A History of Korea (58 page)

To dodge the difficult situation, on 26 July Kojong reinstated the Taew
ŏ
n’gun as regent. In the midst of the soldiers’ mutiny, the Taew
ŏ
n’gun had been asked to support the mutineers and he agreed, inserting himself into the scene and seizing power once again. In deference to the demands of the veteran sold iers, he dismantled the Palace and Capital Guards garrisons as well as the Spe cial Skills Force, and revived the former five-army garrison structure. He also abolished the newly created T’ongni kimu amun and freed the Confucian literati who had been exiled as a result of the wij
ŏ
ng ch’
ŏ
ksa movement. Thus the Taew
ŏ
n’gun’s reemergence temporarily suspended the enlightenment policy.

With China’s and Japan’s intervention in Chos
ŏ
n’s internal affairs, however, the Taew
ŏ
n’gun’s triumph was short-lived. On 2 August 1882 the Chos
ŏ
n government asked China to send troops to resolve the chaos it faced, thus giving China the opportunity to reclaim suzerainty over Chos
ŏ
n which Japan had usurped. On 10 August a Chinese force of 4,500 men and three warships arrived at Inch’on, and soon after Chinese troops entered Seoul and stationed themselves at strategic points in the capital. Sixteen days later, on 26 August, they abducted the Taew
ŏ
n’gun as he was making a courtesy call at the Chinese headquarters and sent him under protective custody to Tianjin. Once again the Taew
ŏ
n’gun lost power.

Earlier, on 12 August, Japanese minister Hanabusa Yoshitada had returned to Chos
ŏ
n with 1,500 troops and four warships, and on 30 August the panicked Chos
ŏ
n government concluded the Treaty of Chemulp’o (Inch’
ŏ
n) with Japan. By its terms, the Chos
ŏ
n government was forced to punish the leaders of the Korean mutiny within 20 days, pay the families of Japanese victims 50,000 yen and the Japanese government 500,000 yen for damages, and order its troops to guard the Japanese legation in Seoul until they could be replaced by Japanese
guards. The treaty further increased the scope of Japan’s aggressive activity, centering on the ports of Inch’
ŏ
n, Pusan, and W
ŏ
nsan. Finally, the treaty required Chos
ŏ
n to formally apologize to Japan, and, to do so, a delegation headed by special envoy Pak Y
ŏ
ng-hyo was sent to Japan.
⁵

After the solders’ revolt, China reasserted its suzerainty over Chos
ŏ
n and stationed troops there commanded by Yuan Shikai, as well as two special advisers on foreign affairs, the German Paul Georg von Möllendorf, a close confidant of Li Hongzhang, and the Chinese diplomat Ma Jianzhong. In December 1882 two high-level offices, the Oeamun, or Foreign Office, and the Naeamun, or Home Office, were established. The former dealt with foreign affairs and trade, and the latter was responsible for military matters and internal affairs. The Ch’in’guny
ŏ
ng, or Capital Guards Command, was also created comprised of four barracks designated the right, left, front, and rear. The new Chos
ŏ
n military was trained along Chinese lines by Yuan Shikai.

Now that Chos
ŏ
n was again reduced to a tributary state of China, Kojong could not appoint his diplomats without Yuan’s approval. On 4 October 1882 the two countries concluded the
Choch’
ŏ
ng sangmin suryuk muy
ŏ
k changj
ŏ
ng,
or Regulations for the Maritime and Overland Trade of Merchants of Chos
ŏ
n and Qing China, stipulating that Chos
ŏ
n was a dependency of China and granting Chinese merchants the right to conduct overland and maritime business freely within Chos
ŏ
n. Under this treaty the number of Chinese merchants and traders greatly increased, striking a severe blow to Chos
ŏ
n merchants’ business transactions.

After the soldiers’ mutiny of 1882 the conservatives, often called the
Sadaedang,
or Servers of the Great Party, including not only the Min Y
ŏ
ng-ik from the royal in-law Min family but also prominent political figures including Kim Yun-sik and
Ŏ
Yun-jung, who wanted to maintain power with China’s help. Although the conservatives supported the enlightenment policy, they favored gradual changes based on the Chinese model. They were opposed, however, by the
Kaehwadang,
or Enlightenment Party, comprised of younger men such as Kim Ok-kyun, Pak Y
ŏ
ng-hyo, S
ŏ
Kwang-b
ŏ
m, and Hong Y
ŏ
ng-sik. These progressives, whose careers had been blocked by the Min family, looked to Japan to learn from the Meiji government’s rapid reform program. They were also strongly nationalistic and tried to make their country truly independent by ending China’s interference in Chos
ŏ
n’s internal affairs.

The progressives failed to secure appointments to vital offices and so were unable to advance their reform plans. Prepared to seize power by all means, they found an opportunity to stage a coup d’état in 1884, when hostilities between France and China erupted over Annam (now modern Vietnam) in August 1884 and half the Chinese contingents were withdrawn from Chos
ŏ
n. On 4 December 1884, with the help of Japanese minister Takezoe Shinichiro, who promised to mobilize Japanese legation guards to render assistance, the progressives staged their coup under the cover of a banquet hosted by Hong Y
ŏ
ngsik, director of the Uj
ŏ
ng ch’ongguk, or General Postal Administration, to celebrate the opening of the new national post office. The king was expected to be there, along with several foreign diplomats and high-ranking officials, most of them members of the pro-Chinese Sadaedang faction. Kim Ok-kyun and his cohorts approached King Kojong, falsely reported that the Chinese troops had created a disturbance, and escorted him to a small palace, the Ky
ŏ
ngu-gung, where they placed him in the custody of Japanese legation guards. They then killed and wounded several senior officials of the Sadaedang faction.

After the coup, called
Kapsin ch
ŏ
ngby
ŏ
n
, or the Coup d’état of 1884, the Kaehwadang members formed a new government and formulated a program of reform. A drastic 14-point reform proposal urged that the following conditions be met: an end to Chos
ŏ
n’s tributary relationship with China; the abolition of ruling-class privilege and the establishment of equal rights for all; the reorganization of the government as virtually a constitutional monarchy; the revision of land tax laws; cancellation of the grain loan system; the unification of all internal fiscal administrations under the jurisdiction of the Ho-jo; the suppression of privileged merchants and the development of free commerce and trade, the creation of a modern police system including police patrols and royal guards; and severe punishment of corrupt officials.

Despite all its good intentions, however, the new government totally failed, lasting no longer than a few days. The Kaehwadang was supported by no more than 140 Japanese troops facing at least 1,500 Chinese forces in Seoul. Even before the reform measures were made public, Chinese troops attacked and defeated the Japanese forces and restored power to the Sadaedang. Hong Y
ŏ
ng-sik was killed but others escaped to Japan, including Kim Ok-kyun, Pak Y
ŏ
ng-hyo, S
ŏ
Kwang-b
ŏ
m, and S
ŏ
Chae-p’il, as well as the Japanese minister Takezoe.

After the abortive coup, Kojong voided the reform measures proposd by the Kaehwadang and sent an envoy to Japan protesting its cooperation in the coup and demanding repatriation of the conspirators. Japan demanded, instead,
reparation for damages, and in January 1885, in a show of force, dispatched two battalions and seven warships to Chos
ŏ
n. Confronted with Japanese saber rattling, on 9 January 1885 the Chos
ŏ
n government concluded the Treaty of Hans
ŏ
ng (Seoul) with the Japanese envoy, Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru. By its terms, Chos
ŏ
n indemnified the Japanese victims and paid 100,000 yen to Japan for damages to the Japanese legation.

To overcome his country’s disadvantageous position in Chos
ŏ
n followed by the abortive coup, the Japanese prime minister, Ito Hirobumi, visited China to discuss the matter with his Chinese counterpart, Li Hongzhang, and succeeded in concluding the Convention of Tianjin on 31 May 1885. The two countries pledged to withdraw their troops from Chos
ŏ
n within four months, with prior notification to the other party if troops were to be sent to Chos
ŏ
n in the future.

China and Japan withdrew their troops from Chos
ŏ
n, leaving behind a precarious balance of power in Chos
ŏ
n between those two nations. Meanwhile, Yuan Shikai remained in Seoul and continued to interfere with Chos
ŏ
n politics. Japan, on the other hand, in a strategic retreat, was prepared to pounce upon any suitable opportunity for future encroachment.

The Chos
ŏ
n government pursued the enlightenment policy in various fields, including the press, education, medical treatment, and science and technology. The Pangmun’guk, or Office of Culture and Information, was created on 17 August 1883, and the office published the
Hans
ŏ
ng sunbo,
or Tri-Monthly Gazette of Seoul, Korea’s first modern newspaper, on 30 October 1883. It stopped publication in October 1884 and, on 25 January 1886, was reissued with a new title, the
Hans
ŏ
ng chubo,
or Weekly Gazette of Seoul.

The first modern, government-founded school, established in August 1883, was the Tongmun haksa, or Academy of Common Script, where foreign languages were taught,. On 23 September 1886 the government created a special institute, the Yuky
ŏ
ng kongw
ŏ
n, or Public Institute for Education, to educate the sons of high-ranking officials in the new knowledge gleaned from the West. This royal school invited American teachers including George W. Gilmore, Homer B. Hulbert, and Delzell A. Bunker to teach, respectively, English, social sciences, and natural sciences. In 1894, disappointed with the school’s failure, Kojong brought in British teachers to start a new government school.

The first modern private school was the W
ŏ
nsan haksa, or W
ŏ
nsan Academy, which taught mainly foreign languages and natural sciences, founded in the port town of W
ŏ
nsan, Tongw
ŏ
n county, in September 1883. Established by Ch
ŏ
ng Hy
ŏ
n-s
ŏ
k, the reform-minded magistrate of Tongw
ŏ
n county, the school reflected the residents’ strong urging that a modern school was needed. American missionaries founded several schools in Seoul, enabling them to expand their proselytizing efforts and introduce modern, Western-style education to Chos
ŏ
n. The American Methodist missionary Henry G. Appenzeller established Paejae haktang (Academy), a boarding school for boys, in August 1885; another American Methodist missionary, Mary F. Scranton, founded Ihwa haktang, a school for girls, in April 1886; the American Presbyterian missionary Horace G. Underwood built Ky
ŏ
ngsin hakkyo (school) for boys, in May 1886; and another Presbyterian missionary, Annie J. Ellers, established Ch
ŏ
ngsin y
ŏ
hakkyo (Girls’ school), in June 1887. The names of these missionaries became synonymous with Korea’s modern education.

The Chos
ŏ
n government introduced modern, Western-style hospitals and initiated modern medical treatment in February 1885, with the Wangnip kwanghyew
ŏ
n, or Royal Widespread Relief House, at the suggestion of the American Presbyterian medical missionary Dr. Horace N. Allen. This first modern hospital was soon renamed the Chejungw
ŏ
n, or House for People’s Relief, in March of that year, and Allen was installed to administer it. Allen, who later joined the diplomatic corps, enjoyed Kojong’s confidence and friendship, as he had saved the life of Min Y
ŏ
ng-ik, Queen Min’s nephew, who had been seriously wounded during the failed coup of 1884. As a preventive measure against smallpox, the government founded the Uduguk, or Office of Cowpox, at Kongju, Ch’ungch’
ŏ
ng povince, in July 1883, and in May 1885 it assigned Chi S
ŏ
k-y
ŏ
ng the task of writing a book titled the
Udu sinbang,
or New Methods of Vaccination for Smallpox.

As the government’s interest in acquiring new agricultural technology grew, it established agricultural and stock-farming experimental stations. To introduce modern Western farming methods, An Chong-su wrote
Nongj
ŏ
ng sinp’y
ŏ
n,
or New Compilation of Farm Management, in 1881, and Ch
ŏ
ng Py
ŏ
ng-ha compiled
Nongj
ŏ
ng ch’waryo,
or Essentials of Farm Management, in 1886.

Beginning in the 1880s electricity was used in Chos
ŏ
n, and the introduction of the telegraph greatly improved the country’s communication system. At first the government obtained a loan from China to build telegraph lines between Seoul and Inch’
ŏ
n, and between Seoul and
Ŭ
iju in 1885. Later, to free itself from
Chinese interference, the government asked Germany for a loan and installed telegraph facilities between Seoul and Pusan, and between Seoul and W
ŏ
nsan, in 1888 and in 1891, respectively. In 1887 electric lights were installed for the first time at the Ky
ŏ
ngbok-kung palace.