TLC PUBLISHINGS Broken Korea EMMA HONKOLA KYRA SMITH- STEWART OWEN NEWMAN VINNIE KIM CHAPTER 1 One Step Forward, Two Steps Back It’s quiet- too quiet for the number of people lining the roads. Faces are somber as residents gather to watch the procession. Decorated lanterns line the crowded streets of the capital city of Hanseong (now called Seoul), hanging off of traditional styled concave roofs, as over five thousand soldiers dressed in classic Korean garb accompany large wooden horses that serve as the main attraction in the parade. Although elaborate, this sort of display is appropriate. Queen Min, the empress of Korea and the Joseon Empire is dead and only a spectacle as great as she was could ac- company her to the afterlife. The year is 1897, two years after the queen’s death. The em- princesses of the royal family, unless politics beckoned her to. peror Gojong had only been able to hold the funeral now be- At the age of 20 Queen Min began using her position to influ- cause inner turmoil in Korea and the inability to find her body ence the king and become a powerful political figure. (because her assassins had burned her body and scattered her One of Min’s biggest goals was to modernize Korea. She and ashes) had prevented him from doing so earlier. The funeral King Gojong took trips throughout the 1870s to places like Ja- procession brings thousands upon thousands of mourners- pan, China and even America to research how their education, and some jubilant celebrators- to observe as she goes to the af- military and economic systems worked. Queen Min wanted to terlife. King Gojong awards her the honourable title of Em- completely reform the education system, the press, the mili- press Myeongseong and commemorates the many great things tary and the economy. Korea had been especially reluctant to she had accomplished in her life. Even her greatest critics and engage in relations with the outside world for a long time, and opposition, which come in abundance, would have to say that therefore was behind many other countries when it came to throughout her short life Queen Min took great steps towards technologies and new western ideas. Queen Min detested this the modernization and leading of Korea and exceeded all ex- and began to implement change as soon as possible. pectations placed upon her, becoming one of the most power- ful women in all of Korea’s history. Because of the queen’s strong hold on Korea’s politics and her urge to modernize the country, she faced much criticism. Con- Queen Min was born into obscurity, within the yangban clan, servatives felt like she was making too many changes too Yeohung Mins. Yangban was a part of the traditional ruling soon, while progressives didn’t think she was moving fast class of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. She was orphaned enough. Korea, found itself conflicted. Two power factions, at a young age and grew up quiet and timid. When young Go- the progressives and conservatives, battled each other for pol- jong was ready to marry, his father and one of their advisors, icy control. This left Korea vulnerable to China, Japan, Russia, Daewongun, chose Min, who was about 15, for her meekness and the European powers, who wanted to take over Korea to and beauty, expecting her to set a good image, but not make expand their territory. any waves. Unfortunately for Daewongun, after she came into power, Min possessed an assertive and ambitious nature, un- Faced with overwhelming pressure from Japan, King Gojong like other queens that came before her. She did not set the ex- signed the Treaty of Kanghwa on February 15, 1876, agreeing ample that he had expected her to: she disliked lavish parties, to open treaty ports with Japan. Earlier that year, the Japa- rarely wore extravagant fashion, and almost never hosted af- nese Meiji government had dispatched the navy vessel Unyô ternoon tea parties with the powerful aristocratic ladies and nto the waters off Kanghwa, forcing the Koreans to open fire, 2 then used this attack as an excuse to demand treaty negotia- of Korea at the time. The Chinese military was able to sup- tions. The treaty granted Japanese many rights that were not press it, but in doing so burned down the Japanese legation granted to Korea on an equal basis, the first unequal treaty of building and killed forty of the Japanese people involved in many. It gave extraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens in Ko- the conflict. Japan used this to force Korea to apologise, make rea, meaning that the Japanese could not be tried in Korean amends and sign the Treaty of Hanseong. King Gojong did so courts, the Korean government was to open 3 ports to Japa- without letting Min know. This treaty restored diplomatic rela- nese and foreign trade, specifically Busan, Incheon and Won- tions, and Korea agreed to pay Japan 110,000 yen (approxi- san. This marks the beginning of Japan’s imperialist designs mately 963 US dollars), the currency used in Japan, and pro- on the Korean peninsula. vide a site and buildings for a new legation. In 1884, there was a large-scale Tonghak rebellion, with thou- Without Korea’s knowledge, on April 18, 1885, China and Ja- sands of peasants joining forces, attempts to overthrow the pan signed the Li-Ito Agreement in Tianjin, basically agreeing Min rule and banish the imperialist Japanese presence al- to keep each other informed about planned moves on Korea. ready taking root in Korea by this time. Tonghak was a nation- Many countries were beginning to think about taking over Ko- alistic religion that opposed Western culture and embraced rea, especially Japan, who wanted to expand their territory, equality of all people. The Korean government was unable to and China, who already had a huge presence in Korea’s poli- subdue the uprising on its own, so it called on China for help. tics and military. Queen Min was greatly opposed to the idea China sent troops, as well as Japan without being asked. The that Japan especially was trying to force it’s way into politics rebels laid down their arms, but China and Japan clashed, and policies, and so she tried to establish alliances with Russia which eventually lead to the Sino-Japanese war, which was to hopefully scare Japan off. Unfortunately, that did little to fought over control of Korea. help the situation and Japan’s plans for Korea did not slow in the slightest. Meanwhile, Daewongun and members of the old military tried to violently overthrow King Gojong and Queen Min, attacking Throughout the years, although Queen Min had been slowly the palace. The king and queen were able to escape and go modernizing Korea, things didn’t really pick up until 1894. A into hiding until things had settled down considerably. series of sweeping sociopolitical reforms, known as the Kabo Reforms, were launched. Queen Min supported reform in the In 1885, the Japanese took advantage of the fact that the Chi- economy, communications, transportation, agriculture, mili- nese withdrew half of its troops positioned in Seoul, and or- tary science, education, the press, and medicine. She sup- ganized an unsuccessful coup d'état in Hanseong, the capital ported the founding of schools, newspapers, hospitals, and 3 welcomed Christian missionaries from the United States and This incident, known as the Eulmi Incident, ignited extreme Europe. Christianity made great strides under Queen Min's anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea. The now widowed Gojong protection and encouragement. fled to and sought refuge in the Russian legislation in Seoul. With Russian support he regained the palace, but his power At the same time, Japan and the Qing Empire of China began was short-lived in the face of an aggressive Japan. The inci- the first Sino-Japanese war. This war was fought primarily dent also created even more tension between Japan and Rus- over the control over Korea, even though at the time Korea sia. was still its own nation and neither country had any claim to it. Eventually Japan won a year later, in 1895, and for the first time the regional dominance in Eastern Asia shifted from China to Japan. At this point Japan started taking their plans for taking over Korea more seriously than ever. But first they had to take out their greatest obstacle- Queen Min. On October 8, 1895 troops loyal to Daewongun attacked the Gyeongbokgung Palace, overpowered the royal guard, and ad- mitted a group of Japanese assassins allegedly recruited by Mi- ura Gorō, the Japanese Minister to Korea at the time who had reached out to Daewongun to attempt to remove Min from power. They crept through the palace, carrying large swords and moving stealthily in their robes. They had a difficult time finding the queen. Korean women of this era, especially roy- After Queen Min’s assassination, Daewongun returned to als, lived in intense secrecy and the queen was reported to power, and with the encouragement of Japanese officials, he have lived in a constant state of extreme vigilance–complete presented a proposal to lower Min’s status from Queen con- with trap doors and escape routes. Eventually they found her, sort to commoner. Although Gojong seemed to have been eas- along with two other courtiers, and killed all of them with ily swayed by others, in this case he took a strong stand and their swords. Then, once they discerned which of the three refused to sign. He reportedly said, “I would rather slit my women they killed was Min, they lit her body on fire and scat- wrists and let them bleed than disgrace the woman who saved tered her ashes.