THE ASSASSINATION OF THE QUEEN
In May, 1895, a treaty of peace between China and Japan was signed at
Shimonoseki, a heavy indemnity, the island of Formosa, and a great
accession of prestige, being the gains of Japan. From thenceforward no
power having interests in the Far East could afford to regard her as a
_quantité négligéable_.
After travelling for some months in South and Mid China, and spending
the summer in Japan, I arrived in Nagasaki in October, 1895, to hear a
rumor of the assassination of the Korean Queen, afterwards confirmed
on board the _Suruga Maru_ by Mr. Sill, the American Minister, who was
hurrying back to his post in Seoul in consequence of the disturbed
state of affairs. I went up immediately from Chemulpo to the capital,
where I was Mr. Hillier’s guest at the English Legation for two
exciting months.
The native and foreign communities were naturally much excited by the
tragedy at the Palace, and the treatment which the King was receiving.
Count Inouye, whose presence in Seoul always produced confidence, had
left a month before, and had been succeeded by General Viscount Miura,
a capable soldier, without diplomatic experience.
In an interview which Count Inouye had with the Queen shortly before
his departure, speaking of the ascendency of the Tai-Won-Kun, after the
capture of the Palace by Mr. Otori in the previous July, Her Majesty
said, “It is a matter of regret to me that the overtures made by me
towards Japan were rejected. The Tai-Won-Kun, on the other hand, who
showed his unfriendliness towards Japan, was assisted by the Japanese
Minister to rise in power.”
In the despatch in which Count Inouye reported this interview to his
Government he wrote:--
I gave as far as I could an explanation of these things to the Queen,
and after so allaying her suspicions, I further explained that it was
the true and sincere desire of the Emperor and Government of Japan to
place the independence of Korea on a firm basis, and in the meantime
to strengthen the Royal House of Korea. _In the event of any member of
the Royal Family, or indeed any Korean, therefore attempting treason
against the Royal House, I gave the assurance that the Japanese
Government would not fail to protect the Royal House even by force of
arms, and so secure the safety of the kingdom._ These remarks of mine
seemed to have moved the King and Queen, and their anxiety for the
future appeared to be much relieved.
The Korean sovereigns would naturally think themselves justified
in relying on the promise so frankly given by one of the most
distinguished of Japanese statesmen, whom they had learned to regard
with confidence and respect, and it is clear to myself that when the
fateful night came, a month later, their reliance on this assurance
led them to omit certain possible precautions, and caused the Queen to
neglect to make her escape at the first hint of danger.
When the well-known arrangement between Viscount Miura and the
Tai-Won-Kun was ripe for execution, the Japanese Minister directed the
Commandant of the Japanese battalion quartered in the barracks just
outside the Palace gate to facilitate the Tai-Won-Kun’s entry into
the Palace by arranging the disposition of the _Kun-ren-tai_ (Korean
troops drilled by Japanese), and by calling out the Imperial force to
support them. Miura also called upon two Japanese to collect their
friends, go to Riong San on the Han, where the intriguing Prince was
then living, and act as his bodyguard on his journey to the Palace. The
Minister told them that on the success of the enterprise depended the
eradication of the evils which had afflicted the kingdom for twenty
years, and INSTIGATED THEM TO DISPATCH THE QUEEN WHEN THEY ENTERED THE
PALACE. One of Miura’s agents then ordered the Japanese policemen who
were off duty to put on civilian dress, provide themselves with swords,
and accompany the conspirators to the Tai-Won-Kun’s house.
At 3 A.M. on the morning of the 8th of October they left Riong San,
escorting the Prince’s palanquin, Mr. Okamoto, to whom much had been
entrusted, assembling the whole party when on the point of departure,
and declaring to them that on entering the Palace the “Fox” should be
dealt with according “as exigency might require.” Then this procession,
including ten Japanese who had dressed themselves in uniforms taken
from ten captured Korean police, started for Seoul, more than three
miles distant. Outside the “Gate of Staunch Loyalty” they were met by
the _Kun-ren-tai_, and then waited for the arrival of the Japanese
troops, after which they proceeded at a rapid pace to the Palace,
entering it by the front gate, and after killing some of the Palace
Guard, proceeded a quarter of a mile to the buildings occupied by the
King and Queen, which have a narrow courtyard in front.
So far I have followed the Hiroshima judgment in its statement of the
facts of that morning, but when it has conducted the combined force to
“the inner chambers” it concludes abruptly with a “not proven” in the
case of all the accused! For the rest of the story, so far as it may
interest my readers, I follow the statements of General Dye and Mr.
Sabatin of the King’s Guard, and of certain official documents.
It is necessary here to go back upon various events which preceded
the murder of Her Majesty. Trouble arose in October between the
_Kun-ren-tai_ and the Seoul police, resulting in the total defeat of
the latter. The _Kun-ren-tai_, numbering 1,000, were commanded by
Colonel Hong, who in 1882 had rescued the Queen from imminent danger,
and was trusted by the Royal Family. The Palace was in the hands of
the Old Guard under Colonel Hyön, who had saved Her Majesty’s life
in 1884. In the first week of October the strength of this Guard
was greatly reduced, useful weapons were quietly withdrawn, and the
ammunition was removed.
On the night of the 7th the _Kun-ren-tai_, with their Japanese
instructors, marched and countermarched till they were found on all
sides of the Palace, causing some uneasiness within. The alarm was
given to General Dye and Mr. Sabatin early on the morning of the
8th.[36] These officers, looking through a chink of the gate, saw a
number of Japanese soldiers with fixed bayonets standing there, who,
on being asked what they were doing, filed right and left out of the
moonlight under the shadow of the wall. Skulking under another part of
the wall were over 200 of the _Kun-ren-tai_. The two foreigners were
consulting as to the steps to be taken when heavy sounds of battering
came from the grand entrance gate, followed by firing.
General Dye attempted to rally the Guard, but after five or six volleys
from the assailants they broke with such a rush as to sweep the two
foreigners past the King’s house to the gateway of the Queen’s. No
clear account has ever been given of the events which followed. Colonel
Hong, the commander of the _Kun-ren-tai_, was cut down by a Japanese
officer at the great gate, and was afterwards mortally wounded by eight
bullets. The _Kun-ren-tai_ swarmed into the Palace from all directions,
along with Japanese civilians armed with swords, who frantically
demanded the whereabouts of the Queen, hauling the Palace ladies about
by the hair to compel them to point out Her Majesty, rushing in and out
of windows, throwing the ladies-in-waiting from the 7 feet high veranda
into the compound, cutting and kicking them, and brutally murdering
four in the hope that they had thus secured their victim.
Japanese troops also entered the Palace, and formed in military order
under the command of their officers round the small courtyard of
the King’s house and at its gate, protecting the assassins in their
murderous work. Before this force of Japanese regulars arrived there
was a flying rout of servants, runners, and Palace Guards rushing from
every point of the vast enclosure in mad haste to get out of the gates.
As the Japanese entered the building, the unfortunate King, hoping to
divert their attention and give the Queen time to escape, came into
a front room where he could be distinctly seen. Some of the Japanese
assassins rushed in brandishing their swords, pulled His Majesty about,
and beat and dragged about some of the Palace ladies by the hair in
his presence. The Crown Prince, who was in an inner room, was seized,
his hat torn off and broken, and he was pulled about by the hair and
threatened with swords to make him show the way to the Queen, but he
managed to reach the King, and they have never been separated since.
The whole affair did not occupy much more than an hour. The Crown
Prince saw his mother rush down a passage followed by a Japanese with
a sword, and there was a general rush of assassins for her sleeping
apartments. In the upper story the Crown Princess was found with
several ladies, and she was dragged by the hair, cut with a sword,
beaten, and thrown downstairs. Yi Kyöng-jik, Minister of the Royal
Household, seems to have given the alarm, for the Queen was dressed and
was preparing to run and hide herself. When the murderers rushed in, he
stood with outstretched arms in front of Her Majesty, trying to protect
her, furnishing them with the clue they wanted. They slashed off both
his hands and inflicted other wounds, but he contrived to drag himself
along the veranda into the King’s presence, where he bled to death.
The Queen, flying from the assassins, was overtaken and stabbed,
falling down as if dead, but one account says that, recovering a
little, she asked if the Crown Prince, her idol, was safe, on which
a Japanese jumped on her breast and stabbed her through and through
with his sword. Even then, though the nurse whom I formerly saw in
attendance on her covered her face, it is not certain that she was
dead, but the Japanese laid her on a plank, wrapped a silk quilt round
her, and she was carried to a grove of pines in the adjacent deer park,
where kerosene oil was poured over the body, which was surrounded by
faggots and burned, only a few small bones escaping destruction.
Thus perished, at the age of forty-four, by the hands of foreign
assassins, instigated to their bloody work by the Minister of a
friendly power, the clever, ambitious, intriguing, fascinating, and in
many respects lovable Queen of Korea. In her lifetime Count Inouye,
whose verdict for many reasons may be accepted, said, “Her Majesty has
few equals among her countrymen for shrewdness and sagacity. In the art
of conciliating her enemies and winning the confidence of her servants
she has no equals.”
A short time after daylight the Tai-Won-Kun issued two proclamations,
of which the following sentences are specimens:--
1st, “The hearts of the people dissolve through the presence in the
Palace of a crowd of base fellows. So the National Grand Duke is
returned to power to inaugurate changes, expel the base fellows,
restore former laws, and vindicate the dignity of His Majesty.”
2nd, “I have now entered the Palace to aid His Majesty, expel the low
fellows, perfect that which will be a benefit, save the country, and
introduce peace.”
The Palace gates were guarded by the mutinous _Kun-ren-tai_ with fixed
bayonets, who allowed a constant stream of Koreans to pass out, the
remnants of the Old Palace Guard, who had thrown off their uniforms and
hidden their arms, each man being seized and searched before his exit
was permitted. Near the gate was a crimson pool marking the spot where
Colonel Hong fell. Three of the Ministers were at once dismissed from
their posts, some escaped, and many of the high officials sought safety
in flight. Nearly every one who was trusted by the King was removed,
and several of the chief offices of State were filled by the nominees
of the officers of the _Kun-ren-tai_, who, later, when they did not
find the Cabinet, which was chiefly of their own creation, sufficiently
subservient, used to threaten it with drawn swords.
Viscount Miura arrived at the Palace at daylight, with Mr. Sugimura,
Secretary of the Japanese Legation (who had arranged the details of the
plot), and a certain Japanese who had been seen by the King apparently
leading the assassins, and actively participating in the bloody work,
and had an audience of His Majesty, who was profoundly agitated. He
signed three documents at their bidding, after which the Japanese
troops were withdrawn from the Palace, and the armed forces, and even
the King’s personal attendants, were placed under the orders of those
who had been concerned in attack. The Tai-Won-Kun was present at this
audience.
During the day all the Foreign Representatives had audiences of the
King, who was much agitated, sobbed at intervals, and, believing the
Queen to have escaped, was very solicitous about his own safety, as
he was environed by assassins, the most unscrupulous of all being
his own father. In violation of custom, he grasped the hands of
the Representatives, and asked them to use their friendly offices
to prevent further outrage and violence. He was anxious that the
_Kun-ren-tai_ should be replaced by Japanese troops. On the same
afternoon the Foreign Representatives met at the Japanese Legation
to hear Viscount Miura’s explanation of circumstances in which his
countrymen were so seriously implicated.
Three days after the events in the Palace, and while the King and
the general public believed the Queen to be alive, a so-called Royal
Edict, a more infamous outrage on the Queen even than her brutal
assassination, was published in the _Official Gazette_. The King on
being asked to sign it refused, and said he would have his hands cut
off rather, but it appeared as his decree, and bore the signatures
of the Minister of the Household, the Prime Minister, and six other
members of the Cabinet.
ROYAL EDICT.
It is now thirty-two years since We ascended the throne, but Our
ruling influence has not extended wide. The Queen Min introduced her
relatives to the Court and placed them about Our person, whereby
she made dull Our senses, exposed the people to extortion, put Our
Government in disorder, selling offices and titles. Hence tyranny
prevailed all over the country and robbers arose in all quarters.
Under these circumstances the foundation of Our dynasty was in
imminent peril. We knew the extreme of her wickedness, but could not
dismiss and punish her because of helplessness and fear of her party.
We desire to stop and suppress her influence. In the twelfth moon of
last year we took an oath at Our Ancestral Shrine that the Queen and
her relatives and Ours should never again be allowed to interfere in
State affairs. We hoped this would lead the Min faction to mend their
ways. But the Queen did not give up her wickedness, but with her party
aided a crowd of low fellows to rise up about Us and so managed as
to prevent the Ministers of State from consulting Us. Moreover, they
have forged Our signature to a decree to disband Our loyal soldiers,
thereby instigating and raising a disturbance, and when it occurred
she escaped as in the Im O year. We have endeavored to discover
her whereabouts, but as she does not come forth and appear We are
convinced that she is not only unfitted and unworthy of the Queen’s
rank, but also that her guilt is excessive and brimful. Therefore
with her We may not succeed to the glory of the Royal Ancestry. So We
hereby depose her from the rank of Queen and reduce her to the level
of the lowest class.
Signed by
YI CHAI-MYON, Minister of the Royal Household.
KIM HONG-CHIP, Prime Minister.
KIM YUN-SIK, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
PAK CHONG-YANG, Minister of Home Affairs.
SHIM SANG-HUN, Minister of Finance.
CHO HEUI-YON, Minister of War.
SO KWANG-POM, Minister of Justice.
SO KWANG-POM, Minister of Education.
CHONG PYONG-HA, Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Commerce.
On the day following the issue of this fraudulent and infamous edict,
another appeared in which Her Majesty, out of pity for the Crown Prince
and as a reward for his deep devotion to his father, was “raised” by
the King to the rank of “Concubine of the First Order”!
The diplomats were harassed and anxious, and met constantly to
discuss the situation. Of course the state of extreme tension was not
caused solely by “happenings” in Korea and their local consequences.
For behind this well-executed plot, and the diabolical murder of a
defenceless woman, lay a terrible suspicion, which gained in strength
every hour during the first few days after the tragedy till it
intensified into a certainty, of which people spoke as in cipher, by
hints alone, that other brains than Korean planned the plot, that other
than Korean hands took the lives that were taken, that the sentries
who guarded the King’s apartments while the deed of blood was being
perpetrated wore other than Korean uniforms, and that other than Korean
bayonets gleamed in the shadow of the Palace wall.
People spoke their suspicions cautiously, though the evidence of
General Dye and of Mr. Sabatin pointed unmistakably in one direction.
So early as the day after the affair, the question which emerged
was, “Is Viscount General Miura criminally implicated or not?” It
is needless to go into particulars on this subject. Ten days after
the tragedy at the Palace, the Japanese Government, which was soon
proved innocent of any complicity in the affair, recalled and arrested
Viscount Miura, Sugimura, and Okamoto, Adviser to the Korean War
Department, who, some months later, along with forty-five others, were
placed on their trial before the Japanese Court of First Instance at
Hiroshima, and were acquitted on the technical ground that there was
“no sufficient evidence to prove that any of the accused actually
committed the crime originally meditated by them,” this crime,
according to the judgment, being that two of the accused, “AT THE
INSTIGATION OF MIURA, DECIDED TO MURDER THE QUEEN, and took steps by
collecting accomplices ... more than ten others were directed by these
two persons to do away with the Queen.”
Viscount Miura was replaced by Mr. Komura, an able diplomatist, and
shortly afterwards Count Inouye arrived, bearing the condolences of
the Emperor of Japan to the unfortunate Korean King. A heavier blow
to Japanese prestige and position as the leader of civilization in
the East could not have been struck, and the Government continues
to deserve our sympathy on the occasion. For when the disavowal is
forgotten, it will be always remembered that the murderous plot was
arranged in the Japanese Legation, and that of the Japanese dressed as
civilians and armed with swords and pistols, who were directly engaged
in the outrages committed in the Palace, some were advisers to the
Korean Government and in its pay, and others were Japanese policemen
connected with the Japanese Legation--sixty persons in all, including
those known as _Soshi_, and exclusive of the Japanese troops.
The Foreign Representatives with one exception informed the Cabinet
that until steps were taken to bring the assassins to justice, till the
_Kun-ren-tai_ Guard was removed from the Palace, and till the recently
introduced members of the Cabinet who were responsible for the outrages
had been arraigned or at least removed from office, they declined to
recognize any act of the Government, or to accept as authentic any
order issued by it in the King’s name. The prudence of this course
became apparent later.
On 15th October, in an extra issue of the _Official Gazette_, it was
announced “By Royal Command” that, as the position of Queen must not
remain vacant for a day, proceedings for the choice of a bride were
to begin at once! This was only one among the many insults which were
heaped upon the Royal prisoner.
During the remainder of October and November there was no improvement
in affairs. The gloom was profound. Instead of Royal receptions and
entertainments, the King, shaken by terror and in hourly dread of
poison or assassination, was a close prisoner in a poor part of his
own palace, in the hands of a Cabinet chiefly composed of men who were
the tools of the mutinous soldiers who were practically his jailers,
compelled to put his seal to edicts which he loathed, the tool of men
on whose hands the blood of his murdered Queen was hardly dry. Nothing
could be more pitiable than the condition of the King and Crown Prince,
each dreading that the other would be slain before his eyes, not daring
to eat of any food prepared in the Palace, dreading to be separated,
even for a few minutes, without an adherent whom they could trust, and
with recent memories of infinite horror as food for contemplation.
General Dye, the American military adviser, an old and feeble man,
slept near the Palace Library, and the American missionaries in twos
took it in turns to watch with him. This was the only protection
which the unfortunate sovereign possessed. He was also visited daily
by the Foreign Representatives in turns, with the double object of
ascertaining that he was alive and assuring him of their sympathy and
interest. Food was supplied to him in a locked box from the Russian or
U. S. Legations, but so closely was he watched, that it was difficult
to pass the key into his hand, and a hasty and very occasional whisper
was the only communication he could succeed in making to these
foreigners, who were his sole reliance. Undoubtedly from the first he
hoped to escape either to the English or Russian Legation. At times he
sobbed piteously and shook the hands of the foreigners, who made no
attempt to conceal the sympathy they felt for the always courteous and
kindly sovereign.
Entertainments among the foreigners ceased. The dismay was too profound
and the mourning too real to permit even of the mild gaieties of
a Seoul winter. Every foreign lady, and specially Mrs. Underwood,
Her Majesty’s medical attendant, and Mme. Waeber, who had been an
intimate friend, felt her death as a personal loss. Her Oriental
unscrupulousness in politics was forgotten in the horror excited by the
story of her end. Yet then and for some time afterwards people clung
to the hope that she had escaped as on a former occasion, and was in
hiding. Among Koreans opinion was greatly concealed, for there were
innumerable arrests, and no one knew when his turn might come, but it
was believed that there was an earnest desire to liberate the King. A
number of foreign warships lay at Chemulpo, and the British, Russian,
and American Legations were guarded by marines.
Nearly a month after the assassination of the Queen, and when all
hope of her escape had been abandoned, the condition of things was so
serious under the rule of the new Cabinet, that an attempt was made
by the Foreign Representatives to terminate it by urging on Count
Inouye to disarm the _Kun-ren-tai_, and occupy the Palace with Japanese
troops until the loyal soldiers had been drilled into an efficiency
on which the King might rely for his personal safety. It will be
seen from this proposal how completely the Japanese Government was
exonerated from blame by the diplomatic agents of the Great Powers.
This proposal was not received with cordial alacrity by Count Inouye,
who felt that the step of an armed reoccupation of the Palace by the
Japanese, though with the object of securing the King’s safety, would
be liable to serious misconstruction, and might bring about very
grave complications. Such an idea was only to be entertained if Japan
received a distinct mandate from the Powers. The telegraph was set to
work, a due amount of consent to the arrangement was obtained, and when
I left Seoul on a northern journey on November 7th, it was in the full
belief that on reaching Phyöng-yang I should find a telegram announcing
that this serious _coup d’état_ had been successfully accomplished in
the presence of the Foreign Representatives. Japan, however, did not
undertake the task, though urged to do so both by Count Inouye and
Mr. Komura, the new Representative, and the _Kun-ren-tai_ remained in
power, and the King a prisoner. Had the recommendation of the Foreign
Representatives, among whom the Russian Representatives was the most
emphatic in urging the interference of Japan, been adopted, it is
more than probable that the present predominance of Russian influence
in Korea would have been avoided. It is only fair to the Russian
Government to state that it gave a distinct mandate to the Japanese
to disarm the _Kun-ren-tai_ and take charge of the King. The Japanese
Government declined, and therefore is alone responsible for Russia’s
subsequent intervention.
During November the dissatisfaction throughout Korea with the measures
which were taken and proposed increased, and the position became so
strained, owing to the demand of the Foreign Representatives and of
all classes of Koreans that the occurrences of the 8th of October must
be investigated, and that the fiction of the Queen being in hiding
should be abandoned, that the Cabinet unwillingly recognized that
something must be done. So on 26th November the Foreign Representatives
were invited by the King to the Palace, and the Prime Minister, in
presence of His Majesty, who was profoundly agitated, produced a
decree bearing the King’s signature, dismissing the special nominees
of the mutineers, the Ministers of War and Police, declaring that the
so-called Edict degrading the Queen was set aside and treated as void
from the beginning, and that she was reinstated in her former honors;
that the occurrences of the 8th October were to be investigated by the
Department of Justice, and that the guilty persons were to be tried and
punished. The death of Her Majesty was announced at the same time.
At the conclusion of this audience, Mr. Sill, the United States
Minister, expressed to the King “his profound satisfaction with the
announcement.” Mr. Hillier followed by “congratulating His Majesty on
these satisfactory steps, and hoped it would be the beginning of a time
of peace and tranquillity, and relieve His Majesty from much anxiety.”
These good wishes were cordially endorsed by his colleagues.
The measures proposed by the King to reassert his lost authority and
punish the conspirators promised very well, but were rendered abortive
by a “loyal plot,” which was formed by the Old Palace Guard and a
number of Koreans, some of them by no means insignificant men. It had
for its object the liberation of the sovereign and the substitution
of loyal troops for the _Kun-ren-tai_. Though it ended in a fiasco
two nights after this hopeful interview, its execution having been
frustrated by premature disclosures, its results were disastrous,
for it involved a number of prominent men, created grave suspicions,
raised up a feeling of antagonism to foreigners, some of whom (American
missionaries) were believed to be cognizant of the plot, if not
actually accessories, and brought about a general confusion, from
which, when I left Korea five weeks later, there was no prospect of
escape. The King was a closer prisoner than ever; those surrounding him
grew familiar and insolent; he lived in dread of assassination; and
he had no more intercourse with foreigners, except with those who had
an official right to enter the Palace, which they became increasingly
unwilling to exercise.
It was with much regret that I left Seoul for a journey in the interior
at this most exciting time, when every day brought fresh events and
rumors, and a _coup d’état_ of great importance was believed to be
impending; but I had very little time at my disposal before proceeding
to Western China on a long-planned journey.
FOOTNOTES:
[36] General Dye, late of the U.S. army, was instructor of the Old
Guard. Mr. Sabatin, a Russian subject, was temporarily employed as a
watchman to see that the sentries were at their posts.