In Korea with Marquis Ito

by George Trumbull Ladd

It is a curious coincidence that the Minister who, on the 9th of November, 1884, transmitted this message, was obliged only a few weeks later to flee from Seoul like his predecessor, on account of the perpetration of outrages against Japan, even greater than those for which the indemnity had been exacted.

This renewal of the stipulated condition of commerce and amity between Japan and Korea, with its renewed act of forgiveness on the part of the former toward the latter, only prepared the way for the more serious outrages of 1884. The Chinese force which was sent to support the anti-foreign and unprogressive policy of the Min family, proceeded to take up permanent quarters in extensive camps within the walls of Seoul. They erected a fort close by the palace gates and two others outside of the city, in a situation to defend the approaches from the river Han. A little later they increased the number of Chinese troops in Seoul to 3,000 men. In the opinion of Ensign Foulk, the confession forced from certain Korean officials revealed the truth that these foreign soldiers were quartered in the capital city in order to enforce a secret agreement between China and the Mins, representing Korea, which gave to the Peking Government rights of suzerainty such as it had never even claimed before.

Then began an increasingly bitter strife between the reactionary party, supported by Chinese soldiers, and the reform party, the leaders of which had been abroad (chiefly in Japan) and had returned determined to exert themselves to bring about reforms and to introduce the benefits of Western civilization in their native land. Japan, however, had given the frankest and most sincere assurances that such troops as it kept in Korea were only for the defence of its own Legation, and that it aimed to assist Korea in all its efforts at progress. “From Japan,” says Ensign Foulk, “came a number of qualified Japanese, who were held in readiness to begin teaching the use of machinery, the manufacture of paper, pottery, etc. Steps were also taken towards securing a director of agriculture, school teachers, and several other foreigners for service under the Korean Government. In regard to these the initiatory steps were taken in consultation with the progressive leaders, including the King, in which I was warmly invited to have a voice.”[18] Gradually, however, in part through fear, in part through jealousy, and perhaps also with some degree, in certain cases, of more intelligent and honorable reasons, certain leading members of the progressive party fell more and more under Chinese influences.

How insolently the foreign soldiers from China during this period treated the Koreans may be learned from the following incident. In August, 1884, a Korean officer of high rank was openly seized by a party of Chinese soldiers and beaten by them in the street so severely that his life was despaired of; this was the outcome of a quarrel between the Chinese Commissioner and the Korean officer about the right of passage through a gateway of the Korean officer’s house, which was next to that of the Chinese officer. “On the contrary,” says Ensign Foulk, “the attitude of the Japanese in Seoul had always been such as to indicate an earnest desire to aid the party of progress, and to be on peaceable, friendly terms with the people. The conduct of Japanese citizens toward Koreans was commendable. As indicating great consideration on the part of the Japanese Government toward Korea, was the restraint placed upon Japanese merchants establishing themselves in Seoul, by the Japanese Minister, who evidently in doing so followed the spirit of the treaties, by which the capital was not to be thrown open to trade if the Chinese left.”

The Tong-Kwan Tai-Kwol Palace.

When their factional strifes had the customary expression in revolution, arson, and bloodshed, the Koreans, aided by the Chinese soldiers, turned upon the Japanese. The subsequent occurrences and the way that the Japanese Government dealt with them are narrated in the words of one who was an eye-witness of, and an actor in, them:[19]

With subsequent occurrences I am personally familiar, having accompanied Count Inouye, Minister for Foreign Affairs, when he went as Special Ambassador to Korea to settle the difficulty.

This was another occasion when public excitement ran very high in Japan. The nation was clamoring for war with China, and the feeling of keen indignation in Army and Navy circles was strongly marked. Following so closely upon the events of 1882 this new outrage appeared to all classes to be the last straw. The Government, however, then under the premiership of Marquis Ito, was determined to have recourse to the last resort only after every means of honorable accommodation had been exhausted. As Marquis Ito’s mission to China subsequently showed, it was also determined to settle once and for all, so far as that could be done, the question of China’s right forcibly to interfere in Korean domestic brawls, which was really the gravest feature of the occurrence.

The choice of an official of Count Inouye’s high rank showed the importance which the government attached to the mission. The designation of Admiral Kabayama and General Takashima, typical representatives of the prevailing feeling in Army and Navy circles, to accompany him, was most sagacious. It was proof to the Army and Navy, as well as to the people at large, that nothing would be done in the dark, and that no arrangement would be concluded in anywise damaging to Japan’s honor or prestige.