In an interview which Count Inouye had with the Queen shortly before his departure, speaking of the ascendency of the Tai-Won-Kun, after the capture of the Palace by Mr. Otori in the previous July, Her Majesty said, “It is a matter of regret to me 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.”
In the despatch in which Count Inouye reported this interview to his Government he wrote:—
I 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 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 have moved the King and Queen, and their anxiety for the future appeared to be much relieved.
The Korean sovereigns would naturally think themselves justified in relying on the promise so frankly given by one of the most distinguished of Japanese statesmen, whom they had learned to regard with confidence and respect, and it is clear to myself that when the fateful night came, a month later, their reliance on this assurance led them to omit certain possible precautions, and caused the Queen to neglect to make her escape at the first hint of danger.
When the well-known arrangement between Viscount Miura and the Tai-Won-Kun was ripe for execution, the Japanese Minister directed the Commandant of the Japanese battalion quartered in the barracks just outside the Palace gate to facilitate the Tai-Won-Kun’s entry into the Palace by arranging the disposition of the Kun-ren-tai (Korean troops drilled by Japanese), and by calling out the Imperial force to support them. Miura also called upon two Japanese to collect their friends, go to Riong San on the Han, where the intriguing Prince was then living, and act as his bodyguard on his journey to the Palace. The Minister told them that on the success of the enterprise depended the eradication of the evils which had afflicted the kingdom for twenty years, and instigated them to dispatch the Queen when they entered the Palace. One of Miura’s agents then ordered the Japanese policemen who were off duty to put on civilian dress, provide themselves with swords, and accompany the conspirators to the Tai-Won-Kun’s house.
At 3 A.M. on the morning of the 8th of October they left Riong San, escorting the Prince’s palanquin, Mr. Okamoto, to whom much had been entrusted, assembling the whole party when on the point of departure, and declaring to them that on entering the Palace the “Fox” should be dealt with according “as exigency might require.” Then this procession, including ten Japanese who had dressed themselves in uniforms taken from ten captured Korean police, started for Seoul, more than three miles distant. Outside the “Gate of Staunch Loyalty” they were met by the Kun-ren-tai, and then waited for the arrival of the Japanese troops, after which they proceeded at a rapid pace to the Palace, entering it by the front gate, and after killing some of the Palace Guard, proceeded a quarter of a mile to the buildings occupied by the King and Queen, which have a narrow courtyard in front.
So far I have followed the Hiroshima judgment in its statement of the facts of that morning, but when it has conducted the combined force to “the inner chambers” it concludes abruptly with a “not proven” in the case of all the accused! For the rest of the story, so far as it may interest my readers, I follow the statements of General Dye and Mr. Sabatin of the King’s Guard, and of certain official documents.
It is necessary here to go back upon various events which preceded the murder of Her Majesty. Trouble arose in October between the Kun-ren-tai and the Seoul police, resulting in the total defeat of the latter. The Kun-ren-tai, numbering 1,000, were commanded by Colonel Hong, who in 1882 had rescued the Queen from imminent danger, and was trusted by the Royal Family. The Palace was in the hands of the Old Guard under Colonel Hyön, who had saved Her Majesty’s life in 1884. In the first week of October the strength of this Guard was greatly reduced, useful weapons were quietly withdrawn, and the ammunition was removed.
On the night of the 7th the Kun-ren-tai, with their Japanese instructors, marched and countermarched till they were found on all sides of the Palace, causing some uneasiness within. The alarm was given to General Dye and Mr. Sabatin early on the morning of the 8th.[36] These officers, looking through a chink of the gate, saw a number of Japanese soldiers with fixed bayonets standing there, who, on being asked what they were doing, filed right and left out of the moonlight under the shadow of the wall. Skulking under another part of the wall were over 200 of the Kun-ren-tai. The two foreigners were consulting as to the steps to be taken when heavy sounds of battering came from the grand entrance gate, followed by firing.
General Dye attempted to rally the Guard, but after five or six volleys from the assailants they broke with such a rush as to sweep the two foreigners past the King’s house to the gateway of the Queen’s. No clear account has ever been given of the events which followed. Colonel Hong, the commander of the Kun-ren-tai, was cut down by a Japanese officer at the great gate, and was afterwards mortally wounded by eight bullets. The Kun-ren-tai swarmed into the Palace from all directions, along with Japanese civilians armed with swords, who frantically demanded the whereabouts of the Queen, hauling the Palace ladies about by the hair to compel them to point out Her Majesty, rushing in and out of windows, throwing the ladies-in-waiting from the 7 feet high veranda into the compound, cutting and kicking them, and brutally murdering four in the hope that they had thus secured their victim.