Draft The Assassination of Empress Myeongseong

Title	Japan Murders Korea’s Queen to Win in Power Games
Author	김광수

1차 원고

Joseon was affected by conflicts between big powers

As the 26th king of Joseon Dynasty, Gojong established the Daehan Empire in 1897 and enthroned as the first emperor. During his tenure, Joseon underwent numerous incidents, such as opening of its door, effort to strengthen prosperity and military power for independence, and assassination of Empress Myeongseong, the wife of Emperor Gojong, by Japanese rioters.

Called Eulmi Incident (1895), the brutal assassination of the Empress was involved with complicated collision of powers. As influence of Qing Dynasty of China increased, modernization advocates attempted the Gabsin Coup d’Etat in resistance to Chinese intervention. Based on the Tianjin Treaty between Japan and Qing, Japanese and Qing’s troops entered Korean peninsula when the Donghak Peasant Revolution occurred (1894). It was followed by a war between Qing and Japan, and Russia, Germany and France meddled in the situation to prevent Japan’s expansion. As a pro-Russian cabinet was formed in Joseon, Japan found necessity of removing Empress Myeongseong as she was regarded to be core background of pro-Russian cabinet. And Japan brutally assassinated and burned the Empress at night on August 20, 1895 using Japanese rioters. But, seeing unfavorable relation between the Empress and her father-in-law, Daewongun, Japan attempted to shift the responsibility to Daewongun.

Japan first argued that its government had no connection with the Eulmi Incident. The group of people who plotted and executed assassination of the Empress were not simply rioters but were Japanese intellectuals, including Japanese diplomats, president of a newspaper company and an advisor of Japanese army. They attempted to disguise the assassination as a conspiracy of Daewongun with Joseon’s military training camp. But Japan failed in concealing the incident due to many witnesses, including Emperor Gojong, a Russian and an American individual.

As these foreign witnesses exposed true situation of the incident to diplomats of their respective countries, U.S. Acting Minister Allen and Russian Minister Waber announced involvement of Japanese government. Embarrassed by development of situation, Japan arrested Japanese rioters to punish them perfunctorily. The Japanese government trialed some 40 involved individuals including Minister Miura in Japan, but all of them were released as they were acquitted for insufficient evidences. Due to political instability, the official funeral service of Empress Myeongseong could be given in two years after the Eulmi Incident.

감수본

Japan Murders Korea’s Queen to Win in Power Games

During Gojong’s tenure as the 26th king of the Joseon Dynasty (r.1863-97), and then the first emperor of the Korean (Daehan) Empire (r.1897-1907), Joseon underwent numerous incidents, such as opening of its doors, efforts to strengthen economic and military power for independence, and the assassination of his wife Queen Min by the Japanese conspiracy.

Called the Eulmi Incident (of 1895), the brutal assassination of the Queen (posthumously raised to Empress Myeongseong) was an outcome of complicated collision of powers. As the influence of China’s Qing Dynasty had increased, modernization advocates had performed the Gapsin Coup Attempt in resistance to Chinese intervention. Based on the Tianjin Treaty between Japan and Qing, Japanese and Qing troops entered Korean peninsula when the Donghak Peasant Revolution threatened the kingdom in 1894. This was followed by a war between China and Japan, and Russia, Germany and France further meddled in the situation to prevent Japan’s expansion.

As a pro-Russian cabinet was formed in Joseon, Japan found necessity of removing Queen Min as she was regarded to be the core of its backing. Therefore, she was brutally assassinated and burned on the night of August 20, 1895, by Japanese thugs disguised as rioters. In view of the unfavorable relations between her and her father-in-law, the Daewongun, Japan plotted to place him in the position of the mastermind of the whole scenario.

Japan first claimed that its government had no connection with the HIncident. But it became revealed from many witnesses that the group of people who plotted and executed the assassination were not simply rioters but were Japanese intellectuals, including Japanese diplomats, president of a newspaper company and an advisor of Japanese army; therefore Japan failed in concealing and deflecting responsibility for the criminal incident.

Various court people and foreign witnesses exposed the truth of the incident to diplomats of their respective countries. American Acting Minister Horace N. Allen and Russian Minister Karl Weber announced their conviction on the involvement of the Japanese government in it. Embarrassed by this development, Japan hurriedly arrested some Japanese “rioters” and took them to Japan. Some 40 suspected individuals were put to trial, including Minister Miura in Japan, but all of them were released after being acquitted for insufficient evidence. Due to political instability, an official funeral service of “Empress Myeongseong” could be held more than two years after the 1895 assassination.