12 KOREA KOREA 13 ernment,including the four commanders of the Palace Guard, leave,soon returned,bleeding badly from wounds on the head, were invited.During the party,members of the pro-Japanese group neck,and shoulders.The Chinese consul-general left at once to would set fire to the palace of the heir-apparent.Hopefully the inform Yuan Shih-k'ai of the ominous events.Foote sent for an commotion would draw all the guardsmen there,leaving the royal American physician,while the wounded man was taken to Mollen- palace unprotected.The pro-Japanese conspirators and the Japa- dorf's house. nese garrison troops would then rush to the palace,seize the king, When Yuan arrived with some Chinese troops,the post office force him to proclaim a new government,and issue reform edicts. was deserted.He went immediately to the Japanese legation,where The banquet took place as planned.About 20 people were pres- he learned that Min was being treated at Mollendorf's house.On ent,including Korean Foreign Minister Kim Hong Chip;Com- his arrival there,he found a young man with a pistol guarding the manders Min Yong Ik,Han Kiu Chik,and Yi Jo Yun;Japanese entrance.This was Mollendorf's assistant,T'ang Shao-i,whose Secretary Shimamura and his interpreter,Kawamata;American courage impressed Yuan.This meeting was the beginning of a Minister Foote and his secretary,C.L.Scudder;Customs Inspector friendship of far-reaching consequences. Mollendorf;Chinese Consul-General Ch'en Shu-t'ang;and Brit- Meanwhile,after escaping from the post office through a win- ish Consul-General Aston.In addition to the host,the pro-Japa- dow,Kim and his friends had rushed to the Japanese legation. nese included Pak Yong Hio and Kim himself.The Japanese min- They asked to see the minister,but Shimamura told them to go ister and many others declined the invitation with the excuse of to the royal palace.Joined there by their fellow conspirators,they a slight indisposition. disarmed the few guardsmen on duty and broke into the king's The seats were arranged in an interesting way.The most hon- bedchamber.Kim told the king and queen that Chinese soldiers ored place went to Foote,the senior foreign representative,and were trying to burn down the post office and advised them to seek the four lowest places to the Chinese and British consuls and two help from the Japanese minister.The queen,skeptical of Kim's of the commanders.Kim was seated between the two Japanese, story,insisted that the help of the Chinese also be sought.The since he could converse with them in their own tongue.The com- king ordered two messengers to be sent immediately,one to the manders were seated near the door so that they could leave quickly Japanese legation and the other to the Chinese headquarters,but if necessary.The servants were ordered to serve the dinner slowly Kim saw to it that the latter never set out.Further,Kim urged to give the conspirators ample time for their deed.But trouble de- the king to send a personal message to the Japanese minister. veloped when the pro-Japanese were unable to set fire to the heir. Indeed,handing the king pencil and paper,he forced him to write, apparent's palace.They hurriedly sent a man to Kim for further "To the Japanese minister:Come and protect us."This was de- instructions.Leaving the table,Kim sent orders to burn any build- livered by the king's brother-in-law,as planned. ing they could.Later another messenger reported more failures At this moment,Commander Han Kiu Chik arrived at the pal- and even worse news that the police had become suspicious of their ace,but without his troops.Thus all he could do was to try to activities.The panicking conspirators wanted to come back to the protect himself by staying near the king.Soon after,the"indis- post office and kill their enemies in the banquet hall;Kim firmly posed"Japanese minister and Pak Yong Hio led two companies of rejected this proposal,advising them to find a place near the post garrison troops to a small palace near the royal palace.Here the office to finish their assignment.Kim's second absence from the king,the queen,and the heir-apparent were lodged,surrounded table aroused suspicion among the guests.Finally,as tea and des- by the pro-Japanese party and heavily guarded by Japanese sol- sert were being served,a great commotion broke out and shouts diers and Japanese-trained Korean cadets. of"firel"filled the hall.Kim and the others rushed to the windows The safety of the king and queen was a matter of paramount to see a blaze raging nearby.It was then about ten o'clock.The concern in the capital.High officials flocked to the palace to see three commanders excused themselves.Min Yong Ik,the first to what had happened.The two commanders still at large,perhaps
14 KOREA KOREA 15 dazed by the speed of events,went to the royal palace,like Han, without their men.Within a few hours,the pro-Japanese had ex- ter.The situation called for tact and caution.On December 6, ecuted the three military leaders,the chief Korean minister and the Chinese commander sent the king a message;but Kim would his deputy,and the minister in charge of army recruitment.The not allow the messenger to enter the palace,demanding instead chief eunuch of the court was hacked to pieces.Before dawn,a that the commander and Yuan come in person.Pak Yong Hio's new government was proclaimed,with Pak Yong Hio command- brother drafted and dispatched a reply reiterating this demand. ing the Left and Right battalions and So Kwang Pom command- (He was to pay for this act with his life:Yuan later had him ing the Front and Rear battalions.Kim himself took control of killed.)Yuan accepted the challenge and,taking 6oo soldiers with the treasury. him,went to see the king,only to be denied admission. The next morning Foote,Aston,and the German consul-gen- News that the conspirators might kidnap the king leaked 'out eral,Captain Zembsch,were summoned to an audience with the the same day,forcing the Chinese and the Korean conservatives to king.When they arrived at the palace with their staffs,they saw take action.Yuan favored an all-out attack and managed to obtain Korean and Chinese troops massed around the entrances,which his superiors'approval.Soon some 4,500 Chinese and Korean were blocked by Japanese soldiers.It was some time before the troops were marching on the palace.Shortly after they arrived, diplomats were admitted to the hall where the royal family was fighting broke out.It is not clear who fired the first shot.Kim re- lodged.Inside,they found still more Japanese soldiers flourishing corded,"At 2:30 a letter to Takezoye was delivered.Before he bayonets.The king had a short,inconclusive talk with them,while had time to open it,we heard confused shots.The news that Chi- the pro-Japanese leaders and the Japanese minister looked on.It nese troops were fighting their way in from the southeast side was evident that the audience was designed to stop rumors about threw the whole palace into a panic."Though Kim evaded the the king's safety.11 issue here,the Japanese explicitly claimed,both in notes to the There was also anxiety at the Chinese headquarters,where for Korean government and in statements at the Tientsin negotiations a time no one knew what had become of the king.And there was (where the conflict was finally resolved),that the Chinese opened indecision as well.With the capital in chaos,the Chinese com- fire on the Japanese garrison.For their part,the Chinese and the mander,General Wu Chao-yu,and his deputy wanted to telegraph king of Korea maintained that the Japanese fired the first shot. Li Hung-chang for instructions.Ch'en Shu-t'ang gladly seconded According to Yuan's biography,Jung-an ti-tzu-chi,"Yuan sent his this suggestion,but Yuan Shih-k'ai vehemently objected on the assistant,Ch'en Ch'ang-ch'ing,to march ahead of the troops with obvious grounds that time was short.12 Since the king and his heir a huge visiting card.Before he had proceeded very far inside the had disappeared,Yuan suggested installing the king's nephew,a walls,he was shot at from the palace.Yuan therefore ordered his seven-year-old boy,as the temporary head of state;his superiors troops to attack."Foote had nothing to say on the question,but rejected the proposal.Meanwhile,the conspirators were also plan- Aston believed that the Korean cadets within the palace walls-were ning to dethrone the king.Hong Yong Sik wanted to intern him the first to fire.An independent observer,Young J.Allen,agreed. on Kanghwa Island,whereas Japanese Minister Takezoye insisted The question seems likely to remain open.General Wu Chao-yu that he be exiled to Tokyo.Before they could reach an agreement, was a timid,vacillating man,reluctant to assume responsibility the situation took a sharp turn. and fearful of starting a general war.He was perhaps incapable After the audience at the palace,Aston went to the Chinese con- of launching an attack.But these very shortcomings had prompted sul to tell him of the king's safety.Mollendorf later confirmed him to give Yuan command of the main body of men in the action, the report.Although comforting,this news gave rise to a delicate whereas Wu and his deputy led the left and right wings.Anxious problem.The Chinese had a legitimate right to protect the king, to end the episode,Yuan was much more bellicose;and in light but they did not want to provoke Japan into a war over the mat- of the overwhelming strength of the Chinese and Korean force, he might have been tempted to attack
16 KOREA KOREA 17 As for the Japanese,they could just as well have opened fire. families of the ministers and commanders killed in the coup.Yuan Surrounded by a superior force,they might have felt desperate was indignant over this extravagance,declaring that "such heart- enough to fight their way out at any cost,especially since their plan less people ought to perish!" was to take the king with them to Inchon.Yet,like the Chinese, Yuan had worked incessantly during the crisis.Although he was they were not united.Some in the pro-Japanese party were still only twenty-five,his biographers say that his hair was already half determined to escape with the king.But the Japanese minister, gray.1 Chang Chien,who had by then returned to China,com- realizing the hopelessness of the situation,now opposed this plan mented on Yuan's handling of the situation in a letter to one of even more adamantly. Yuan's relatives: .Yuan continued the siege until sundown but made little prog- ress.When the Japanese counterattacked,General Wu was over- Shih-k'ai has both courage and tenacity,but unfortunately he also has bureaucratic habits,and so he does not always live up to people's expecta- come by terror and had to be carried from the firing line.His wing tions.In spite of this,he is fit to be a prime minister. collapsed,and the one led by his deputy hid under the palace walls Please ask him to take care what he does in that chaotic country.18 without firing a single shot.Inside the palace,there was panic and The people of Seoul put up stone tablets to recognize Yuan's ser- confusion.While the pro-Japanese leaders were fully occupied vice.10 with their defense,the queen and the heir-apparent seized a chance Two treaties resuited from the attempted.coup-the Seoul to flee to the Chinese camp.Not unexpectedly,the king's pleas that he be allowed to join them were ignored by Kim and his col- Treaty between Japan and Korea and the Tientsin Treaty be- tween Japan and China.The Seoul negotiations began on Janu- leagues.When night fell,there was a lull in the fighting. ary 7,1885,and ended two days later in an agreement of three At dawn on December 7,Takezoye decided to fight his way out. He ordered the conspirators to escort the king to the Chinese main points:(1)The Korean government was to offer an official apology to Japan;(2)Korea undertook to compensate Japan for camp,arguing that he and his garrison had come on the pretense the loss of Japanese life and property during the disturbance;and of protecting the king,an explanation that was becoming increas- ingly flimsy."I am going to retreat and to plan for the future,"he (3)the legation garrison was to be increased to 1,000 men.This treaty dealt only with the direct consequences of the crisis;the said.Kim inquired,"How can you plan for the future without us?"The Japanese minister replied,"I shall 'take you and your wider implications had to be settled between China and Japan. Count Ito and Saigo Tsugumichi went to Tientsin,where Ito and colleagues with me."s The postmaster-general,Hong Yong Sik,accompanied the king Li Hung-chang began negotiations that lasted from April 3 to to a temple north of the small palace,where they were met by April 15.They spent much of the time squabbling over the authen- ticity of the king's message to Takezoye and the question of who Chinese soldiers.Hong was executed on the spot.Meanwhile,the fired the first shot.Eventually,on April 18,China and Japan Japanese party,together with Kim and the other pro-Japanese signed a three-point treaty.Both would withdraw all their troops leaders,fought their way to Inchon,where they boarded a liner from Korea(including the legation garrison)within four months, for Japan.The three-day crisis thus came to an end. and both would urge the king of Korea to strengthen his own de- The king then summoned his ministers to reconstitute the cen- fense forces,They also agreed to inform each other when either tral government and to restore foreign relations.A delegation was deemed it necessary to send troops to Korea.The last point was sent to the Japanese capital for discussions and another to Peking the most significant,since it put Korea under the suzerainty of to express gratitude for the Chinese intervention.The Peking Japan as well as China.From a potential disaster,Japan had won delegation had another mission;it took along some 100,000 taels a political concession of considerable importance. of silver to purchase luxuries for the queen-at a time when Yuan After the Tientsin Treaty and China's defeat by France in An- was borrowing money from the Chinese paymaster to relieve the nam,Korea not surprisingly sought help from other quarters to
KOREA 19 18 KOREA Tai Won Kun landed than one of his most trusted aides was preserve the precarious balance of power on which her national integrity depended.Through Mollendorf,the Min party was now poisoned and two others were executed at the queen's order.These holding secret discussions with Russia to obtain protection.When acts marked the first split between Yuan and his former comrade- Li Hung-chang heard this,he decided to reconsider his Korean in-arms Min Yong Ik,now commander-in-chief of the Korean policy.Yuan Shih-k'ai was therefore recalled to Tientsin for con- Palace Guard and the leader of the Min party.22 sultation.At Yuan's suggestion,Mollendorf was dismissed.Two The exact nature of Yuan's position soon came into question. Americans were appointed in his place-H.F.Merrill as the cus- When Yuan's card was presented to G.C.Foulk,the new American toms officer and the king's economic adviser,and O.N.Denny as minister in Seoul,Foulk was shocked to read "H.I.C.M.Resident, the king's political adviser.Li and Yuan also agreed to release Seoul."Foulk had been informed that the appointment was sig- Tai Won Kun,the aged prince interned near Tientsin.Li and the nificant,2s but he was disturbed by the translated term resident, Chinese court were now convinced of Tai Won Kun's loyalty and which implied far-reaching authority in Korean affairs.Other con- realized the need to foster an opposition to the once pro-Chinese temporaries acknowledged that Yuan was indeed acting in this Min party.Finally,Li knew that he must send an able man to more important capacity.According to J.H.Longford,"Yuan,Li Korea to carry out his new policy and to regain the influence China Hung-chang's deputy,little if at all less able and astute than the had lost through the Tientsin Treaty.Yuan was the natural choice, great chief,was at the capital no longer as a commissioner,but for he alone had the background and contacts the 'position re- as resident,a semigubernatorial office,and he was de facto the quired.Having obtained Yuan's consent to this appointment,Li king of Korea.Nothing was done without consulting him,nor reported to the Manchu throne on September 6,1885: without his sanction."24 And the celebrated Putnam Weale re- corded that Yuan returned to Seoul triumphantly as "imperial The reason for the appointment of a commissioner for trade is to station resident."26 a high-ranking official there whose duties are to report political develop- Foulk did not like the title and sought an explanation from Li ments in that country....Yuan Shih-k'ai twice went to the king's aid; his meritorious deeds have earned him the admiration of Korean officials Hung-chang.Li replied: and the common people alike,and he has shown great promise and loy- Because some policies of the Korean government may have wide implica- alty.Further,he is a close friend of Kim Yun Sik,Kim Hong Chip,and tions endangering the peace and order of that country,a Chinese official the other Korean ministers.... must be available in Seoul for direct consultation.Therefore His Im- When Ch'en Shu-t'ang was there in charge of commercial affairs,other perial Chinese Majesty commanded the creation of a post to meet this diplomatic representatives in Seoul considered him lower in rank than a requirement.Its functions are different from those of a minister,hence it consul-general.This made it rather difficult for him to behave according has a different name.... to etiquette on social occasions.It seems advisable that Your Majesty ap- Yuan Shih-k'ai does not hold the title of minister,nor is his rank clearly point a consul-general [tsung-ling-shih]as other countries have done. marked,but he has the same authority and status as other ministers in Seoul.26 Imperial approval was granted soon after,and Yuan returned to Korea with the vague title of a commissioner for trade of the China's difficulty in selecting an adequate title for this post is clear. third rank,equivalent to the rank of a senior prefect.He arrived As Korea's suzerain,she could not appoint a minister.Nor could in Seoul on October 5,1885,with Tai Won Kun and T'ang Shao-i, she send a resident outright,since she had repeatedly declared a formerly Mollendorf's assistant and now Yuan's.T'ang had been policy of noninterference in Korea's internal affairs.The previous educated in the United States,and Yuan probably recommended experiment of stationing a consul-general (shang-wu weiyuan) him for the post because of his knowledge of English,as well as was a failure,as Li had told the emperor.Thus Yuan was sent for his courage during the coup. ostensibly as a commissioner for trade but actually as a political None of the Korean royal family went to meet the returniing resident.Later events were to reveal the extent of his authority. father of the king;the atmosphere in Seoul was one of apprehen- Yuan arrived amidst rumors that Kim Ok Kiun was returning to sion and even enmity against the former regent.No sooner had Korea with a Japanese expeditionary force."Apparently this story
20 KOREA KOREA 21 originated with the Mins,who feared an alliance between Kim and Tai Won Kun,their two old enemies.The rumor persisted The message was dated the ioth day of the 7th month of the 495th till the end of the year,prompting China,Britain,and the United year since the founding of the kingdom.August 11,1886. States to send gunboats to Inchon;but nothing happened.Yuan's Yuan claimed that he received a copy of the document from Min appointment also coincided with reports of a secret agreement be- Yong Ik,who had smuggled it out of the palace.(According to tween Russia and Korea,given substance in part by the arrival of Yuan,the Japanese minister assured him that two copies of the a Russian charge d'affaires in Seoul,K.I.Waeber.Yuan did not message did in fact exist.)Fearing an open clash with Russia,Yuan wait long,therefore,to present an essay to the king entitled"On wanted to kidnap the king and his pro-Russian retinue,staging a Treachery."(The fact that this message was called an essay instead coup like the one against Tai Won Kun in 1882.30 Li Hung-chang, of a note or a memorial was in itself interesting.)In the essay,Yuan however,was more cautious.He asked the king bluntly whether emphasized China's magnanimous policy toward Korea.As a close the document was authentic or not,while the Chinese minister in neighbor,China would never shirk her responsibility to defend St.Petersburg consulted the Russians.Both the king and the Rus- Korea;yet at the same time,she had no thought of encroaching sian Foreign Ministry categorically denied any knowledge of the on Korea's autonomy.Under Russian or Japanese protection, message.s1 Yuan warned,Korea would never enjoy such'a great measure of By now,news of the document had created a considerable stir sovereignty.He ended on a harsh note:all attempts to ally with in Seoul.On or around August 16,O.N.Denny,the king's ad- Russia should cease,and the pro-Japanese traitor Kim Ok Kiun viser,visited Yuan and demanded to see the copy.(Min Yong Ik should be quietly eliminated by assassination. was also present.)When Yuan refused,a heated argument broke The king received the essay but did not act on it.Accordingly, out.Denny "vigorously charged Mr.Yuan with being the sole Li and Yuan decided to try to purge the anti-Chinese elements author of any such information."Denny then went to Tientsin from the Korean government,with the help of Tai Won Kun. to persuade Li Hung-chang to remove Yuan from Korea;the old The Mins successfully exploited Tai Won Kun's unpopularity, viceroy would not listen.Yuan's relations with Denny,which until however,isolating him politically and forcing him to live in semi- that time had been fairly amiable,38 deteriorated badly. retirement.Yuan also arranged to have a confidant,Kim Yun Sik, This whole incident revealed Yuan's lack of diplomatic experi- appointed foreign minister,but Kim was suddenly dismissed in ence.As it turned out,the document was indeed a forgery.It had June 1886.The attempt to foster opposition to the Min party, been written by British Consul-General Baber,who alone of all ironically reminiscent of Japan's policy,was fruitless. the foreign representatives in Seoul had failed to denounce it as Meanwhile,the Mins continued to flirt with Russia.Mollen- a fraud.s4 Baber was probably trying to create an excuse for pro- dorf remained in Seoul long after his dismissal,and various mem- longing the British occupation of Port Hamilton,located on an bers of the Min party frequently visited St.Petersburg.The situa- island between Korea and Cheju Island.Britain had occupied the tion soon reached a climax.On August 13,1886,Yuan telegraphed port in May 1885,fearing that Russia's influence in Korea and Li Hung-chang the text of a secret document to Waeber,the Rus- the Far East might grow to actual domination.Baber's successor, sian charge d'affaires,from the Korean home secretary: Consul-General Parker,uncovered the intrigue.He reported it in detail to H.F.Merrill,who wrote to his superior at the Imperial My country,...nominally autonomous,is still under the control of:an- Customs of China,Sir Robert Hart,"Parker had found out that other power.His Majesty the King of Korea is deeply ashamed of this fact and is resolved to adopt reform policies in order to strengthen his Baber alone was responsible.Having invented the story of Korea country and free it from foreign domination.Yet there are many obstacles requesting Russian protection,Baber forged the document which to this....It is therefore sincerely hoped'that the Russian government deceived Yuan Shih-k'ai."a5 will agree to protect Korea whenever it becomes necessary.If Korea's in- It is not certain if Min Yong Ik collaborated with Baber in the terests are threatened by another power,it is hoped that Russia will send warships to her assistance.20 forgery.At any rate,he tried to use the document to discredit Yuan and check China's increasing interference in Korean affairs.How-