Decision of Hiroshima Court on queen’s assassination.... Miura’s
estimate of situation.... Approached by Tă-wŭn-gun.... pledges
required of ex-Regent.... Miura’s instructions.... preparations
complete.... The rendezvous at the Tă-wŭn-gun’s summer place.... a
final exhortation.... joining the Korean troops outside the West
Gate.... The move on the palace.... the entrance.... Royal quarters
surrounded.... The search for the queen.... the assassination....
Viscount Miura arrives on the scene.... an audience.... other
representatives arrive and see the king.... Miura disclaims any
connection with the plot.... degradation of the queen.... foreign
representatives refuse to recognize it.... Miura recalled.
We append the decision of the Hiroshima Court in full as it gives the
fullest and probably the most nearly correct account of the events which
led up to the assassination of the queen. It reads as follows:—
“Okamoto Ryunosuke, Adviser to the Korean Departments of War and the
Household, etc.
“Miura Goro, Vicount, Sho Sammi, First class order, Lieutenant General,
etc.
“Sugimura Fukashi, Sho Rokui, First Secretary of Legation, and
forty-five others.
“Having, in compliance with the request of the Public Procurator
conducted preliminary examinations in the case of murder and sedition
brought against the above-mentioned Okamoto Ryunosuke and forty-seven
others and that of wilful homicide brought against Hirayama Iwawo, we
find as follows:—
“The accused, Miura Goro, assumed his official duties as His Imperial
Majesty’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Seoul on
Sept. 1st, 1895. According to his observations, things in Korea were
tending in the wrong direction. The court was daily growing more and
more arbitrary, and attempting wanton interferance with the conduct of
state affairs. Disorder and confusion were in this way introduced into
the system of administration that had just been reorganized under the
guidance and advice of the Imperial government. The court went so far in
turning its face upon Japan that a project was mooted for disbanding the
_Kunrentai_ troops, drilled by Japanese officers, and for punishing
their officers. Moreover a report came to the knowledge of the said
Miura that the court had under contemplation a scheme for usurping all
political power by degrading some and killing others of the Cabinet
Ministers suspected of devotion to the cause of progress and
independence.
“Under these circumstances he was greatly perturbed inasmuch as he
thought that the attitude assumed by the court not only showed
remarkable ingratitude toward this country which had spent labor and
money for Korea, but was also calculated to thwart the work of internal
reform and jeopardize the independence of the kingdom. The policy
pursued by the court was consequently considered to be injurious to
Korea, as well as prejudicial in no small degree to the interests of
this country. The accused felt it to be of urgent importance to apply an
effective remedy to this state of affairs, so as on the one hand to
secure the independence of the Korean kingdom and on the other to
maintain the prestige of this empire in that country. While thoughts
like these agitated his mind, he was secretly approached by the
Tă-wŭn-gun with a request for assistance, the Prince being indignant at
the untoward turn that events were taking and having determined to
undertake the reform of the court and thus discharge his duty of
advising the king. The accused then held at the legation a conference
with Sugimura Fukashi and Okamoto Ryunosuke on the 3rd of October. The
decision arrived at was that assistance should be rendered to the
Tă-wŭn-gun’s entrance into the palace by making use of the Japanese
drilled Korean soldiers who being hated by the court felt themselves in
danger, and of the young men who deeply lamented the course of events,
and also by causing the Japanese troops stationed in Seoul to offer
their support to the enterprise. It was further resolved that this
opportunity should be availed of for taking the life of the queen, who
exercised overwhelming influence in the court. They at the same time
thought it necessary to provide against the possible danger of the
Tă-wŭn-gun’s interfering with the conduct of State affairs in future—an
interferance that might prove of a more evil character than that which
it was now sought to overturn. To this end, a document containing
pledges required of the Ta-wun-gun on four points was drawn by Sigimura
Fukashi. The document was carried to the country residence of the
Ta-wun-gun on the 15th of the month by Okamoto Ryunosuke, the latter
being on intimate terms with His Highness. After informing the
Ta-wun-gun that the turn of events demanded His Highness’ intervention
once more, Okomoto presented the document to the Prince saying that it
embodied what Minister Miura expected from him. The Ta-wun-gun, together
with his son and grandson gladly consented to the conditions proposed
and also wrote a letter guaranteeing his good faith. Miura Goro and
others decided to carry out the concerted plan by the middle of the
month. Fearing lest Okamoto’s visit to the Ta-wun-gun’s residence should
excite suspicion and lead to the exposure of their plan, it was given
out that he had proceeded thither simply for the purpose of taking leave
of the Prince before departing for home, and to impart an appearance of
probability to this report, it was decided that Okamoto should leave
Seoul for Chemulpo and he took his departure from the capital on the
sixth. On the following day An Kyung-su, the Minister of War, visited
the Japanese Legation by order of the court. Referring to the projected
disbanding of the Japanese drilled Korean soldiers, he asked the
Japanese Minister’s views on the subject. It was now evident that the
moment had arrived, and that no more delay should be made. Miura Goro
and Sugimura Fukashi consequently determined to carry out the plot on
the night of that very day. On the one hand, a telegram was sent to
Okamoto requesting him to come back to Seoul at once, and on the other,
they delivered to Horiguchi Kumaichi a paper containing a detailed
program concerning the entry of the Ta-wun-gun into the palace and
caused him to meet Okamoto at Yong-san so that they might proceed to
enter the palace. Miura Goro further issued instructions to Umayabara
Muhon, commander of the Japanese battalion in Seoul, ordering him to
facilitate the Ta-wun-gun’s entry into the palace by directing the
disposition of the Japanese drilled Korean troops and by calling out the
Imperial force for their support. Miura also summoned the accused Adachi
Kenzo and Kunitomo Shigeakira, and requested them to collect their
friends, meeting Okamoto at Yong-san, and act as the Ta-wun-gun’s
body-guard on the occasion of His Highness’ entrance into the palace.
Miura told them that on the success of the enterprise depended the
eradication of the evils that had done so much mischief to the kingdom
for the past twenty years, and instigated them to dispatch the Queen
when they entered the palace. Miura ordered the accused Ogiyara Hidejiro
to proceed to Yong-san, at the head of the police force under him, and
after consultation with Okamoto to take such steps as might be necessary
to expedite the Ta-wun-gun’s entry into the palace.
[Illustration: _THE BRITISH LEGATION._]
“The accused, Sugimura Fukashi, summoned Suzuki Shigemoto and Asayama
Kenzo to the Legation and acquainted them with the projected enterprise,
directed the former to send the accused, Suzuki Junken, to Yong-san to
act as interpreter and the latter to carry the news to a Korean named Yi
Chu-whe, who was known to be a warm advocate of the Ta-wun-gun’s return
to the palace. Sugimura further drew up a manifesto, explaining the
reasons of the Ta-wun-gun’s entrance into the palace and charged Ogiwara
Hidejiro to deliver to Horiguchi Kumaichi.
“The accused Horiguchi Kumaichi at once departed for Yong-san on
horse-back. Ogiwara Hidejiro issued orders to the policemen that were
off duty to put on civilian dress, provide themselves with swords and
proceed to Yong-san. Ogiwara also himself went to the same place.
“Thither also, repaired by his order the accused Watanabe Takajiro, Oda
Yoshimitsu, Nariai Kishiro, Kiwaki Sukunori and Sakai Masataro.
“The accused Yokowo Yutaro joined the party at Yong-san. Asayama Kenzo
saw Yi Chu-whe and informed him of the projected enterprise against the
palace that night. Having ascertained that Yi had then collected a few
other Koreans and proceeded toward the Ta-wun-gun’s place Asama at once
left for Yong-san. Suzuki Shigemoto went to Yong-san in company with
Suzuki Junken. The accused Adachi Kenzo and Kunitomo Shigeakira, at the
instigation of Miura, decided to murder the Queen and took steps to
collect accomplices. Twenty-four others (names here inserted) responded
to the call, by Miura’s order, to act as body-guard to the Ta-wun-gun on
the occasion of his entrance into the palace. Hirayama Iwahiko and more
than ten others were directed by Adachi Kenzo and others to do away with
the Queen and they decided to follow the advice. The others who were not
admitted into the secret but who joined the party from mere curiosity
also carried weapons. With the exception of Kunitomo Shigeakira
Tsukinori and two others all the accused went to Yong-san in company
with Adachi Kenzo.
“The accused Okamoto Ryunosuke on receipt of a telegram saying that time
was urgent at once left Chemulpo for Seoul. Being informed on his way,
at about midnight, that Hoshiguchi Kennaichi was waiting for him at Mapo
he proceeded thither and met the persons assembled there. There he
received from Miura Goro the draft manifesto already alluded to, and
other documents. After he had consulted with two or three others about
the method of effecting an entrance into the palace the whole party
started for the Ta-wun-gun’s place with Okamoto as their leader. At
about three o’clock A. M. on the eighth of October they left the
Prince’s place escorting him in his palanquin, with Yi Chu-whe and other
Koreans. When on the point of departure, Okamoto assembled the whole
party outside the gate of the Prince’s residence and declared that on
entering the palace the “Fox” should be dealt with according as exigency
might require, the obvious purport of this declaration to instigate his
followers to murder Her Majesty the Queen. As the result of this
declaration, Sakai Marataro and a few others, who had not yet been
initiated into the secret, resolved to act in accordance with the
suggestion. Then slowly proceeding toward Seoul, the party met the
Japanese drilled Korean troops outside the West Gate where they waited
some time for the arrival of the Japanese troops. With the Korean troops
as vanguard the party then proceeded toward the palace at a more rapid
rate. On the way they were joined by Kunitomo Shigeakira and four
others. The accused Husamoto, Yasumaru and Oura Shigehiko also joined
the party having been requested by Umagabara Muhon to accompany as
interpreters the military officers charged with the supervision of the
Korean troops. About dawn the whole party entered the palace through the
Kwang-wha Gate and at once proceeded to enter the inner chambers.”
At this point the recital of the facts abruptly stops and the court goes
on to state that in spite of these proven facts there is not sufficient
evidence to prove that any of the Japanese actually committed the crime
which had been contemplated, and all the accused are discharged.
It is very much to the credit of the Japanese authorities that they
frankly published these incriminating facts and did not attempt to
suppress them. Their action discharging the accused was a candid
statement that in spite of the actual proof which they adduce it would
not be possible to punish the perpetrators of the outrage, for Miura had
been sent as the accredited Minister of Japan and his acts, though
unforeseen by his superiors could not but partake of an official
character, and therefore the onus of the affair must fall on the
Japanese Government. This is the effect that was produced in the public
mind, and while the Japanese Government as such must be acquitted of any
intention or desire to secure the assassination of the Queen, yet it can
scarcely escape the charge of criminal carelessness in according to the
Korean Court a representative who would so far forget the dignity of his
position as to plan and encourage the perpetration of such a revolting
crime.
The description of the scene as given by the Hiroshima court stops
abruptly with the entrance into the palace before the actual business of
the day began. It is necessary for us to take up the narration from that
point. The buildings occupied by the King and Queen were near the back
of the palace enclosure almost half a mile from the front gate, so that
the Japanese and Korean force accompanied by the ex-Regent had to
traverse a long succession of passage-ways through a great mass of
buildings before reaching the object of their search. Some of the palace
guard were met on the way and easily pushed aside, some of them being
killed, among whom was Col. Hong. When the Japanese arrived at the
buildings occupied by their Majesties a part of them formed about it in
military order guarding all the approaches, but they did not enter the
building. A crowd of Japanese civilians commonly believed to be _soshi_,
and a considerable number of Koreans, all heavily armed, rushed into the
Royal quarters. A part of the crowd went into the presence of the King
brandishing their weapons but without directly attacking his person nor
that of the Crown Prince who stood beside him. Another part of the crowd
ranged through the apartments of the Queen, seizing palace women and
demanding information as to the whereabouts of the Queen. They met Yi
Kyŭng-jik the Minister of the Household before the Queen’s apartments
and at once cut him down, but he managed to crawl into the presence of
the King, where he was despatched by the Japanese. The Queen was found
in one of the rooms which constituted her suite and was ruthlessly cut
down. It is impossible to state with absolute certainty whether the blow
was struck by a Korean or by a Japanese but the overwhelming probability
is that it was done by one of the armed Japanese
The body was wrapped in some sort of blanket, saturated with petroleum
and burned at the edge of a pine grove immediately to the east of the
pond which lies in front of the royal quarters.
The Royal family had been aware for two days of the danger which
threatened. The guards at the palace had been reduced, the arms had been
taken away and the movements of Japanese troops were very suspicious.
The King advised the Queen to go to a place of safety and she said she
would do so if the Queen Dowager would also go, but the latter refused.
Chong Pyŭng-ha who had been raised to high office through the patronage
of the Queen but who had struck hands with the Japanese urged with great
insistence that there was no danger to Her Majesty’s person and it was
the confidence expressed by this traitor that did the most to set at
rest the apprehension, of the King and the Queen.
During all the time leading up to these events, the palace guard was in
charge of Gen. Dye but his efforts to carry out the wishes of His
Majesty were continually thwarted and the guard was merely a nominal
one.
At about the time when the Queen was being killed the Tă-wŭn-gun came
into the presence of the King and took the direction of affairs at the
court. As might be supposed, both the King and the Crown Prince were in
anything but an enviable frame of mind. They had been pushed about and
insulted by low Japanese and felt that their lives were momentarily in
danger. Col. Yi Kyŭng-jik the Minister of the Household Department had
taken his stand at the door of the Queen’s apartments and had there been
cut down by the Japanese or Koreans but succeeded in making his way,
desperately wounded, into the presence of the King. He was there stabbed
to death by the Japanese before the eyes of His Majesty. This did not
tend to reassure the King and the Crown Prince but the coming of the
Tă-wŭn-gun tended to quiet them somewhat. Of course they had no idea as
yet that the Queen had been despatched.
Before dawn began to break the King learned that Japanese troops were
pouring into the barracks in front of the palace, and as some semblance
of order had been restored in the immediate presence of His Majesty, a
note was sent in haste to the Japanese Minister asking what all this
meant. The messenger found Miura and Sugimura already up and dressed and
sedan chairs at the door. Miura told the messenger that he had heard
that troops had been marched to the barracks but did not know why. The
Minister and his secretary thereupon proceeded rapidly to the palace.
Immediately upon their arrival all the disturbance suddenly quieted down
and the _soshi_ dispersed and left the palace grounds. The Japanese
Minister and secretary immediately sought an audience with His Majesty,
accompanied only by an interpreter and another Japanese who had led the
_soshi_. The Tă-wŭn-gun was also present.
Three documents were prepared by those present and placed before His
Majesty for signature, one of them guaranteeing that the Cabinet should
thereafter manage the affairs of the country, the second appointing Yi
Chă-myŭn, the King’s brother, as Minister of the Household in place of
Yi Kyŭng-jik who had just been killed, and the third appointing a
vice-Minister of the Household. These documents the king perforce
signed. Whereupon all Japanese troops were removed from the palace and
only the Japanese-trained Korean troops were left as a palace-guard.
Later in the day Ministers of War and Police were appointed in the
persons of Cho Heui-yŭn and Kwŭn Yŭng-jin, both strong partisans of the
Japanese and doubtless privy to the attack upon the palace and the
murder of the Queen. In other words the King and court was surrounded by
men every one of whom were in sympathy with the movement which had been
planned by Viscount Miura.
Very early in the morning, while it was still scarcely daylight, Mr.
Waeber the Russian _Charge d’Affaires_ and Dr. Allen the American
_Charge d’Affaires ad interim_ came to the palace and sought audience
with the King but were told that the King was unwell and could not see
them. They insisted, however, and succeeded in seeing His Majesty, who
told them that he still had hopes that the Queen had escaped, and
besought their friendly offices to prevent further trouble. Other
foreign representatives were received later in the day.
It soon became evident that the Japanese authorities intended to deny
any responsibility for the outrages committed. Miura stated in his
dispatches to his government that the origin of the _emeute_ was a
conflict between the Japanese-drilled Korean troops, who desired to lay
a complaint before His Majesty, and the palace guards who tried to
prevent their entrance into the palace. Miura even sought to strengthen
his disclaimer by obtaining from the newly appointed Minister of War a
definite official statement that the rumors of his (Miura’s) complicity
in the affair were without foundation. The document that the Minister of
War sent in reply proved altogether too much and defeated its own
purpose, for it stated baldly that there was not a single Japanese in
the palace on the night of the eighth of October, when the Queen was
murdered. As this Minister was a creature of the Japanese and as the
presence of Japanese in the palace was clearly proved subsequently it is
evident that Miura, by this sort of trickery, only succeeded in further
implicating himself.
On the ninth, the day after the _emeute_, a full cabinet was appointed
composed entirely of Japanese sympathisers, but with one or two
exceptions they were not privy to the assassination of the Queen, though
they were willing to profit by that crime in accepting office at the
hands of the perpetrators. The men appointed were Yi Chă-myŭn, Kim
Hong-jip, Kim Yun-sik, Pak Chöng-yang, Sim Sang-hun, Cho Heui-yŭn, So
Kwang-böm and Chong Pyung-ha.
One would have supposed that the enemies of the Queen would have been
satisfied by her death, but not so. On the eleventh, three days after
her assassination, an edict purporting to have originated with His
Majesty and signed by the full cabinet appeared in the Court Gazette. In
it the Queen is charged with having interfered in public matters,
disturbed the government and put the dynasty in peril. It is stated that
she has disappeared and that her guilt is excessive; therefore she is
deposed from her rank as Queen and reduced to the level of the lowest
class.
There can be no doubt that this edict is fraudulent. The King never gave
his consent to it and several of the members of the Cabinet knew nothing
about it, notably Sim Sang-hun who had already thrown up his position
and run away, and Pak Chöng-yang who denounced the nefarious business
and resigned. It was put through by a few of the Cabinet who were
thoroughly subservient to the Japanese. The Japanese Minister in reply
to the announcement of the Queen’s degradation, affected to sympathize
with the Korean Government but thought it was done for the good of the
State. The United States Representative refused to recognize the decree
as coming from His Majesty, and in this he was seconded by all the the
other Foreign Representatives except one.
Meanwhile the Japanese government began to learn something of the truth
in regard to the Queen’s death and felt called upon to defend itself
from the charge of complicity in the outrage through its accredited
Minister. Consequently it recalled Miura and Sugimura and upon their
arrival in Japan they were arrested and charged with complicity in the
matter. The fact of their arrest and trial was a distinct disclaimer on
the part of the Japanese government that it was accessory to the crime;
and in spite of the utter inadequacy of the trial and its almost
ludicrous termination we hold to the theory that the Japanese government
was not a party to the crime excepting in so far as the appointment of
such a man as Miura can be called complicity.
But the vigorous action of Japan in arresting Miura and putting him on
trial had a strong influence upon the course of events in Korea. The
Korean public and all the Foreign Representatives were demanding that
the occurrences of the eighth of October should be investigated and the
responsibility for the murder of the Queen placed where it rightly
belonged. This itself bore strongly upon the Cabinet, but when in
addition to this the Japanese government itself seemed to be weakening
and it appeared that Miura’s acts would prove to have been unauthorized
things begun to look rather black for the men who were enjoying office
solely through Miura’s influence, and although the fiction was still
maintained that the Queen was not dead but in hiding somewhere, the
situation became more and more strained until at last it became evident
even to the Cabinet that something must be done to relieve the
situation. Accordingly on the 26th of November the Foreign
Representatives and several other foreigners were invited to the palace
and it was announced in the presence of His Majesty that Cho Heui-yŭn
the Minister of War and Kwŭn Yŭng-jin the Chief of Police were
dismissed, that the edict degrading the Queen was rescinded and that the
facts connected with the attack on the palace would be investigated by
the Department of Justice and all guilty persons tried and punished. At
the same time the death of Her Majesty was formally announced.
The popular feeling against the Japanese-trained troops was so strong
that they were dismissed and another guard summoned, but as a matter of
fact this new guard was composed almost entirely of the very men who had
formerly composed the Japanese-drilled corps.
The position of His Majesty during the months succeeding the attack was
anything but comfortable. He had no voice in the direction of affairs,
and he considered himself practically a prisoner in the hands of the
Cabinet. He even feared for his life, and for weeks ate no food except
what was brought to him in a locked box from friends outside the palace.
He had requested that two or three foreigners should come to the palace
each night and be at hand in case of trouble, feeling that their
presence would exert a deterrent influence upon any who might plot
injury to his person.
The half-way measures adopted on Nov. 26th by no means satisfied those
who wished to see His Majesty freed from practical durance at the hands
of men thoroughly obnoxious to him, and a scheme was evolved by a number
of Koreans to effect his release by forcible means. The purpose of these
men was a laudable one but the execution of it was ill-managed. On the
night of the 28th upwards of a thousand Koreans demanded entrance into
the palace. They had arranged with one of the members of the palace
guard, inside, to open the gate to them, but at the last moment he
failed them and they found themselves balked. The palace was in some
confusion, the King had called in to his presence the three foreigners
who, at his request, were on duty that night, but in spite of their
assurances that his person would be protected it was only natural that
excitement should run high. The crowd without were shouting wildly and
attempting to scale the high wall, and the members of the cabinet,
before the King, did not know at what moment the guard might betray them
to the assailants, and they knew that once betrayed they would be torn
to pieces without mercy. They tried therefore to induce the King to
remove to a distant part of the palace where he could hide for a long
time before he could be found even though the crowd should effect an
entrance. The night was bitterly cold and the King was but lightly clad,
and as the King’s person was safe in any event, the foreigners who were
with him opposed the move strongly and at last were compelled to use
physical force to prevent the change, which would certainly have
endangered the King’s life. The purpose of the cabinet was thus thwarted
but as the hours passed it become evident that the men outside would not
be able to effect an entrance. The shouts gradually died away and at
last the crowd dispersed leaving in the hands of the palace guard three
or four men who had scaled the wall but had not been followed by their
confreres.
In view of the attitude of the Tokyo Government the Japanese in Seoul
were now entirely quiescent and the government was standing on its own
base. The cabinet held its own by virtue of the palace guard which was
composed of the soldiers trained by the Japanese. This cabinet and guard
held together from necessity, for both knew that should their power fail
they would be denounced as traitors and under the circumstances could
expect little help from the Japanese. The cabinet had to make a show of
investigating the attack of Oct. 5th and someone must be killed for
having murdered the queen. At the same time punishment was to be meted
out to the principals in the attempt on the palace on November 28th.
Three men were arrested and charged with being directly implicated in
the crime of regicide. Of these one was certainly innocent and while the
second was probably privy to the crime, being a lieutenant of the
Japanese-trained troops, there was no evidence adduced to prove his
actual participation in the act of assassination. He had not been
reinstated in his position in the new guard and he knew altogether too
much about the existing cabinet. Their choice fell upon him as one of
the scapegoats. The third was Yi Chu-hoé formerly Vice Minister of War.
There was no evidence adduced against him at the trial, though from
other considerations he seems to have been implicated in the outrage. He
was chosen as the principal one to bear the obloquy of the crime,
probably because (1) he was a bitter enemy of the existing cabinet and
(2) because it was necessary for the sake of appearances to convict and
execute someone of rank and reputation. As a fact the court did not know
and never discovered who the actual perpetrators were. The three men
were executed before the end of the year.
Though only three men were arrested in connection with the assassination
of the queen thirty-three men were arrested in connection with the
comparatively trivial affair of November 28th. Their trial proceeded
simultaneously with that of the other three. Two of them were condemned
to death, four to exile for life and four to three years imprisonment.
To show the kind of evidence on which these convictions were based we
will cite the case of Prince Yi Chă-sun who was proved to have gotten
hold of some compromising documents and to have shown them to the King
only, instead of to _the proper authorities_, namely, of course, the
cabinet. On these grounds he was sentenced to three years imprisonment!
December and January saw matters move to an inevitable climax. The
cabinet forced upon the people the edict ordering the cutting off of the
top-knot, the distinctive mark of Korean citizenship. The whole country
was in a ferment and the people, almost to a man, were gnashing their
teeth at the cabinet. The finding of the Hiroshima court claimed to have
freed Miura and his fellows from blame and it was rumored that several
of them were to return to Korea to take office under the government.
Chöng Pyung-ha, a proved traitor, had been reinstated in the cabinet as
Minister of Agriculture and Cho Heui-yŭn as Minister of War, and it was
reported that Kwŭn Yŭng-jin who had fled to Japan would be made again
Chief of Police. It was perfectly evident, therefore, that the grip of
the Japanese upon the king through the Gaoler Cabinet was tightening and
that there was no escape from it except through heroic measures. These
measures the king was prepared to adopt rather than longer endure the
humiliating position to which he seemed condemned. At that time the
principal men in the cabinet were Kim Hong-jip, Chöng Pyŭng-ha, O
Yun-jung, Yu Kil-jun. Of these O Yun-jung seems to have been far less
culpable than the rest. The king had great confidence in him and had he
not met his fate at the hands of the people he would probably have been
called back to office.
But now we come to the important step taken by His Majesty to free
himself from his unpleasant position. He determined to find asylum in
the Russian Legation. C. Waeber was the Russian Minister, a pronounced
friend of the dead Queen, and a man of great ability. Just how he was
approached and his consent gained to the king’s scheme is not generally
known but in view of subsequent events and the part that Russia intended
to play in Korea it is easy to see how the Russian Representative would
welcome an opportunity to do the King such a signal service and one
which was of such a personal character as to render it certain that it
would never be forgotten.
The plan was carried out successfully in every detail. Women’s chairs
were caused to be sent in and out the palace gates at frequent intervals
by day and night until the guards had become quite accustomed to them.
Then on the night of the eleventh of February the King and the Crown
Prince without escort slipped by the guards in common women’s chairs and
were taken directly to the Russian Legation where they were courteously
received and given the best portion of the Legation building. This act
was of course a grievous lapse from the dignity that befits a king but
under the circumstances there is much to say by way of excuse. On the
whole it must be considered a mistake so far as the country at large is
concerned, for it set in motion a new set of factors which probably did
more harm than the temporary enforced seclusion of the King could have
done. It acted as a potent factor in embittering the Japanese against
Russia and opened the door for Russian intrigue which finally hastened
if it did not actually cause the war at present waging. Had Japan been
able to preserve the predominance which she held in Korea just after the
China-Japan war she might have looked with more or less complaisancy
upon the Russian aggression in Manchuria, but when Korea itself became
disputed ground the war was inevitable.
At seven o’clock on the morning of February 11th the King and the Crown
Prince entered the Russian Legation. Several hours elapsed before the
Cabinet in the palace became aware of the fact. During that interval
active operations were going on at the Russian Legation. The
organization of a new cabinet was hastened by summoning from various
parts of the city such officials as the King could trust. Pak Chöng-yang
was made Prime Minister. No time was lost in putting out a Royal Edict
deprecating the necessity of taking refuge in a foreign legation,
promising to punish the real authors of the Queen’s assassination,
rescinding the order for cutting the top-knots. This was posted on the
gates of the Legation and at various points throughout the city.