Korea's Fight for Freedom

by Fred A. McKenzie

Reports were beginning to come in from other parts. There had been demonstrations throughout the north, right up to Wiju, on the Manchurian border. At Song-chon, it was reported, thirty had been killed, a number wounded, and three hundred arrested Pyeng-yang had been the centre of a particularly impressive movement, which had been sternly repressed. From the east coast, away at Hameung, there came similar tidings. The Japanese stated that things were quiet in the south until Wednesday, when there was an outbreak at Kun-san, led by the pupils of a Christian school. The Japanese at once seized on the participation of the Christians, the press declaring that the American missionaries were at the bottom of it. A deliberate attempt was made to stir up the Japanese population against the Americans. Numbers of houses of American missionaries and leaders of philanthropic work were searched. Several of them were called to the police offices and examined; some were stopped in the streets and searched. Unable to find any evidence against the missionaries, the Japanese turned on the Korean Christians. Soon nearly every Korean Christian pastor in Seoul was in jail; and news came from many parts of the burning of churches, the arrest of leading Christians, and the flogging of their congregations. The Japanese authorities, on pressure from the American consular officials, issued statements that the missionaries had nothing to do with the uprising, but in practice they acted as though the rising were essentially a Christian movement.

In the country people were stopped by soldiers when walking along the roads, and asked, "Are you Christians?" If they answered, "Yes," they were beaten; if "No," they were allowed to go. The local gendarmes told the people in many villages that Christianity was to be wiped out and all Christians shot. "Christians are being arrested wholesale and beaten simply because they are Christians," came the reports from many parts.

Soon dreadful stories came from the prisons, not only in Seoul, but in many other parts. Men who had been released after investigation, as innocent, told of the tortures inflicted on them in the police offices, and showed their jellied and blackened flesh in proof. Some were even inconsiderate enough to die a few days after release, and on examination their bodies and heads were found horribly damaged. The treatment may be summed up in a paragraph from a statement by the Rev. A.E. Armstrong, of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, who was on a visit to Korea at the time:

"The tortures which the Koreans suffer at the hands of the police and gendarmes are identical with those employed in the famous conspiracy trials. I read affidavits, now on their way to the United States and British Governments, which made one's blood boil, so frightful were the means used in trying to extort confessions from prisoners. And many of these had no part in the demonstrations, but were simply onlookers."

Within a fortnight, the arrests numbered thousands in Seoul alone. Every man, particularly every student, suspected of participation was jailed. But it was evident that the authorities had not secured the leaders, or else that the leaders had arranged a system by which there were men always ready to step into the place of those who were taken. The official organ, the Seoul Press, would come out with an announcement that the agitation had now died down; two or three days later there would be another great demonstration in the streets. The hundred thousand visitors who had come to Seoul for the funeral returned home to start agitations in their own districts. The authorities were particularly annoyed at their inability to discover the editors and publishers of the secret paper of the protest, the Independence News, which appeared in mimeographed form. To prevent its publication the authorities took control of mimeograph paper, and seized every mimeograph machine they could find. Time after time it was stated that the editors of the paper had been secured; the announcement was barely published before fresh editions would mysteriously appear in Seoul and in the provinces.

Despite every effort to minimize it, news of the happenings gradually crept out and were published abroad. Mr. I. Yamagata, the Director-General of Administration, was called to Tokyo for a conference with the Government. Much was hoped by many friends of Japan in America from this. It was believed that the Liberal Premier of Japan, the Hon. T. Hara, would promptly declare himself against the cruelties that had been employed. Unfortunately these hopes were disappointed. While speaking reassuringly to foreign enquirers, Mr. Hara and his Government officially determined on still harsher measures.

Mr. Yamagata's own statement, issued on his return, announced that after conference with the Premier, an audience with the Emperor and conferences with the Cabinet "decision was reached in favour of taking drastic measures by despatching more troops to the peninsula."

"In the first stage of the trouble, the Government-General was in favour of mild measures (!), and it was hoped to quell the agitation by peaceful methods," Mr. Yamagata continued. "It is to be regretted, however, that the agitation has gradually spread to all parts of the peninsula, while the nature of the disturbance has become malignant, and it was to cope with this situation that the Government was obliged to resort to force. In spite of this, the trouble has not only continued, but has become so uncontrollable and wide-spread that the police and military force hitherto in use has been found insufficient, necessitating the despatch of more troops and gendarmes from the mother country…. Should they (the agitators) continue the present trouble, it would be necessary to show them the full power of the military force. It is earnestly to be hoped that the trouble will be settled peacefully, before the troops are obliged to use their bayonets."

Count Hasegawa, the Governor-General, had already issued various proclamations, telling the people of the Imperial benevolence of Japan, warning them that the watchword "self-determination of races" was utterly irrevelant to Japan, and warning them of the relentless punishment that would fall on those who committed offences against the peace. Here is one of the proclamations. It may be taken as typical of all:

"When the State funeral of the late Prince Yi was on the point of being held, I issued an instruction that the people should help one another to mourn his loss in a quiet and respectful manner and avoid any rash act or disorder. Alas! I was deeply chagrined to see that, instigated by certain refractory men, people started a riot in Seoul and other places. Rumour was recently circulated that at the recent Peace Conference in Paris and other places, the independence of Chosen was recognized by foreign Powers, but the rumour is absolutely groundless. It need hardly be stated that the sovereignty of the Japanese Empire is irrevocably established in the past, and will never be broken in the future. During the ten years since annexation, the Imperial benevolence has gradually reached all parts of the country, and it is now recognized throughout the world that the country has made a marked advancement in the securing of safety to life, and property, and the development of education and industry. Those who are trying to mislead the people by disseminating such a rumour as cited know their own purpose, but it is certain that the day of repentance will come to all who, discarding their studies or vocations, take part in the mad movement. Immediate awakening is urgently required.