The History of Korea (vol. 2 of 2)

by Homer B. Hulbert

The spring of 1884 saw the arrival of Ensign Geo. C. Foulk as naval attache of the American Legation. He rapidly became acquainted with the leading officials and it was through his advice and aid that several reformatory measures were promulgated. In the sixth moon the influence of the progressive party secured the position of Mayor of Seoul for Pak Yŭng-hyo, one of the most ardent of the reform party, and he immediately set to work at sanitary reforms and municipal improvements. He began by tearing down houses that had encroached upon the main road between the East and the West Gates. He had not proceeded far in this good work before he was blocked by the influence of the opposing faction. His next move was in the direction of dress reform and he succeeded[succeeded] in putting through a law prohibiting the use of the long sleeves, long hat-strings and long girdle strings. In these efforts he was seconded to a certain extent by Min Yŭng-ik, but at this point terminates the latter’s active interest in reforms, and from about this time the progressive leaders began to look upon him as a traitor to their cause. Here again personal interest came to injure a cause which, while good in itself, was discredited by the means used to effect its end. One sign of advance was the establishment of a school for the training of interpreters in English, under the charge of a competent foreign instructor.

In the autumn of this year 1884 twelve of the young men who had been sent to Japan to study military tactics returned to Seoul, among them being Sŭ Chă p’il, known in later years as Dr. Philip Jaisohn, who though still a youth of about twenty years began to take an active part in the plans of the liberal or progressive party. By this time Min Yŭng-ik had practically taken his stand with the conservatives, and this tended in no small measure to draw away from the progressives the sympathy and support of the queen. It was becoming evident that the hopes of the liberals were to be dashed to the ground. Yuan, the Chinese commissioner, was staying at the barracks in front of the palace and was active in the interests of his own government, which meant that he urged on the conservative party in their opposition[opposition] to reforms. It can hardly be wondered at then that the progressives looked more and more to the Japanese from whom they had imbibed their ideas of progress. Japan had recognized the independence of Korea and this naturally carried with it a desire to see Korea progress along the same lines that had raised Japan out of the rut of centuries to the more satisfactory plane of enlightened government.

How to stem the tide that had set so strongly against them was a difficult problem for the progressionist leaders to solve. From time immemorial the method of effecting changes in the Korea government had been to make an uprising, secure the person of the king and banish or execute[execute] the leaders of the opposition. It must be remembered that at that time, so far as the mass of the people was concerned, the progressive party had little or no backing. On the other hand the conservatives had the ear of the king and were backed by a Chinese army. It was evidently necessary to secure military backing, and for this Japan alone was available. But it was manifestly impossible for Japan to come in and attempt to effect the change. It must be at the request of the Korean government, or at least of the king. It seemed that the only thing to do was to hasten a crisis, obtain possession of the person of the king and then see to it that Japan be invited to loan troops to preserve the new status.

Instead of waiting patiently and suffering temporary defeat with the hope of ultimate success, the progressive leaders determined to have recourse to the old method, and in so doing they made a fatal blunder. Even had they been successful the means they employed would have fatally discredited them in the eyes of all enlightened people.

It is generally accepted as true that the progressive leaders had a distinct understanding with the Japanese. A Japanese man-of-war was on the way to Chemulpo and was expected to arrive on the fifth or sixth of December and the uprising was set for the seventh of that month. The leaders in this movement had not been able to keep it entirely a secret, for some of them talked about it in a very excited manner of[of] the Naval Attache of the American Legation and it came to the ears of the British Consul-general, who, meeting Yun T’ă-jun on December fourth, asked him if he had heard that there was trouble in the air. That gentleman who was himself a strong conservative[conservative] and a close friend of Min T’ă-ho, hastened to the house of the latter and reported what he had heard. Min advised him to hasten to the house of one of the relatives of one of the progressionists[progressionists] and secure information if possible. He did so, and there happened to meet one of the leaders of the progressive party and intimated to him that he had heard that trouble was brewing. This man denied all knowledge of any such plan but the minute his caller had gone he hastened to the other progressionist leaders and told them that all was lost unless instant action were taken. News had just arrived that the Japanese gun-boat that was expected at Chemulpo had broken down and could not come. There were only a few hundred Japanese troops in Seoul at the time. But it seemed to these men that it would be better to risk the whole venture on a single cast than to wait passively and see the destruction of all their hopes and plans. The seventh of December was the appointed day but as this was a matter of kill or be killed it was decided to proceed at once to business. Hong Yŭng-sik had been made Post-master General and on this very night he was to give a banquet at the new post-office which was situated in that part of the city called Kyo-dong. It was decided to start the ball rolling at this point. The evening came and the guests assembled to the dinner. They were the Chinese leaders Yuan, Chin and Wang, United States Minister Foote and his secretary Mr. Scudder, the British Consul-general Aston, the Foreign Office Adviser von Mollendorf, the Koreans Hong Yŭng-sik, Kim Ok-kyun, Min Yŭng-ik, Pak Yŭng-ho, Sŭ Kwang-bom, Kim Hŭng-jip, Han Kyu-jik, Pak Chöng-yang, O Yun-jung and a few others. The Japanese Minister had excused himself on the plea of ill-health. It was noticed that Kim Ok-kyun rose and left the table several times and went out into the court-yard but no special significance was attached to this. The dinner began at an early hour, not far from six o’clock, and about seven o’clock an alarm of fire was sounded. A house immediately in front of the Post Office was in flames. Min Yŭng-ik, being one of the officials whose duty it was to superintend the extinguishing of conflagrations, rose from the table and hastened out, calling to his servants to follow. As he passed out of the inner gate, a man dressed in Japanese clothes leaped out of the shadow of the gate-way and struck at him savagely with a sword, wounding him severely in the head and in other parts of the body. He fell heavily to the ground and in the confusion that ensued the would-be assassin made good his escape. Von Mollendorf was not far behind, and seeing what had happened he hastened forward, lifted the wounded man in his arms and carried him back into the dining-room. The Koreans who were present fled precipitately making their exit not by the door but by way of the back wall.

The wounded man was conveyed to the residence of von Mollendorf which was in the vicinity, where Dr. H. N. Allen of the American Presbyterian Mission was soon in attendance.

The die had now been cast and there was no retreat. The leaders of the conspiracy, Kim Ok-kyun, Sŭ Kwang-bom, Pak Yŭng-hyo, Hong Yŭng-sik and Sŭ Chă-pil, hastened immediately to the palace known to us as “The Old Palace” where the king had resided since the insurrection of 1882. Entering the royal presence they announced that the Chinese were coming to take possession of the king’s person and that he must hasten to a place of safety. The king did not believe this report but as they insisted he had no recourse but to submit. The little company hastened along under the west wall of the palace until they came to a small gate leading into Kyöng-u Palace which adjoins the “Old Palace” on the west. As they proceeded Kim Ok-kyun asked the king to send to the Japanese Minister asking for a body-guard, but he refused. Thereupon Sŭ Kwang-bom drew out a piece of foreign note-paper and a pencil and wrote in Chinese the words “Let the Japanese Minister come and give me his help.” This was immediately despatched by a servant. That it was a mere matter of form was evident when the little company passed into the Kyöng-u Palace, for there they found the Japanese Minister and his interpreter already in attendance and with them some two hundred troops drawn up in line. When the king appeared they saluted. There were present also the twelve students who had been in Japan. Word was immediately sent to Sin Keui-sŭn, Pak Yŭng-hyo and O Yun-jung to come and receive office under the reconstructed government. Within half an hour they were in attendance, excepting O Yun-jung who happened to be away in the country at the time.

Very early in the morning a royal messenger was sent with the myong-p‘a or “summoning tablet” to the houses of Min T‘ă-ho, Min Yŭng-mok and Cho Ryŭng-ha, ordering them to appear at once before the king. They complied and hastened to the palace but no sooner had they entered the palace gate than they were seized and cut down in cold blood. Then the summons[summons] was sent to Han Kyu-jik, Yi Cho-yun and Yun T‘ă jŭn. They too were assassinated as soon as they entered the palace. A eunuch named Yu Cha-hyŭn was also put to death. It is useless to ask by whose hand these men fell. Whoever[Whoever] wielded the brutal sword, the leaders of the so-called progressive party were wholly responsible. The twelve young men who had returned from Japan were all fully armed and it is more than probable that they took an active part in the bloody work. Not only was not the king consulted in regard to these murders but in the case of the eunuch it was done in spite of his entreaties and remonstrances.

These seven men who thus went to their doom were not entirely unconscious of what awaited them. When Cho Ryŭng-ha received the summons the inmates of his house pleaded with him not to go, but as it was the king’s summons he would not disobey even though he knew it meant death.

Just at daylight the king was removed to the house of his cousin Yi Chă-wŭn, escorted by the Japanese soldiers who surrounded him four deep. Kim Ok-kyun gave passes to those who were to be allowed to go in and out and only such had access to the premises. After remaining there some three hours the whole company returned to the “Old Palace.” In the reconstructed government Yi Chă wŭn and Hong Yŭng-sik were made Prime Ministers, Pak Yŭng-hyo was made General-in chief. Su Kwang-bom was made Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kim Ok-kyun Minister of Finance and Sŭ Chă-p‘il Lieutenant-general. The rest of the young men who had studied in Japan were also given official position.