A History of Korea (61 page)

The Japanese government denied any involvement, but Miura had obviously orchestrated the murder. At the time Queen Min was slaughtered Japan had extraterritorial rights in Chos
ŏ
n but, fearing condemnation from abroad, the Japanese government recalled Miura and his 47 accomplices to stand trial in Japan. Even with the testimony of numerous eyewitnesses at trial, the assassins were found not guilty on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

Immediately after Queen Min’s murder, a new, pro-Japanese cabinet was formed with Kim Hong-jip again appointed prime minister. The new government advanced far more radical reforms, passing more than 140 bills, labeled the Third Kabo Reform. The solar calendar was adopted, and on 26 October 1895 the government changed the date of 17 November 1895 (by the lunar calendar) to 1 January 1896 (by the solar calendar). A new system for naming eras was instituted, in which a single era name was to be used during each king’s reign. From 1 January 1896 the era name
K
ŏ
nyang,
or Lustrous Inauguration, was used for Kojong. Other important reform measures included the prescription of smallpox vaccinations for children; the establishment of an elementary school in Seoul; the initiation of postal service in Ch’ungju, Andong, Taegu, and Tongnae; and a reorganization of the military into assigning capital guards in Seoul and local garrison forces in the provinces. The most controversial reform, however, was the mandatory removal of males’ traditional topknot, or
sangt’u.
Koreans traditionally never cut their hair for the duration of their lives
out of respect for the Confucian belief that one’s body and hair were given by one’s parents. Violating this tradition, on 30 December 1895, at Japan’s instigation, the government put out the order, enforced under protest, that all males cut off their topknot. In doing this, the Japanese tried to symbolically wipe out Korea’s heritage, but the order aroused widespread popular resistance, with cries of “Cut off my head rather than my hair.”

Japan’s brutal assassination of Queen Min and the order for men to cut off their topknots finally led to a nationwide armed uprising against the Japanese by bands of civilian volunteers known as
ŭ
iby
ŏ
ng, or “righteous armies,” mobilized by Confucian scholars such as Pak Chun-y
ŏ
ng, Yu In-s
ŏ
k, S
ŏ
Sang-y
ŏ
l, Min Yong-ho, Kim Pok-han, Kwak Chong-s
ŏ
k, Yi Kang-ny
ŏ
n, and Ki U-man.

When the capital guards were deployed through the countryside to put down the
ŭ
iby
ŏ
ng forces, the pro-Russian faction in the government, led by Yi P
ŏ
mjin and Yi Wan-yong, secretly arranged with Karl Woeber, the Russian minister, to place Kojong under Russian protection and thus restore their power. First, Woeber brought 150 Russian sailors and a single cannon from Inch’
ŏ
n to Seoul under the pretext of guarding the Russian legation. Then, at dawn on 11 February 1896, Kojong, seized with the fear of being killed by the Japanese, and the crown prince slipped away from the royal palace and made their way to the Russian legation, where the king remained as a guest for approximately a year. Kojong had chosen the lesser of the two evils, Russia over Japan. After an arrest warrant was issued for men of the pro-Japanese faction, Kim Hong-jip, Ch
ŏ
ng Py
ŏ
ng-ha, and
Ŏ
Yun-jung were killed by angry mobs, but Yu Kil-chun and others fled to Japan. A new pro-Russian cabinet was formed with no trace of the pro-Japanese element. Japan believed that it was not yet prepared for a final showdown with Russia to decide Chos
ŏ
n’s fate.

While Kojong was in the Russian legation for almost a year, the Chos
ŏ
n government was under strong Russian influence, with Russian advisers and military instructors having replaced their Japanese counterparts. Economic concessions were first given to Russia and then to other nations. Foreign powers were now intent on the economic exploitation of Korean natural resources.

The Korean people as a whole condemned King Kojong’s flight to the Russian legation and called upon him to return to his palace. Yielding to this pressure, Kojong moved back to the Ky
ŏ
ngun-gung palace (today the T
ŏ
ksu-gung
palace) on 20 February 1897. He chose the Ky
ŏ
ngun-gung rather than the Ky
ŏ
ngbok-kung because he thought the new residence neighbored Russian, American, and other Western legations that could better protect him against a Japanese threat.

After returning to his palace, Kojong nullified some reform measures enacted by the former pro-Japanese cabinet, including, on 12 August 1897, the order for males to cut their topknots. Two days later he declared the era name to be
Kwangmu,
or Shining Warrior, making clear his intentions to enhance national prosperity and defense. Then, feeling the need to increase his kingdom’s status and reinforce national integrity, on 11 October 1897 Kojong proclaimed to the nation and the world the establishment of the
Taehan cheguk,
or Great Han Empire, whence comes the name
Taehan min’guk
of the present-day Republic of Korea . Taehan refers to the integration of the former three Han federations (Mahan, Chinhan, and Py
ŏ
nhan) or three kingdoms (Kogury
ŏ
, Paekche, and Silla). The next day he ascended the imperial throne and, outwardly, the new Korea assumed the form of an independent, imperial state. But Korean realities had not changed. Russian influence was still dominant, and Western powers were heavily engaged in wringing economic concessions from Chos
ŏ
n.

Sensing that Chos
ŏ
n was exposed to ruthless aggression by foreign powers, many Koreans were prepared to fight to preserve their country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. A new intellectual class that favored Western liberalism and vowed to secure the nation’s independence and people’s rights formed a political organization called the Tongnip hy
ŏ
phoe, or Independence Club, which was actually founded by S
ŏ
Chae-p’il (Philip Jaisohn) on 2 July 1896. S
ŏ
Chae-p’il had participated in the abortive coup of 1884, voluntarily sought exile in Japan and then the United States, and, upon returning to Chos
ŏ
n in January 1896, resumed leadership of the nation’s modern reform movement. Appointed as a consultant to the Privy Council, he broadened his contacts with prominent government leaders, and on 7 April 1896 he launched the newspaper
Tongnip sinmun,
or
Independence Newspaper
, which was printed entirely in han’g
ŭ
l to increase readership among the general populace. The
Tongnip sinmun
called on the nation to devote itself to preserving sovereignty and promoting the public good. It praised Western liberal ideas, including civil rights, and did its utmost to introduce modern science and the perspectives of the Western world. It grew rapidly from an initial circulation of 300 readers to 3,000. S
ŏ
Chaep’il
demanded that the government preserve national sovereignty by repelling growing foreign influence, and he awakened the people to the urgent needs of the day—eliminating corruption, extending opportunities for education, securing sovereignty, and promoting civil rights. The “independence” advocated by the newspaper was independence from China. After the Independence Club was established in July 1896, the newspaper served to propagate the new organization’s cause.

The Independence Club started as a social organization to raise funds to erect the
Tongnimmun,
or Independence Gate, on the recently demolished site of the
Y
ŏ
ng
ŭ
nmun,
or Gate of Welcoming Imperial Grace, where Chinese envoys had been greeted. The funds were also used to renovate the
Mohwagwan,
or Hall of Cherishing China, where Chinese emissaries had been entertained, and which was then renamed the
Tongnipkwan,
or Independence Hall. The campaign was well received by the entire population, including the royal family and high officials. With a large sum of money donated by the crown prince, the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of Independence Gate was held in November 1896 (and construction was completed in November 1897), and Independence Hall, which would be used as the club’s office, was completed in May 1897.

By the time the Great Han Empire was inaugurated in October 1897, the Independence Club had been gradually transformed into an enlightenment organization, with the participation of Yun Ch’i-ho and Yi Sang-jae, both of whom were active in the country’s diplomatic affairs, as well as Namgung
Ŏ
k, Ch
ŏ
ng Kyo, and Na Su-y
ŏ
n, men in middle-level government officialdom, and the ordinary citizens of Seoul. From February 1898 on, as an increasing number of citizens joined its ranks, the nature of the club again became political. By October 1898 the club had some 4,000 members, and its leadership included representatives of the new intellectuals who were inspired by Western thought such as S
ŏ
Chae-p’il, Yun Ch’i-ho, and Yi Sang-jae. Next in importance were those who, like Namgung
Ŏ
k and Ch
ŏ
ng Kyo, were indoctrinated with the thinking of “tongdo s
ŏ
gi.”

At its zenith, the Independence Club convened a mass meeting of officials and the people of Seoul at the Chongno intersection on 29 October 1898. With high officials such as Pak Ch
ŏ
ng-yang and a mix of people including intellectuals, students, women, monks, and even paekch
ŏ
ng outcasts in attendance, the assemblage resolved to present six proposals to the king, essentially calling for a constitutional monarchy and the rule of law. The next day Kojong promised to put the proposals into effect by enacting a law converting the Privy Council
into a parliamentary assembly, half of whose 50 councilors would be elected by the Independence Club. But this was only a delaying tactic to save time while the king readied himself for suppressive countermeasures. Soon the government charged that the Independence Club aimed to replace the monarchy with a republic headed by an elected president. Kojong received a false briefing from Cho Py
ŏ
ng-sik, a high-ranking official who was critical of the Independence Club, indicating that a republic would be established, with Pak Ch
ŏ
ng-yang as president, Yun Ch’i-ho as vice-president, and members of the Club as cabinet members. The king promptly ordered the Club to be dissolved and its supportive newspaper, the
Tongnip sinmun,
suspended, and at the same time arrested 17 leaders, including the Club’s president, Yi Sang-jae. S
ŏ
Chae-p’il, who was hated by those in power, had already decided to depart for the United States. Independence Club members immediately campaigned vigorously to protest the government’s actions, holding continual mass meetings day after day.

At a crucial moment, in late November 1898, the government mobilized 2,000 members of the Hwangguk hy
ŏ
phoe, or Imperial Association, a makeshift body organized by thugs from the peddler guild as a government tool to violently suppress the demonstrators. In December 1898 the government called in troops to forcibly break up protest meetings. Finally, the activities of the Independence Club came to an end.

Because the Independence Club had hastily moved to install a constitutional monarchy, its efforts to carry out fundamental reform failed to win public backing from a still conservative citizenry. But the club’s efforts did contribute to securing Chos
ŏ
n’s independence and sovereignty by rejecting Russian influences: Russian military instructors and financial advisers were recalled, the Russo-Chos
ŏ
n Bank was forced to close, and Kojong left the Russian legation after a one-year stay and returned to his palace.

Once Kojong had returned to his palace in February 1897, Japan quickly resumed its influence in Chos
ŏ
n and competed with Russia for domination over the kingdom. At first the two powers sought to reach an accommodation; Russia and Japan secretly negotiated the possible division of Chos
ŏ
n between themselves. In May 1896, during the high tide of Russian influence, Japan proposed that Chos
ŏ
n be divided along the 38th parallel. Russia rejected this partition, still hoping to gain control of the entire peninsula. In March 1900 Russia leased land at Masan, Ky
ŏ
ngsang province, with the intention of building an
ice-free port. Three years later, in May 1903 a combined force of Russian troops and mounted bandits in Manchuria forcibly occupied Yongamp’o at the estuary of the Yalu River to secure a bridgehead in Chos
ŏ
n, causing Japan grave concern. When Japan regained ascendancy, in December 1903, Russia sought an agreement with Japan to create a neutral, arms-free zone in Chos
ŏ
n territory north of the 39th parallel while recognizing Japan’s special interests south of that line. Japan rejected the plan.

Finally, in early February 1904, the temporary calm that had settled over Chos
ŏ
n gave way to a great showdown between Japan and Russia. Neither power would yield to the other, which brought negotiations for compromise to a deadlock. With both powers seeking exclusive economic and military control in Chos
ŏ
n and Manchuria, a war between the two was inevitable. Although the major battles took place outside Chos
ŏ
n, the Russo-Japanese War had a profound impact on the fate of Chos
ŏ
n and its people. Here it is important to examine the series of events that led up to that decisive war between Japan and Russia.