doing so.
Art. X.
It is hereby stipulated that the Government, public officers, and
subjects of Her Britannic Majesty shall, from the day on which this
Treaty comes into operation, participate in all privileges, immunities,
and advantages, especially in relation to import or export duties on
goods and manufactures, which shall then have been granted or may
thereafter be granted by His Majesty the King of Korea to the
Government, pnblic officers, or subjects of any other Power.
Art. XI.
Ten years from the date on which this Treaty shall come into
operation, either of the High Contracting Parties may, on giving one
year's previous notice to the other, demand a revision of the Treaty or
of the Tariff annexed thereto, with a view to the insertion therein, by
mutual consent, of such modifications as experience shall prove to be
desirable.
Art. XII.
1. This Treaty is drawn up in the English and Chinese languages,
both of which versions have the same meaning, Init it is hereby agreed
that any difference which may arise as to interpretation shall lie
determined by reference to the English text.
2. For the present all official communications addressed by the
British authorities to those of Korea shall l)e accompanied by a
translation into Chinese.
20
290 APPENDICES
Art. XIII.
The present Treaty shall be ratified by Her Majesty the Queen of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India,
and by His Majesty the King of Korea, under their hands and seals ;
the ratifications shall be exchanged at Hanyang (Seoul) as soon as
possible, or at latest within one year from the date of signature,
and the Treaty, which shall be published by both Governments, shall
come into operation on the day on which the ratifications are exchanged.
In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries above named
have signed the present Treaty, and have thereto afiixed their seals.
Done in triplicate at Hanyang, this twenty-sixth day of November,
in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-three, corresponding to the
twenty-seventh day of the tenth month of the four hundred and ninety-
second year of the Korean era, being the ninth year of the Chinese
reign Kuang Hsii.
(L.S.) Harry S. Parkes.
(L.S.) Signature in Chinese of MiN YoNG-MOK,
the Korean Plenipotentiary.
Regulations under which British Trade is to be conducted
IN Korea.
I. — Entrance and Clearmice of Vessels.
I. Within forty-eight hours (exclusive of Sundays and holidays) after
the arrival of a British .ship in a Korean port, the master shall deliver
to the Korean Customs authorities the receipt of the British Consul
showing that he has deposited the ship's papers at the British Con-
sulate, and he shall then make an entry of his ship by handing in a
written paper stating the name of the ship, of the port from which she
comes, of her master, the number, and, if required, the names of her
passengers, her tonnage, and the number of her crew, which paper
shall be certified by the master to be a true statement, and .shall be
signed by him. He shall, at the same time, deposit a written manifest
of his cargo, setting forth the marks and numbers of the packages and
their contents as they are described in the bills of lading, with the
names of the persons to whom they are consigned. The master shall
certify that this description is correct, and shall sign his name to the
same. When a vessel has been duly entered, the Customs authorities
will issue a permit to open hatches, which shall be exhibited to the
Customs officer on board. Breaking bulk without having obtained
APPENDICES 291
such permission will render the master liable to a fine not exceeding
100 Mexican dollars.
2. If any error is discovered in the manifest, it may be corrected
within twenty-four hours (exclusive of Sundays and holidays) of its
being handed in, without the payment of any fee, but for any altera-
tion or post entry to the manifest made after that time a fee of
5 Mexican dollars shall be paid.
3. Any master who shall neglect to enter his vessel at the Korean
Custom-house within the time fixed by this Regulation shall pay a
penalty not exceeding 50 Mexican dollars for every twenty-four hours
that he shall so neglect to enter his ship.
4. Any British vessel which remains in port for less than forty-eight
hours (exclusive of Sundays and holidays) and does not open her
hatches, also any vessel driven into port by stress of weather, or only in
want of supplies, shall not be required to enter or to pay tonnage dues
so long as such vessel does not engage in trade.
5. When the master of a vessel wishes to clear, he shall hand in to
the Customs authorities an export manifest containing similar parti-
culars to those given in the import manifest. The Customs authorities
will then issue a clearance certificate and return the Consul's receipt for
the ship's papers. These documents must be handed into the Consulate
before the ship's papers are returned to the master.
6. Should any ship leave the port without clearing outwards in the
manner above prescribed, the master shall be liable to a penalty not
exceeding 200 Mexican dollars.
7. British steamers may enter and clear on the same day, and they
shall not be required to hand in a manifest except for such goods as are
to be landed or transhipped at the port of entry.
II. — Landing and Shipping of Cargo, and Payment of Duties.
1. The importer of any goods who desires to land them shall make
and sign an application to that effect at the Custom-house, stating his
own name, the name of the ship in which the goods have been imported,
the marks, numbers, and contents of the packages and their values, and
declaring that this statement is correct. The Customs authorities may
demand the production of the invoice of each consignment of mer-
chandise. If it is not produced, or if its absence is not satisfactorily
accounted for, the owner shall be allowed to land his goods on payment
of double the Tariflduty, but the surplus duty so levied shall be refunded
on the production of the invoice.
2. All goods so entered may be examined by the Customs officers at
the places appointed for the purpose. Such examination shall be made
292 APPENDICES
without delay or injury to the merchandise, and the packages shall be
at once restored by the Customs authorities to their original condition,
in so far as may be practicable.
3. Should the Customs authorities consider the value of any goods
paying an ad valorem duty as declared by the importer or exporter
insufficient, they shall call upon him to pay duty on the value deter-
mined by an appraisement to be made by the Customs appraiser. But
should the importer or exporter be dissatisfied with that appraisement,
he shall within twenty-four hours (exclusive of Sundays and holidays)
state his reasons for such dissatisfaction to the Commissioner of Customs,
and shall appoint an appraiser of his own to make a re-appraisement.
He shall then declare the value of the goods as determined by such
re-appraisement. The Commissioner of Customs will thereupon, at
his option, either assess the duty on the value determined by this
re-appraisement, or purchase the goods from the importer or exporter
at the price thus determined, with the addition of 5 per cent. In the
latter case the purchase-money shall be paid to the importer or exporter
within five days from the date on which he has declared the value
determined by his own appraiser.
4. Upon all goods damaged on the voyage of importation a fair
reduction of duty shall be allowed, proportionate to their deterioration.
If any disputes arise as to the amount of such reduction, they shall be
settled in the manner pointed out in the preceding clause.
5. All goods intended to be exported shall be entered at the Korean
Custom-house before they are shipped. The application to ship shall
be made in writing, and shall state the name of the vessel by which the
goods are to be exported, the marks and number of the packages, and
the quantity, description, and value of the contents. The exporter
shall certify in writing that the application gives a true account of all
the goods contained therein, and shall sign his name thereto.
6. No goods shall be landed or shipped at other places than those
fixed by the Korean Customs authorities, or between the hours of
sunset or sunrise, or on Sundays or holidays, without the special
permission of the Customs authorities, who will be entitled to reasonable
fees for the extra duty thus performed.
7. Claims by importers or exporters for duties paid in excess, or by
the Customs authorities for duties which have not been fully paid, shall
be entertained only when made within thirty days from the date of
payment.
8. No entry will be required in the case of pro^/isions for the use of
British ships, their crews and passengers, nor for the baggage of the
latter which may be landed or shipped at any time after examination by
the Customs officers.
APPENDICES 293
9. Vessels needing repairs may land their cargo for that purpose
without the payment of duty. All goods so landed shall remain in
charge of the Korean authorities, and all just charges for siorage,
labour, and supervision shall be paid by the master. But if any
portion of such cargo be sold, the duties of the Tariff shall be paid
on the portion so disposed of.
10. Any person desiring to tranship cargo shall obtain a permit from
the Customs authorities before doing so.
III. — Protection of the Revenue.
1. The Customs authorities shall have the right to place Customs
officers on board any British merchant-vessel in their ports. All such
Customs officers shall have access to all parts of the ship in which
cargo is stowed. They shall be treated with civility, and such
reasonable accommodation shall be allotted to them as the ship affords.
2. The hatches and all other places of entrance into that part of the
ship where cargo is stowed may be secured by the Korean Customs
officers between the hours of sunset and sunrise, and on Sundays and
holidays, by affixing seals, locks, or other fastenings, and if any person
shall, without due permission, wilfully open any entrance that has been
so secured, or break any seal, lock, or other fastening that has been
affixed by the Korean Customs officers, not only the person so offending,
but the master of the ship also, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding
100 Mexican dollars.
3. Any British subject who ships, or attempts to ship, or discharges,
or attempts to discharge, goods which have not been duly entered at
the Custom-house in,the manner above provided, or packages containing
goods different from those described in the import or export permit
application, or prohibited goods, shall forfeit twice the value of such
goods, and the goods shall be confiscated.
4. Any person signing a false declaration or certificate with the
intent to defraud the revenue of Korea shall be liable to a fine not
exceeding 200 Mexican dollars.
5. Any violation of any provision of these Regulations, to which no
penalty is specially attached herein, may be punished by a fine not
exceeding 100 Mexican dollars.
Note. — All documents required by these Regulations, and all other
communications addressed to the Korean Customs authorities, may be
written in the P^nglish language.
(L.S.) Harry S. Parkes.
(L.S.) Signature in Chinese of Min Yong-Mok,
the Korean Plcnipotaitiary.
294 APPENDICES
The Import Tariff ranged from 5 to 20 per cent. A few articles,
such as books, agricultural instruments, types, plants, trees, shrubs,
&c., came in free, while adulterated drugs, arms, ammunition, counter-
feit coins, and opium were prohibited.
Export Tariff.
Class I. — Duty free export goods : —
Bullion, being gold and silver refined ; coins, gold and silver all
kinds ; plants, trees and shrubs, all kinds ; samples, in reasonable
quantity ; travellers' baggage.
Class II. — All other native goods or productions not enumerated in
Class. I will pay an ad va/orejn duty of 5 per cent.
The exportation of red ginseng is prohibited.
Rules.
1. In the case of imported articles the ad valorem duties of this
Tariff will be calculated on the actual cost of the goods at the place of
production or fabrication, with the addition of freight, insurance, &c.
In the case of export articles the ad valorem duties will be calculated
on market values in Korea.
2. Duties may be paid in Mexican dollars or Japanese silver yen.
3. The above Tariff of import and export duties shall be converted
as soon as possible, and as far as may be deemed desirable, into
specific rates by agreement between the competent authorities of the
two countries.
(L.S.) Harry S. Parkes.
(L.S.) Signature in Chinese of Min Yong-Mok,
Korean Plenipotentiary.
Protocol.
The above named Plenipotentiaries hereby make and append to this
Treaty the following three declarations : —
I. With reference to Article III. of this Treaty, it is hereby declared
that the right of extra-territorial jurisdiction over British subjects in
Korea granted by this Treaty shall be relinquished when, in the judg-
ment of the British Government, the laws and legal procedure of
Korea shall have been so far modified and reformed as to remove the
objections which now exist to British subjects being placed under
Korean jurisdiction, and Korean Judges shall have attained similar
legal qualifications and a similar independent position to those of
British Judges.
APPENDICES 295
2. With reference to Article IV. of this Treaty, it is hereby declared
that if the Chinese Government shall hereafter surrender the right of
opening commercial establishments in the city of Hanyang, which was
granted last year to Chinese subjects, the same right shall not be
claimed for British subjects, provided that it be not granted by the
Korean Government to the subjects of any other Power.
3. It is hereby declared that the provisions of this Treaty shall apply
to all British Colonies, unless any exception shall be notified by Her
Majesty's Government to that of Korea within one year from the date
in which the ratifications of this Treaty shall be exchanged.
And it is hereby further stipulated that this Protocol shall be laid
before the High Contracting Parties simultaneously with this Treaty,
and that the ratification of this Treaty shall include the confirmation of
the above three declarations, for which, therefore, no separate act of
ratification will be required.
In faith of which the above-named Plenipotentiaries have this day
signed this Protocol, and have thereto affixed their seals.
Done at Hanyang this twenty-sixth day of November, in the year
eighteen hundred and eighty-three, corresponding to the twenty-seventh
day of the tenth montli of the four hundred and ninety-second year
of the Korean era, being the ninth year of the Chinese reign
Kuang Hsii.
(L.S.) Harry S. Parkes.
(L.S.) Signature in Chinese of Min Yong-Mok,
Korean Plenipoleiiliary.
CONVENTION BETWEEN CHINA AND JAPAN,
APRIL, 1885
Ito, Ambassador Extraordinary of the Great Empire of Japan,
Minister of State and the Imperial Household, First Class of the
Order of the Rising Sun and Count of the Empire ;
Li, Special Plenipotentiary of the Great Empire of China, Grand
Guardian of the Heir Apparent, Senior Grand Secretary of State,
Superintendent of the North Sea Trade, President of the Board of
War, Viceroy of Chih-li and Count Shiriu-ki of the first rank ;
In obedience to the Decrees which each of them respectively is
bound to obey, after conference held, have agreed upon a Convention
with a view to preserving and promoting friendly relations (between
the two great Empires), the Articles of which are set down in order as
follow : —
It is hereby agreed that China shall withdraw her troops now
stationed in Korea, and that Japan shall withdraw hers stationed there-
in for the protection of her Legation. The specific term for effecting
the same shall be four months commencing from the date of the
signing and sealing of this Convention, within which term they shall
respectively accomplish the withdrawal of the whole number of each of
their troops in order to avoid effectively any complications between the
respective countries : the Chinese troops shall embark from Masampo
and the Japanese from the port of Ninsen.
The said respective Powers mutually agree to invite the King of
Korea to instruct and drill a sufficient armed force, that she may herself
assure her public security, and to invite him to engage into his service
an officer or officers from amongst those of a third Power, who shall be
intrusted with the instruction of the said force. The respective Powers
also bind themselves, each to the other, henceforth not to send any of
their own officers to Korea for the purpose of giving said instruction.
In case of any disturbance of a grave nature occurring in Korea
which necessitates the respective countries or either of them to send
troops to Korea, it is hereby understood that they shall give, each to-
296
APPENDICES 297
the other, previous notice in writing of their intention so to do, and
that after the matter is settled, they shall withdraw their troops and not
fiirther station them there.
Signed and sealed this i8th day of the 4th month, of the l8th year of
Meiji (Japanese Calendar) ; the 4th day of the 3rd moon of the iith
year of Kocho (Chinese Calendar).
(L.S.) ITO,
Ambassador Extraordinary of the Great
E7)ipire of Japan, Ss'c,
(L.S.) Li,
Special Plenipotentiary of the Great
Empire of China, ^c.
THE TREATY OF SHIMONOSEKI, 1895
The Chinese and Japanese Plenipotentiaries, who met at Shimono-
seki to discuss the terms of peace between the two countries, dealt with
the independence of Korea. The Japanese proposal submitted on
April 1st was : —
" China recognises definitively the full and complete independence
and autonomy of Korea, and in consequence the payment of tribute
and the performance of ceremonies and formalities by Korea to China
in derogation of such independence and autonoiny shall wholly cease
for the future."
In reply Li Hung Chang wrote : —
" The Chinese Government some two months ago indicated its
willingness to recognise the full and complete independence and
guarantee the complete neutrality of Korea, and is ready to insert
such a stipulation in the Treaty ; but in due reciprocity, such stipula-
tion should likewise be made by Japan. Hence the article will require
to be modified in this respect."
on April 6th the Chinese Plenipotentiary was asked to formulate
his wording of the clause. He did so (April 9th) as follows : —
"China and Japan recognise definitely the full and complete inde-
pendence and autonomy, and guarantee the complete neutrality of
Korea, and it is agreed that the interference by either in the internal
affairs of Korea in derogation of such autonomy or the performances of
ceremonies and formalities by Korea inconsistent with such independ-
ence, shall wholly cease for the future."
To this Japan replied (April loth) : —
"The Japanese Plenipotentiaries find it necessary to adhere to this
Article as originally presented to the Chinese Plenipotentiary."
The clause finally appeared in the Treaty as originally framed by
Japan.
RUSSO-JAPANESE AGREEMENT, MAY-JUNE, 1896
The Representatives of Russia and Japan at Seoul, having conferred
under the identical instructions from their respective Governments,
have arrived at the following conclusions :^
I. While leaving the matter of His Majesty's, the King of Korea,
return to the Palace, entirely to his own discretion and judgment, the
Representatives of Russia and Japan will in a friendly way advise His
Majesty to return to that place, when no doubts concerning his safety
there could be entertained.
The Japanese Representative, on his part, gives the assurance, that
the most complete and effective measures will be taken for the control
of Japanese soshi.
n. The present Cabinet Ministers have been appointed by His
Majesty from his own free will, and most of them held ministerial or
other high offices during the last two years, and are known to be
liberal and moderate men.
The two Representatives will always aim at recommending to His
Majesty to appoint liberal and moderate men as Ministers and to show
clemency to his subjects.
HI. The Representative of Russia quite agrees with the Representa-
tive of Japan that, at the present state of affairs in Korea, it may be
necessary to have Japanese guards stationed at some places for the pro-
tection of the Japanese telegraph line between Fusan and Seoul, and
that these guards, now consisting of three companies of soldiers, should
be withdrawn as soon as possible and replaced by gendarmes, who will
be distributed as follows : fifty men at Tai-ku, fifty men at Ka-heung,
and ten men each at ten intermediate posts between Fusan and Seoul.
This distribution may l)e liable to some changes, but the total number
of the gendarme force shall never exceed 200 men, who will
afterwards gradually be withdrawn from such places where peace and
order have been restored by the Korean Government.
IV. For the protection of the Japanese settlemcnls at Seoul and the
open pfjrts against possible attacks by the Korean populace, two
299
300 APPENDICES
companies of Japanese troops may be stationed at Seoul, one company
at Fusan and one at Gensan, each company not to exceed 200
men. These troops will be quartered near the settlements and shall
be withdrawn as soon as no apprehension of such attack could be
entertained.
For the protection of the Russian Legation and Consulate, the
Russian Government may also keep guards not exceeding the number
of Japanese troops at those places, and these will be withdrawn as soon
as tranquility in the interior is completely restored.
{Signed) C. Waeber, {Signed) J. Komura,
Representative of Russia. Representative of [apan.
Seoul, May 14, 1896.
PROCTOCOL, JUNE 9, 1896
The Secretary of State, Prince Labanow-Rostovsky, Foreign
Minister of Russia, and Marshal Marquis Yamagata, Ambassador
Extraordinary of His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan, having ex-
changed their views on the situation in Korea, agreed upon the
following articles : —
I. For the remedy of the financial difficulties of Korea, the Govern-
ments of Russia and Japan will advise the Korean Government to
retrench all superfluous expenditure and to establish a balance between
expenses and revenues. If, in consequence of reforms deemed indis-
pensable, it may become necessary to have recourse to foreign loans,
both Governments shall, by mutual concert, give their support to
Korea.
II. The Governments of Russia and Japan shall endeavour to leave
to Korea, as far as the financial and commercial situation of that
country will permit, the formation and maintenance of a national armed
force, and police of such proportions as will be sufficient for the
preservation of internal peace without foreign support.
III. With a view to facilitate communications with Korea the
Japanese Government may continue to administer the telegraph lines
which are at present in its hands.
It is reserved to Russia (the right) of building a telegraph line
between Seoul and her frontiers.
These different lines can be repurchased by the Korean Government
as soon as it has the means to do so.
IV. In case the above matters should require a more exact or detailed
explanation, or if subsequently some other points should present them-
selves upon which it should be necessary to confer, the representatives
of both Governments shall be authorised lu negotiate in a spirit of
friendship.
(St[ipte(^) LoBANOw. Yamagata.
Moscow, y«w^ 9, 1896.
301
PROTOCOL, APRIL, 1S9S
Baron Nishi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of His Majesty the Emperor
of Japan, and Baron Rosen, le Conseiller d'Etat actuel et Chambellan,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the
Emperor of all the Russias, duly authorised to that effect, have agreed
upon the following Articles in pursuance of Article IV. of the Protocol
signed at Moscow on the 9th June (28th May), 1896, between Marshal
Marquis Yamagata and Prince Lobanow, Secretary of State : —
Art. I. — The Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia defini-
tively recognise the sovereignty and entire independence of Korea, and
mutually engage to refrain from all direct interference in the internal
affairs of that country.
Art. II. — Desiring to avoid every possible cause of misunderstanding
in the future, the Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia mutually
engage, in case Korea should apply to Japan or to Russia for advice
and assistance, not to take any measure in the nomination of military
instructors and financial advisers without having previously come to a
mutual agreement on the subject.
Art. III. — In view of the large development of Japanese commercial
and industrial enterprises in Korea, as well as the considerable number
of Japanese subjects resident in that country, the Imperial Russian
Government will not impede the development of the commercial and
industrial relations between Japan and Korea.
Done at Tokyo, in duplicate, this 25th day of April, 1898.
Nishi.
Rosen.
30a
CLAUSES IN THE ANGLO-JAPANESE ALLL\NCES
RELATING TO KOREA
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance, January, 1902.
Art. I. — The High Contracting Parties, having mutually recognised
the independence of China and Korea, declare themselves to be entirely
uninfluenced by any aggressive tendencies in either country. Having
in view, however, their special interests, of which those of Great
Britain relate principally to China, while Japan, in addition to the
interests which she possesses in China, is interested in a peculiar
degree, politically as well as commercially and industrially, in Korea,
the High Contracting Parlies recognise that it will be admissible for
either of them to take such measures as may be indispensable in order
to safeguard those interests if threatened either by the aggressive action
of any other Power or by disturbances arising in China or Korea, and
necessitating the intervention of either of the High Contracting Parties
for the protection of the lives and property of its subjects.
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance, September 27, 1905.
Preamble. — The Governments of Japan and Great Britain, being
desirous of replacing the Agreement concluded between them on the
30th of January, 1902, by fresh stipulations, have agreed upon the
following Articles, which have for their object : —
(a) The consolidation and maintenance of the general peace in the
regions of Eastern Asia and of India ;
(b) The preservation of the common interests of all Powers in China
by insuring the independence and integrity of the Chinese Empire and
the principle of equal opportunities for the commerce and industry of
all nations in China ;
(c) The maintenance of the territorial rights of the High Contracting
Parties in the regions of Eastern Asia and of India, and the defence of
their special interests in the said regions.
Art. HI. —Japan possessing paramount political, inilitary, and
J03
304 ■ APPENDICES
economic interests in Korea, Great Britain recognises the right of
Japan to take such measures of guidance, control, and protection in
Korea as she may deem proper and necessary to safeguard and
advance these interests, provided always that such measures are not
contrary to the principle of equal opportunities for the commerce
and industry of all nations.
KOREA AT THE PORTSMOUTH CONFERENCE
The first clause of the Japanese demands at the Portsmouth Confer-
ence dealt with Korea :^
" Russia, acknowledging that Japan possesses in Korea paramount
political, military and economical interests, to engage not to obstruct
or interfere with any measures of guidance, protection and control
which Japan finds it necessary to take in Korea."
In reply the Russian representatives made the following statement : —
" Le premier article ne souleve pas d'objection. Le Gouvernement
Imperial, reconnaissant que le Japon possede en Coree des interels
prepondcrants politiques, militaires et economiques, est prct a s'engager
ii ne point obstruer ni intervenir en ce prendre en Coree. II va sans
dire que, de protection et de controle que le Japon considerera
necessaire de prendre en Coree. II va sans dire que la Russie et les
subjets russes jouiront de tous les droits qui appartiennent ou
appartiendront aux autres Puissances Etrangeres et leurs ressortissants.
II est egalement entendu que la mise en vigueur par le Japon des
mesures susmentionnees ne portera pas atteinte aux droits souverains
de I'Empereur de Coree. En ce qui concerne particulicrement les
mesures militaires, le Japon, dans le but d'eloigner toute cause de
malentendu, s'abstiendra de prendre des mesures qui pourraient
menacer lasecurite du territoire russe limitrophe de la Coree."
The clause of the Treaty as finally arranged was : —
" The Imperial Russian Government, acknowledging that Japan
[xjssesses in Korea paramount political, military, and economical
interests, engage neither to obstruct nor interfere with the measures
of guidance, protection, and control which the Imperial Government
of Japan may find it necessary to take in Korea.
" It is understood that Russian subjects in Korea shall be treated
exactly in the same manner as the subjects or citizens of other foreign
Powers, that is to say, they shall be placed on the same footing as
the subjects or citizens of the favoured nation.
" It is also agreed that, in order to avoid all cause of misunderstand-
ing, the two High Contracting Parties will ai)Stain, on the Russo- Korean
frontier, from taking any military measure which may menace the
security of Russian or Koiean territory."
2 1 •'°5
JAPAN-KOREAN PROTOCOL, FEBRUARY 23, 1904
Mr. Hyashi, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, and Major-General Yi Tchi
Yong, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs interim of His Majesty the
Emperor of Korea, being respectively duly empowered for the purpose,
have agreed upon the following Articles : —
Art. I. For the purpose of maintaining a permanent and solid
friendship between Japan and Korea and firmly establishing peace in
the Far East, the Imperial Government of Korea shall place full con-
fidence in the Imperial Government of Japan and adopt the advice of
the latter in regard to improvement in administration.
Art. II. The Imperial Government of Japan shall in a spirit of
firm friendship ensure the safety and repose of the Imperial House of
Korea.
Art. III. The Imperial Government of Japan definitively guaran-
tees the independence and territorial integrity of the Korean Empire.
Art. IV. In case the welfare of the Imperial House of Korea 01
the territorial integrity of Korea is endangered by aggression of a third
Power or internal disturbances, the Imperial Government of Japan
shall immediately take such necessary measures as the circumstances
require, and in such cases the Imperial Government of Korea shall
give full facilities to promote action of the Imperial Japanese Govern-
ment.
The Imperial Government of Japan may, for the attainment of the
above-mentioned object, occupy, when the circumstances require it,
such places as may be necessary from strategical points of view.
Art. V. The Governments of the two countries shall not in future,
without mutual consent, conclude with a third Power such an arrange-
ment as may be contrary to the principle of the present Protocol.
Art. VI. Details in connection with the present Protocol shall be
arranged as the circumstances may require, between the Representative
of Japan and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Korea.
Done at Seoul, February 23, 1904.
This relation between the two countries was further made closer with
the restoration of peace, and by a new convention concluded at that
time Korea was placed under the protection of Japan.
J06
JAPAN-KOREAN TREATY, AUGUST, 1904
1. The Korean Financial Department to engage a Japanese as Super-
intendent of Korean finances in order to carry out fiscal reforms.
2. Japan to advance the necessary funds to Korea in order to enable
her to effect financial reforms, 3,000,000 yen being lent as first in-
stalment.
3. Sound currency system to be established by abolishing the
present Mint and withdrawing the copper coins now in circulation.
4. Currency union to be established between Japan and Korea, and
Japanese money to be accepted as legal tender by the Koreans.
5. A Central Bank to be established in Korea to facilitate the collec-
tion of taxes and the handling of public money.
6. A model administrative system to be adopted in Kyong-kwi
Province, and similar system to be adopted in other provinces when
this experiment proves successful.
7. Mr. W. n. Stevens is to be engaged by the Korean Foreign
Department as its Adviser in order to improve foreign intercourse.
8. Korea to recall her Ministers and Consuls stationed abroad when
she decides to place her foreign aflfairs and the protection of her subjects
staying abroad in charge of Japan.
9. The Foreign Ministers to Korea to be withdrawn from Seoul and
the Foreign Consuls alone to remain on duty with the withdrawal of
the Korean Ministers and Consuls from the foreign countries.
10. The Korean army, at present 20,000, to be reduced to 1,000,
and all the garrisons in the provinces to be disbanded, one at Seoul
alone being kept.
11. Military arms to be made common between Japan and Korea
with the object of adjusting the existing military system in the latter
country.
12. Soothsayers, fortune-tellers, and other officials ministering to
superstition to be expelled from the surroundings of the Sovereign
to uphold his dignity.
13. All superfluous Government offices and officials to be dis-
charged.
307
3o8 APPENDICES
14. Government posts to be made open to all classes of the people,
without regard to rank and family relation.
15. The practice of selling Government posts to be prohibited, and
the officials to be selected from among those who are competent.
16. Salaries of the Ministers of State and other Government
officials to be increased so as to awake in them a stronger sense
of responsibility.
17. Definite educational policy to be established, and organisation
of universities, middle schools, and primary schools to be modelled
after that existing in Japan ; also technical schools to be established
in order to encourage industry.
18. A distinct line of demarkation to be drawn between the Court
and the Government.
12. The present foreign Advisers to be reduced in number with the
abolition and amalgamation of the Government offices.
20. The post of Supreme Adviser to the Korean Government to
remain unfilled for the present.
21. Agriculture to be improved by reclaiming waste lands and
developing the natural resources of the soil.
TREATY BETWEEN JAPAN AND KOREA
Signed November 17, 1905.
The Japanese and Korean Governments, being desirous of strengthen-
ing the identity of interests which unite the two Empires, have, with
the same end in view, agreed upon the following Articles, which will
remain binding until the power and prosperity of Korea are recognised
as having been firmly established : —
I. The Japanese Government, through the Foreign Office at Tokyo,
will henceforward take control and direct the foreign relations and
affairs of Korea, and Japanese diplomatic representatives and Consuls
will protect the subjects and interests of Korea abroad.
II. The Japanese Government will take upon itself the duty of
carrying out the existing Treaties between Korea and foreign countries,
and the Korean Government binds itself not to negotiate any Treaty
or Agreement of a diplomatic nature without the intermediary of the
Japanese Government.
III. (a) The Japanese Government will appoint under His Majesty
the Emperor of Korea a Resident-General as its representative, who
will remain in Seoul chiefly to administer diplomatic afliiirs with the
prerogative of having private audience with His Majesty the Emperor
of Korea.
(l>) The Japanese Government is entitled to appoint a Resident to
every Korean open port and other places where the presence of such
Resident is considered necessary. These Residents, under the super-
vision of the Resident-General, will administer all the duties hitherto
appertaining to Japanese Consulates in Korea and all other affairs
necessary for the satisfactory fulfilment of the provisions of this
treaty.
IV. All the existing Treaties and Agreements between Japan and
Korea, within limits not prejudicial to the provisions of this Treaty,
will remain in force.
V. The Japanese Government guarantees to maintain the security
and respect the dignity of the Korean Imperial House.
309
310 APPENDICES
In witness whereof the undersigned, with due power granted by
their respective Governments, have signed this Treaty and affixed
their seals.
Hayashi Gonsuke,
Japanese Minister Plenipotentiary and
Envoy Extraordinary.
Pak Che Soon,
Korean Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs.
THE JAPAN-KOREAN TREATY, JULY 24, 1907
The Government of Japan and the Government of Korea, with the
object of speedily providing for the power and wealth of Korea and
also of promoting the welfare of the Korean people, have agreed on the
following Articles : —
Art. I. The Government of Korea shall follow the guidance of the
Resident-General in effecting administrative reforms.
Art. II. All the laws to be enacted and all important administrative
measures to be undertaken by the Korean Government shall previously
receive the consent and approval of the Resident-General.
Art. III. Distinction shall be observed between the administration
of justice by the Government of Korea and the business of ordinary
administration.
Art. IV. The appointment and dismissal of high officials of Korea
shall be at the pleasure of the Resident-General.
Art. V. The Government of Korea shall appoint to the Govern-
ment offices of Korea any Japanese the Resident-General may
recommend.
Art. VI. The Government of Korea shall engage no foreigner
without the consent of the Resident-General.
Art. VII. Clause i of the Japan-Korea Agreement signed
August 22, Meiji 37 (1904), is rescinded.
July 24, 40th year Meiji.
July 24, nth year Kwangmu.
Resident-General Ito.
Prime Alinister Yi.
PETITION FROM THE KOREANS OF HAWAII TO
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
Honolulu, T.H.
July 12, 1905.
To His Excellency,
The President of the United States.
Your Excellency, — The undersigned have been authorised by the
8,000 Koreans now residing in the territory of Hawaii at a special
mass meeting held in the city of Honolulu, on July 12, 1905, to present
to your Excellency the following appeal : —
We, the Koreans of the Hawaiian Islands, voicing the sentiments of
twelve millions of our countrymen, humbly lay before your Excellency
the following facts : —
Soon after the commencement of the war between Russia and Japan,
our Government made a treaty of alliance with Japan for offensive and
defensive purposes. By virtue of this treaty the whole of Korea was
opened to the Japanese, and both the Government and the people have
been assisting the Japanese authorities in their military operations in
and about Korea.
The contents of this treaty are undoubtedly known to your Excellency,
therefore we need not embody them in this appeal. Suffice it to state,
however, the object of the treaty was to preserve the independence of
Korea and Japan and to protect Eastern Asia from Russia's aggression.
Korea, in return for Japan's friendship and protection against Russia,
has rendered services to the Japanese by permitting them to use the
country as a base of their military operations.
When this treaty was concluded, the iCoreans fully expected that
Japan would introduce reforms into the governmental administration
along the line of the modern civilisation of Europe and America, and
that she would advise and counsel our people in a friendly manner, but
to our disappointment and regret the Japanese Government has not
done a single thing in the way of improving the condition of the Korean
people. on the contrary, she turned loose several thousand rough and
disorderly men of her nationals in Korea, who are treating the inolTen-
sive Koreans in a most outrageous manner. The Koreans are by nature
not a quarrelsome or aggressive people, but deeply resent the liigli-
handed action of the Japanese towards them. We can scarcely believe
that the Japanese Government approves the outrages committed by its
311
312 APPENDICES
people in Korea, but it has done nothing to prevent this state of
affairs. They have been, during the last eighteen months, forcibly
obtaining all the special privileges and concessions from our Govern-
ment, so that to-day they practically own everything that is worth
having in Korea.
We, the common people of Korea, have lost confidence in the
promises Japan made at the time of concluding the treaty of alliance,
and we doubt seriously the good intentions which she professes to have
towards our people. For geographical, racial, and commercial reasons
we want to be friendly to Japan, and we are even willing to have her as
our guide and example in the matters of internal reforms and education,
but the continuous policy of self-exploitation at the expense of the
Koreans has shaken our confidence in her, and we are now afraid that
she will not keep her promise of preserving our independence as a
nation, nor assisting us in reforming internal administration. In other
words, her policy in Korea seems to be exactly the same as that of
Russia prior to the war.
The United States has many interests in our country. The industrial,
commercial, and religious enterprises under American management,
have attained such proportions that we believe the Government and
people of the United Stales ought to know the true conditions of Korea
and the result of the Japanese becoming paramount in our country.
We know that the people of America love fair play and advocate
justice towards all men. We also know tliat your Excellency is the
ardent exponent of a square deal between individuals as well as
nations, therefore we come to you with this memorial with the hope
that Your Excellency may help our country at this critical period of our
national life.
We fully appreciate the fact that during the conference between the
Russian and Japanese peace envoys. Your Excellency may not care to
make any suggestion to either party as to the conditions of their settle-
ment, but we earnestly hope that Your Excellency will see to it that
Korea may preserve her autonomous Government and that other
Powers shall not oppress or maltreat our people. The clause in the
treaty between the United States and Korea gives us a claim upon
the United States for assistance, and this is the time when we need
it most.
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servants,
{Sgd.) P. K. YooN.
Syngman Rhee.
UmVINBROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM TrESS, WOKING AND LONDON.
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