A History of Korea (60 page)

The Chos
ŏ
n government panicked and asked the Chinese government for military support. China immediately sent an army of 3,000 men, landing them at Asan Bay, Ch’ungch’
ŏ
ng province, in June 1894. Japan responded by quickly sending a counterforce of 7,000 men in July. Now the two powers were pitted against each other, and the confrontation became increasingly tense. In light of this new situation, the Chos
ŏ
n government now believed that the Tonghak had to be appeased without depending on a foreign power and proposed that a truce be negotiated. Negotiations between the government and Tonghak forces led to the “Peace of Ch
ŏ
nju” of 10 June 1894. The agreement specified comprehensive reform programs that would end government misrule. The Tonghak peasant soldiers withdrew from Ch
ŏ
nju and returned to their homes. But because they were authorized to extend their organized network into new areas, they established the Chipkangso, or Local Directorate, in 53 counties of Ch
ŏ
lla province and set about redressing local government abuses. A headquarters of these popular organs was established in the provincial capital of Ch
ŏ
nju, with Ch
ŏ
n Pong-jun at the helm.

Regardless of efforts by the Koreans themselves to reach an amicable settlement, the explosive situation caused by the presence of both Chinese and Japanese forces in Chos
ŏ
n soon resulted in the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese defeated the Chinese in the war, but the bigger losers were the rebellious peasantry of Ch
ŏ
lla province. Angered at Japan’s having taken virtual control of all internal matters during the war, the Tonghak peasants raised another army in November 1894 and again moved northward, intent on expelling the Japanese from Chos
ŏ
n. They were defeated, however, by Chos
ŏ
n government troops reinforced by a Japanese army contingent at Kongju, Ch’ungch’
ŏ
ng
province, in late November. After some 500 survivors retreated to Ch
ŏ
lla province, Ch
ŏ
n Pong-jun was captured in Sunch’ang, Ch
ŏ
lla province, and executed in Seoul. The Tonghak peasant war finally came to an end in January 1895.

The first Tonghak peasant war was not only a revolutionary movement of the peasantry against their autocratic, oppressive government but was also a struggle against Japanese economic aggression. The second Tonghak uprising, in addition to resisting Japanese economic encroachments, was a direct challenge to Japanese intervention in Chos
ŏ
n’s internal affairs. Although the peasant war ended in failure, the Tonghak lived on in the religious
Ch’
ŏ
ndogyo,
or Heavenly Way Teaching movement, which influenced Korean peasants for decades thereafter and ignited the spark of Korean nationalism. On 1 December 1905 the Tonghak was renamed the Ch’
ŏ
ndogyo, which remains North Korea’s powerful state religion.

China responded immediately when Chos
ŏ
n requested help to suppress the Tonghak uprising. Within a month 3,000 men had been dispatched to Chos
ŏ
n, an action reported to Japan in accordance with the terms of the Convention of Tianjin. Under the pretext of protecting its citizens residing in Chos
ŏ
n, Japan sent seven warships and 7,000 troops to the country, occupying Seoul, Inch’
ŏ
n, and the central region. By this time, however, the Tonghak peasant army had already withdrawn from Ch
ŏ
nju in compliance with the “Peace of Ch
ŏ
nju.” At that point the Chinese and Japanese had no reason to be in Chos
ŏ
n. China proposed a joint withdrawal of Chinese and Japanese troops, which was welcomed by the Chos
ŏ
n government. Japan, however, was determined to take this opportunity to completely remove Chinese influence from Chos
ŏ
n, and so rejected the Chinese proposal. Instead, Japan suggested that the two powers push ahead with Chos
ŏ
n’s internal reform. By making a proposal that would clearly be unacceptable to China, Japan’s aim was to incite hostilities between the two powers. As expected, China rejected the offer, and a clash between China and Japan became inevitable.

The Sino-Japanese War began with a preemptive attack by Japanese warships against a Chinese troop convoy bringing reinforcements to Chos
ŏ
n at Asan Bay on 25 July 1894. At the same time fighting also broke out on land. Thereafter the Japanese won victories on land and sea, including a battle at Pyongyang in Sepember, humiliating China. The Japanese penetrated southern Manchuria, occupying Liaodong peninsula. With Japanese forces in a position to advance
on the capital of Beijing, China sued for peace in early 1895, and on 17 April of that year, the Japanese-dictated Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed, specifically calling upon China to recognize Chos
ŏ
n’s complete independence. This meant that Chos
ŏ
n would be separated from its centuries-old political relationship with China and placed under Japan’s wing. The war and the Treaty of Shimonoseki clearly established Japanese dominance in East Asia and set the stage for the Japanese annexation of Chos
ŏ
n in 1910.

During and after the Sino-Japanese War, Japan’s position in Chos
ŏ
n was greatly enhanced, as the main obstacle, China, had been removed. On 10 June 1894, the very day when the Peace of Ch
ŏ
nju was concluded between the Chos
ŏ
n government and the Tonghak army, Japanese troops entered Seoul. In July, after occupying the capital, Japan demanded by armed threat that Chos
ŏ
n carry out internal reform. But the Chos
ŏ
n government refused to accede to the demand and called for the withdrawal of Japanese forces. Japan responded by forcibly expelling the pro-Chinese faction, mostly the Min family, out of the government and restoring the reluctant Taew
ŏ
n’gun to power as a figurehead. Then it formed a new government mainly of pro-Japanese elements headed by Kim Hong-jip, which pressed ahead with the radical Kabo Ky
ŏ
ngjang against the conservative opinions of the people.

On 27 July 1894 the new government established the Kun’guk kimuch’
ŏ
, or Deliberative Council, to carry out the reform program. Under the direction of Kim Hong-jip, this temporary and extraordinary governmental organ enacted 208 reform bills by December 1894, which has been called the First Kabo Reform. The reform program emphasized administrative and economic reforms. With regal power reduced, the power of the
Ŭ
ij
ŏ
ngbu was strengthened under a prime minister, with two new ministries for foreign affairs and for agriculture and commerce added to the original six. Modeled on the Japanese system, the institution of office rank was modified. The Kungnae-bu, or Department of the Royal Household, was set up to deal only with matters concerning the palace and royal family, and the Ky
ŏ
ngmuch’
ŏ
ng, or Agency of Police Affairs, was responsible for public safety. The traditional examination system, kwag
ŏ
, was abolished and replaced by two styles of civil service examinations for both higher and lower positions. To demonstrate that Chos
ŏ
n had eliminated
the traditional suzerain-subject relationship with China, the government ceased using the Chinese era name.

Economic reforms included placing all fiscal matters under the jurisdiction of the new T’akchi-bu, or Ministry of Finance. A new currency system was also instituted, based on the new silver standard. Japanese currency was permitted to circulate; embargoes on rice exports were permanently prohibited; and taxes and monthly salaries of government officials were paid in cash, not in kind.

The social reforms of 1894 included, first of all, the termination of the traditional class-status system, thus ending class distinctions between yangban and commoners; the yangban’s pipe-smoking status was eliminated as well by banning the inordinately long pipes they smoked, sometimes one to three feet long (the longer the pipe, the greater the status). The system of slavery was abolished, as were the social and ritual distinctions between civil and military officials. Widows were allowed to remarry, and illegitimate sons now had the right to succeed their fathers. People were encouraged to replace traditional Korean attire with more practical clothing.

As victory in the Sino-Japanese War became certain in late 1894, Japan appointed Inoue Kaoru, Japan’s former foreign minister, as minister to Chos
ŏ
n and began to intrude in the kingdom’s internal affairs. In November 1894 Inoue compelled the Taew
ŏ
n’gun, who bitterly opposed the reform program, to retire from politics. He also forced Kojong to appoint Pak Y
ŏ
ng-hyo and S
ŏ
Kwangb
ŏ
m, who were now home following a long exile in Japan, as cabinet members. In December Japanese advisers were employed in each government ministry. The so-called Second Kabo Reform took place from December 1894 to July 1895, during which time 213 reform bills were enacted. On 7 January 1895 Kojong, along with the Taew
ŏ
n’gun, the crown prince, and members of the royal family and officialdom, visited the
Chongmyo,
or Royal Ancestral Shrine, in Seoul and there, before the tablets of his ancestors, Kojong proclaimed the 14-article
Hongb
ŏ
m,
or Guiding Principles for the Nation, pledging to modernize his country.
⁶
Generally considered Korea’s first constitution, the Hongb
ŏ
m was an embodiment of the Kabo Reform.

In this second reform program, the
Ŭ
ij
ŏ
ngbu was renamed the Naegak, or Cabinet, which comprised seven ministries, including foreign affairs, home affairs, finance, justice, education, defense, and agriculture, commerce, and
industry. In June 1895 the former 8 provinces were reorganized into 23 prefectures, which were subdivided into 337 counties in order to better adapt local administration to local conditions. The 23 prefectures were restructured into 13 provinces in August 1896. In the Ministry of Finance, 220
chingsesa,
or taxation agencies, were established nationwide, under the supervision of nine
kwansesa,
or regional taxation agencies. An independent judiciary was created with district courts, open-port courts, circuit courts, and a Supreme Court. Military reform was not enacted, however, as the man in charge of the mission, Pak Y
ŏ
ng-hyo, was suspected of treason and fled to Japan.

The Kabo Reform appeared to transform Chos
ŏ
n into a Western-style, modern nation, but the reform program actually facilitated Japanese penetration into Chos
ŏ
n; the currency reform, in particular, was a major instrument in furthering Japanese economic encroachments. Moreover, the Kabo Reform did nothing to ensure the military manpower resources and new weaponry, essential to the security of a modern state. The reform program also neither considered the modern parliamentary system, the very basis of a representative government, nor carried out land reform needed to relieve the peasants’ suffering. The Kabo Reform was therefore ignored by the king and encountered bitter opposition among the Korean people.

Because of Kojong’s irresolution, Chos
ŏ
n at the time was virtually ruled by Queen Min on behalf of the king. The Japanese attempted but failed to drive her out of power, for she and the king turned to Russia for help to counterbalance Japan’s influence. Opportunely the “triple intervention” of Russia, France, and Germany, in the spring of 1895, forced Japan to give back to China the Liaodong peninsula, a major trophy Japan had won in the Sino-Japanese War. With this blow to Japan’s strength, Kojong and Queen Min seized a rare opportunity to finally rid their country of Japanese control. But the pro-Japanese minister Pak Y
ŏ
ng-hyo got word of their intentions and plotted to depose Queen Min. His conspiracy was detected in advance, however, and he and his pro-Japanese cohorts were tossed out of the government, and once again Pak was exiled to Japan. In August 1895 men of the pro-Russian faction such as Yi P
ŏ
m-jin and Yi Wan-yong joined the cabinet and succeeded in transforming the pro-Japanese government into a government that was pro-Russian. The Japanese, who had
already lost the Liaodong peninsula to Russia, were now in danger of losing Chos
ŏ
n altogether.

Uneasy with Russia’s increasing influence in Chos
ŏ
n, Japan saw the need to restore its control as a matter of life and death. The Japanese plotted to assassinate Queen Min, who led her kingdom’s pro-Russian diplomacy, and mapped out a plan of operation code-named “fox hunting.” At about the time the pro-Japanese elements were ousted from the government, Miura Goro was sent to Chos
ŏ
n as the new Japanese minister with a secret mission to assassinate Queen Min. As soon as he arrived in Seoul, Miura secretly organized a Japanese gangster-like group called
ronin,
and on 8 October 1895 the group launched a surprise attack on Queen Min’s residence, the Ky
ŏ
ngbok-kung palace. After killing the guards stationed at the palace gates, the attackers dashed into the queen’s chamber. Although it is commonly believed that she was killed in her bedroom, she was actually dragged to a courtyard and publicly hacked to death with a sword. The queen’s body was burned, and the remains were buried to destroy proof of the atrocity.