Category: Korea-History

Courtesy the Marmot, are the below links to these unbelievable photos from an American doctor who worked in Daegu, Korea between 1954-1955.  The below links are from a Korean blog based from Texas that interviewed the doctor who took the photos.  The pictures are in color and of unbelievable quality.  Thanks to all those involved who shared these photos with the rest of us. 

First Set    Second Set    Third Set    Fourth Set

I have discussed this before, but after viewing these pictures, ask yourself if the US should have abandoned the Koreans you see in these pictures in 1954, which was four years after the start of the Korean War, like many in America want to do to the Iraqis four years after the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

A recent topic of dispute among commenters at the Marmot’s Hole is the alleged American sell out of Korea to Japan with the mutual signing of the Taft-Katsura Agreement. This piece of history, little known to everyone else in the world, is treated with almost Dokdo like reverence in Korean society. This agreement is often used by Koreans to blame the US for the Japanese colonization of Korea. You think I’m exaggerating? Let me remind everyone what the South Korean Unification Minister had to say on this subject:

A hundred years ago, the Philippines became a U.S. colony and the Korean Peninsula a Japanese one owing to the Taft-Katsura Agreement” of 1905, Chung said. The division of the nation and Korean War were not our will either, nor was the failure of the Gwangju Uprising. A century later, Chung promised a hot summer in which our fate will be decided not by North Korea, China, the United States, Japan or Russia, but by our own pride and self-determination.

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, July 2005

I will focus this posting on just the Taft-Katsura Agreement, though much of the rest of Minister Chung’s comments are just as equally ridiculous as blaming the US for Japanese colonialism. This view is so indoctrinated into Koreans that many foreigners in Korea end up believing it as well because they hear it so often from Koreans they work with. So is this Korean claim true? To determine this you have to first look at the historical context of the era.

The Japanese had been effectively interfering with Korea’s internal affairs since the 1880’s, but China continued to wield the most influence over the country due to it’s protectorate status over Korea. The Japanese were eager to gain a main land Asian colony to where natural resources could be accessed in order to continue the Japanese modernization of both it’s economy and military. The Japanese felt quick modernization was needed in order to prevent the western powers from exploiting and colonizing Japan like they had China. Gaining control of Korea’s natural resources was critical along with securing strategic territory that had long been used as an invasion point into Japan. Plus acquiring a Korean colony would send a huge international message that Japan was a nation ready to colonize, and not be colonized by anyone.

Map of Sino-Japanese War troop movements

The Sino-Japanese War (June 1894-April 1895) between Japan and China was Japan’s first attempt to forcibly wield it’s new power. It is important to note the long time Korean ruling class, the Yangban, did not want to lose their privileged place in Korean society and had long tried to keep Korea isolated from the rest of the world. Thus the term the “Hermit Kingdom“. They feared that the opening up of the country and the economy would dilute the power they wielded within Korea.

Plus the Yangban suspicious of a military coup that would end their power, had not raised and funded a strong national military and had instead relied on their long time protectors the Chinese for national security. The strategic incompetence of not forming a strong domestic army became quite evident when in 1871 American Marines defeated Korean defenders of Kangwha-do island at the mouth of the Han River and occupied it for a short time. This embarrassment of the Korean military eventually led to the signing of the 1883 Jemulpo Agreement between the US and Korea. This treaty confirmed friendly relations between the US and Korea. The easy defeat of the Korean military by the US Marines is probably what began to give the Japanese rulers ideas of an easy conquest and colonization of Korea.

The 1894 Donghak Rebellion, a peasant uprising in the Cheolla province of southern Korea, was used by the Japanese government as an excuse to deploy 8,000 combat troops to Korea to quell the uprising. Before quelling the uprising the Japanese troops seized the Korean capitol of Seoul and captured the Korean emperor. Obviously the Chinese government was not happy about the Japanese power play to gain influence over Korea and began to deploy a force of soldiers to Korea. While this was going on the Japanese installed pro-Japanese Koreans to run the government who legitimized the Japanese use of force to protect Korea from the Chinese. Thus this began the Sino-Japanese War.

The Chinese ultimately lost the war and signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 that effectively granted Japan imperial influence over Korea and parts of Manchuria without Chinese objections. With the Chinese military weakened after it’s bitter defeat by the Japanese; the European powers took advantage of the situation by occupying strategic areas of Manchuria before the Japanese could move in. Most notably the Russians who occupied a huge area of Manchuria and the entire Liaodong Peninsula. The occupying of strategic areas of Manchuria by the Europeans enraged the Japanese rulers who felt the plunders of their hard earned victory over China was stolen from them. The deployment of over 100,000 Russian soldiers into Manchuria after the 1900 Boxer Rebellion only furthered caused tensions to raise because the Japanese felt that the deployment meant that the Russians were there to stay. A series of treaties were signed between the Japanese and the Europeans in an effort to quell the building tensions in the area. These treaties gave Japan recognized control of the Korean peninsula to Japan while the Europeans would continue to control Manchuria and other areas of China.

Russian controlled Manchuria in dark red.

However, the tension did not subside and open warfare would break out between Russia and Japan. The Russo-Japanese War (Feb. 1904 – May1905) ended with the defeat of the Russian military and the destruction of nearly the entire Russian navy by the Japanese. This victory gave the Japanese undisputed control of not only the Korean peninsula but all of Manchuria as well. This victory had also showed the world that the Japanese were a country to be respected as the equals to any western nation with their defeat of the Russian military.

The Russo-Japanese War was officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth in the United States between the Russian and Japanese representatives. It was few months before this treaty was signed that the Taft-Katsura Agreement so remembered today by Koreans was agreed upon. This agreement effectively recognized that the US would not interfere with Japanese ambitions in Korea and Manchuria and that Japan would not interfere with American ambitions in the Philippines. The US leaders wanted official recognition of this reality from the Japanese so they would not have to spend the money fortifying the US colony in the Philippines from possible Japanese attack.

Plus this agreement and the following Treaty of Portsmouth would ensure regional stability after a decade of constant warfare in northeast Asia. All this agreement did was recognize reality at the time. How is recognizing reality a sell out?

Russian and Japanese delegates meet to sign the Treaty of Portsmouth

Also Koreans often site the 1883 Jemulpo Agreement as not being a mutual friendship treaty, but as a defensive pact between Korea and the US. They feel that the US was obligated to come to the defense of Korea against Japan. Here is the passage in the treaty they try to argue is a defensive pact:

Article I.

There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between the President of the United States and the King of Chosen and the citizens and subjects of their respective Governments. If other Powers deal unjustly or oppressively with either Government, the other will exert their good offices, on being informed of the case, to bring about an amicable arrangement, thus showing their friendly feelings.

Only in Korea is “exert their good offices” considered a defensive pact. Here is the meaning of “good offices” from dictionary.com:

1. influence, esp. with a person in a position of power: He got the job through the good offices of his uncle.

2. services rendered by a mediator in a dispute.

No where in this definition do I see defensive pact, but this is what many Koreans believe “good offices” means though the definition of it is quite clear. The only obligation the US had was to speak on Korea’s behalf if requested; no where in there does it say the US is obligated to deploy the 7th Cavalry to Korea to take Japanese scalps. However, this didn’t stop Koreans leaders after the signing of the Portsmouth Treaty to try and argue this same point that “good offices” meant a defensive pact with then President Teddy Roosevelt, but Roosevelt refused to meet them and discounted their claims. Can you blame him? Maybe he wasn’t showing “good offices” by refusing to meet them, but no where in the agreement does it say either that the Koreans have exclusive access to the American President. If the United States didn’t come to the aid of Korea during both the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War what made the Korean leaders think that the US would be willing to go to war with Japan now?

A defensive pact would be a formal document all in itself much like what the US and Korea has today, that lays out clear responsibilities of each side. Almost certainly if Korea wanted a defensive pact with the US at the time the US would have requested a military presence within Korea which the Yangban rulers did not want. The US did not have the naval ability that it has today or nearby colonies from which to quickly move troops to defend Korea from external attack thus the signing of a mutual defense pact would be pointless without a forward deployed American troop presence. Even if the Yangban rulers allowed a US troop presence I don’t think the US military could have supported it with it’s already large deployment of forces in the Philippines to put down the insurgency there from Moro guerrillas.

Too many Koreans confuse the US military might of today with the US military of 1905. In 1905 the US military was at the most equal to, if not weaker than the major European powers. If the Japanese had so decisively defeated the Russians whose country is located adjacent to both Korea and Manchuria, how can the United States located on the other side of the world, be expected to sail over to Korea and conduct a 1905 version of the Inchon Landing Operation?

To blame the US for Japanese colonization of Korea is ridiculous. Saying that the US didn’t do anything to help Korea I could agree with, but to blame the US for the Japanese colonization is just another absurd attempt at historical revisionism so prevalent in Korea today. If Koreans are looking to assign blame they should first look at themselves.

Shouldn’t the first responsibility of a government be to ensure national security? Obviously the Yangban were more interested in their own security than national defense. If the Korean government had opened up their economy and simultaneously built up and modernized their army after the embarrassing defeat to the Americans on Ganghwa Island over 20 years prior they may have been able to prevent what happened to them. Remember during the Sino-Japanese War only 8,000 Japanese soldiers were able to occupy Seoul and capture the government. 8,000 for crying out loud. Why should the US be expected to defend a country that isn’t even willing to protect itself from an invasion force of 8,000 soldiers? If the Koreans fought a protracted war against the Japanese to keep them out of Korea maybe the US would have done more to help the Koreans. As it turned out the Koreans did very little to expel the Japanese during both the Sino and Russo-Japanese Wars thus why would the US government feel an obligation to free Korea when it appeared they didn’t want to be free themselves?

The bottom line is that the corrupt and incompetent Korean rulers created the conditions that led to the Japanese colonization of Korea. In their quest to keep their own domestic status quo they ignored the changes in the power structure in northeast Asia, mainly that China could not be depended on to defend the peninsula from invasion. China could not even defend themselves from the western powers at the time, much less Korea. However, the Korean rulers kept their heads in the sand and did little to develop international relations and build their own domestic military to defend the nation. By gambling that the Chinese military would protect them was a bet that they lost. It was an even worse bet if they thought the Americans were obligated to come save them after that.

The Taft-Katsura Agreement is just one of a long line of historical revisionism endorsed by Korean politicians like Minister Chung I mentioned earlier that seek to blame foreigners, in particular the United States, for all the failings of the Korean government. If the failures of prior Korean governments was the fault of foreigners and the big, bad United States; then all the failures of the current Korean government most also be the fault of foreigners and the big, bad United States now. That is why the Korean government finds it so necessary to create a historical context in order to blame current problems on the US. So when the North Koreans detonate a nuclear weapon, who does the South Korean government blame for it? The United States of course, while totally remaining silent about the fact the South Korean government are the ones that financed the nuclear weapon by giving massive amounts of aid and hard cash to the North Koreans.

When the economy is sagging that must be the fault of the foreigners as well, so witch hunts against companies like Lone Star are undertaken in order to shift blame for the sluggish economy when in fact all this does is create further drag on the economy by drying up international investment into the country. That doesn’t matter though because the government has officially shifted blame once again to the big, bad foreigners. Don’t even get me started on Dokdo. I and others have shown over and over again how the Korean government has demagogued this issue for their own political advantage and once again Minister Chung was leading the way on this. Heck even the lack of English language skills, drugs, and defiling of women in Korea are blamed on “low quality foreign English teachers”. The list of outrageous claims against foreigners goes on and on.

What concerns me most is these backwards views are slowly but surely making it possible for history to repeat itself. Korean politicians today are becoming more and more like the Yangban of the Josen dynasty of the late 19th century. They are more interested in keeping the status quo and cementing their own power than ensuring the national security of the country. The current leftist government much like the Yangban are highly suspicious of the military and have thus sought to limit the power of the ROK military as much as possible. Thus you see massive cut backs in soldiers, a lack of national military strategy, along with deliberately causing a complacency within the ranks towards the nation’s main enemy North Korea.

Now combine this with the simultaneous steady degrading of the US-ROK alliance which may ultimately end up with the exit of US forces from Korea and you have a country that has exposed itself to an external military attack, much like in the late 19th century. There is one main reason why for over 50 years that northeast Asia has been so peaceful, the US military presence.

Another eerie similarity is the fact that Japanese agents had infiltrated and manipulated the Korean government long before the actual Japanese occupation in order to set conditions for the eventual take over of Korea by Japan to happen. The same thing is happening today as North Korean agents have infiltrated not only the government, but South Korean society as a whole in order to set conditions for a future North Korean take over of the country. The Japanese were infiltrating Korean society 20 years before the take over of Korea, imagine where South Korea will be in 20 years if North Korea is allowed to continue to manipulate the direction of the country.

If the North Koreans ever did invade and occupy South Korea 20 years from now long after the exit of US forces from South Korea; I can picture the Korean leaders coming to Washington demanding the US to come and save them though they ended the US-ROK alliance years ago and replaced it with a friendship treaty instead. Would the US president be morally obligated to help a country that independently chose to create the conditions that allowed their defeat to happen in the first place? There is plenty that can be learned from an objective look at history and unfortunately it appears that the current Korean government is only interested in following the path of the Josun Yangban at the expense of the national security of the country. If the Korean government reaps what it sows 20 years from now, any bets they will blame America for selling them out then too?

Interesting article from Robert Neff posted at Oh My News International about the first American GI defector to North Korea in 1962 that is worth a read.  Even more interesting is that one K-blogger is from the same hometown as the defector.  Small world.

I have always found it amazing how ignorant many Koreans are about their own history and the results of this test seem to only confirm this:

More than half the candidates who sat the first Korean history proficiency test by the National Institute of Korean History on Nov. 25 failed. The NIKH said Wednesday that 48.37 percent of 15,395 applicants passed the test. By level, 45.71 percent of applicants passed the high-school history education equivalent level, 31.73 percent passed the middle school test, and 85.04 percent and 72.94 percent the two elementary-grade papers. In other words, while most candidates at elementary level passed, candidates at middle school level proved particularly poor.

The Japanese colonial period is often used to condemn the Japanese, however according to this test many of the Korean students don’t even accurately understand the Japanese colonial period:

Candidates were most embarrassed by questions about Japanese colonial rule. Experts say this is because some school history classes sometimes don’t cover the era, which is in the latter part of the standard textbooks, due to time restraints. Many applicants also gave wrong answers to questions about the ancient Koguryo and Barhae kingdoms, which China has been trying to co-opt as part of its history by way of the so-called Northeast Project. This suggests Korea has tackled attempts at historical distortion by Japan and China with more rhetoric than substance.

I guess I should give these students a break because maybe they didn’t understand which answers to give on this test because you have real history and than you have the revised history of the Korean government that revises unpleasant aspects of Korean history such as Korean war criminals during World War II.  Does the student answer the actual number or the revised number only accepted by the Korean government?  Actually I would be impressed if the students even knew Korea had war criminals during World War II to begin with.  Just think if they asked a question about who was responsible for the Gwangju Uprising how many different answer they would get.  The politicization of Korean history by politicians for their own short term political advantage is what is responsible for so many competing theories of Korean history.  Not to mention the North Korean fifth column interested in rewriting history in order to give a more sympathetic and positive view of North Korea while at the same time exploiting issues in order to drive a wedge between the US and the general Korean public which they have had much success at.  Unfortunately I don’t see this trend changing any time soon.

Korean families are now suing the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan in order to remove the names of 21,000 Koreans enshrined there for their war time service to imperial Japan during World War II:

Families of Koreans who died while serving as part of the Japanese military during World War II are planning to sue the group that runs the Yasukuni Shrine, considered a symbol of Japan’s war of aggression. The families demanding that memorial tablets of their ancestors and relatives be removed from the shrine.

This is believed to mark the first time Koreans have sued the shrine itself instead of the Japanese government to have family members’ memorial tablets removed.

The group “Anti-Yasukuni Joint Action” announced that it is suing on behalf of the 21,000 Koreans memorialized in Yasukuni, and that it plans to file the suit at Tokyo District Court on the anniversary of the March 1 independence campaign of 1919. The group says it is going to announce the move in a press conference on Friday, December 8, the 64th anniversary of the outbreak of the Pacific War.

One of the little known facts of World War II is the number of Koreans that served in the Imperial Japanese military.  Korean scholars today say those who served were forced to fight in the Japanese military against their will.  This is true in some cases but as was evident by the conviction of a number of Koreans for war crimes after World War II many did serve freely.

So that brings me to the point I want to make, is that if there are Koreans that did serve freely and believed in the Japanese cause, then what’s wrong with them being enshrined at Yasukuni?  Isn’t that what they would have wanted if they believed enough in the Japanese cause to die for it?  That leads me to my next point of how will a court be able to tell the difference between Koreans who served freely and those who were forced into the military in able to determine who should be removed from the shrine?  Plus can relatives legally speak for what the deceased would have wanted in the first place?  This is also taking for granted that the court can even remove the names because Yasukuni is a private shrine and not funded or operated by the government.

Common sense tells me that if immediate family members to the deceased want the name removed then they should remove it, but for a few families to demand that all 21,000 names be removed from Yasukuni seems like a stretch to me.  Imagine if a few families from an ethnic minority in America sued to have all people of that minority removed from the Vietnam War Memorial?  It wouldn’t happen; just like in Japan I don’t see court ordering the removal of any names from Yasukuni either.

However, I did find this paragraph from the article very interesting:

The Korean branch of the anti-Yasukuni group plans to hold an “East Asian Peace Festival” next year for human rights and peace activists from Korea, Taiwan, and Japan in Tokyo next year, and organize a scholarly meeting in New York to make the international community aware of “how Yasukuni is against civilization and peace” before taking its case to the UN Human Rights Commission.

What I find it interesting that this Korean group thinks Yasukuni is “against civilization and peace” and is an issue that needs to be taken up with the UN Human Rights Commission, when just 30 miles north of Seoul is a real human rights issue, North Korea that the majority of Koreans like to ignore and cover for as a “special situation”.  Maybe Yasukuni is a “special situation” to the Japanese as well?

HT: Japan Probe

There is some interesting debate going on over at the Marmot’s Hole over a Korean Government’s Truth Commission^TM report absolving 83 World War II war criminals of Korean ethnicity that served with the Imperial Japanese military. The Marmot’s Hole has since posted a follow up report concerning well noted Korean scholar and author Michael Breen’s response to this report:

If the Truth Commission wants to get its moral bearings straight and live up to its name, it should examine the broader assumptions with which it is approaching its mission to resolve the pain of the past. In doing so, it should recognize that the idea that Koreans were all unhappy citizens of imperialism bar a few collaborators is a myth. Koreans were Japanese citizens, and it did not occur to many to support the allies against their own country. Ask anyone who lived in that period, and they will tell you that the political correctness of the post-colonial generation is distorted.

They will also tell you that from 1937-42, Koreans in the Japanese army were volunteers _ who included King Kojong’s son, an army general _ and that large-scale forced conscription only started in 1944. The Commission should know that those rounding up comfort women were Koreans and those torturing people in police stations were mostly Koreans. Koreans, in other words, were more “horrible’’ to Koreans in many cases than the Japanese were. The solution to this dilemma is to accept the notion of individual responsibility. I asked my father’s friend why he thought the Koreans camp guards were so nasty. “When the camp commander was angry about something, he’d berate his officers,’’ he explained. “The officers would take their frustration out on the Japanese privates, and they would take theirs out on the Korean privates. The Koreans would then take their anger out on the only people beneath them _ that was us.’’

So, Truth Commissioners, who’s the victim, my father’s friend or the camp guard?

Some pretty hard hitting comments from Michael Breen. The Korean government’s hypocrisy in regards to their complaints of the Japanese not recognizing properly their own war time history is quite clear after this Truth Commission’s report. I could go on and on about the Korean government’s attempts to rewrite history in order to protect Korean Pride^TM but both Marmot’s Hole postings and the comments do a good job of doing this. So make sure you check them out.

Prior Posting: The Costs of War in Korea

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The diplomatic approach that the Clinton administration was trying to use was much like today’s current North Korean nuclear crisis where the administration wanted to refer the North Koreans to the UN Security Council in order to impose sanctions. However, sanctions would not work without the help of the Chinese who provided most of the natural resources and food for the North Koreans and held a veto on the Security Council. In order to get the Chinese on his side, Bill Clinton on May 29, 1994 granted Most Favored Nation trading status to the Chinese without human rights conditions. It worked and the Chinese told the North Koreans that they could not count on a Chinese veto in the security council against sanctions.

In response to this news, the North Koreans withdrew from the IAEA and expelled what remaining nuclear inspectors were left in North Korea. This is where Selig Harrison comes into the picture. For those who don’t follow Korean affairs closely, Harrison is a well known Pyongyang cheerleader and America basher that parades as a scholar and author of all things Korean. The North Koreans confided in Harrison that they would be willing to give up their current nuclear program if the United States built them light water nuclear reactors that would not provide the fuel to make nuclear weapons but would solve the North Korean’s energy needs. When Harrison arrived back to Seoul with his news, few in the ROK government were as optimistic as he was. In fact the ROK government had begun wide range civil defense drills in preparation for war. Plus another American apologist for the North Koreans had just shown up as well that irritated the South Koreans, Jimmy Carter.

Carter has long had a negative image in the minds of Korea’s policy makers because he had tried so hard during his failed presidency to withdraw all the US soldiers from the Korean peninsula against the wishes of the South Korean government. Now here was again trying to decide the fate of the Korean peninsula on his own. In fact President Kim Young-sam said that Carter’s trip was “ill timed” and only helped the North Korean’s “stalling tactics”. Plus the Clinton Administration wasn’t keen on the trip either insisting that he only go as a private citizen and not as a messenger of the US government. None of this mattered to Carter however, because he was eager to get his legacy and making peace on the Korean peninsula was going to be it.

Next Posting: Carter’s Deal

Concluded May 22, 1882; Ratification advised by the Senate January 9, 1883; ratified by the President February 13, 1883; ratifications exchanged May 19, 1883; proclaimed June 4, 1883.

The United States of America and the Kingdom of Chosen, being sincerely, desirous of establishing permanent relations of amity and friendship between their respective peoples, have to this end appointed — that is to say, the President of the United States –R.W. Shufeldt, Commodore, U.S. Navy and his Commissioner Plenipotentiary, and His Majesty, the King of Chosen, Shin-Chen, President of the Royal Cabinet, Chin-Hong-Chi, Member of the Royal Cabinet, as his Commissioners Plenipotentiary, who, having reciprocally examined their respective full Powers, which have been found to be in due form, have agreed upon the several following articles:

Article I. 

There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between the President of the United States and the King of Chosen and the citizens and subjects of their respective Governments.  If other Powers deal unjustly or oppressively with either Government, the other will exert their good offices, on being informed of the case, to bring about an amicable arrangement, thus showing their friendly feelings.

Article II.

After the conclusion of this Treaty of amity and commerce, the High Contracting Powers may each appoint Diplomatic Representatives to reside at the Court of the other, and may each appoint Consular Representatives at the ports of the other, which are open to foreign commerce, at their own convenience.

These officials shall have relations with the corresponding local authorities of equal rank upon a basis of mutual equality.

The Diplomatic and Consular Representatives of the two Governments shall receive mutually all the privileges, rights and immunities without discrimination, which are accorded to the same class of Representatives from the most favored nation.

Consuls shall exercise their functions only on receipt of an exequatur from the Government, to which they are accredited.  Consular authorities shall be bona fide officials.  No merchants shall be permitted to exercise the duties of the office, nor shall Consular officers be allowed to engage in trade.  At ports, to which no Consular Representatives have been appointed, the Consuls of other Powers may be invited to act, provided, that no merchant shall be allowed to assume Consular functions, or the provisions of this Treaty may, in such case, be enforced by the local authorities.

If Consular Representatives of the United States in Chosen conduct their business in an improper manner, their exequaturs may be revoked, subject to the approval previously obtained, of the Diplomatic Representative of the United States.

Article III.

Whenever United States vessels, either because of stress of weather, or by want of fuel or provisions cannot reach the nearest open port of Chosen, they may enter any port or harbor, either to take refuge therein, or to get supplies of wood, coal and other necessaries, or to make repairs, the expenses incurred thereby being defrayed by the ship’s master.  In such event the officers and people of the locality shall display their sympathy by rendering full assistance, and their liberality by furnishing the necessities required.

If a United States vessel carries on a clandestine trade at a port not open to foreign commerce, such vessel with her cargo shall be seized and confiscated.

If a United States vessel be wrecked on the coast of Chosen, the local authorities, on being informed of the occurrence, shall immediately render assistance to the crew, provided for their present necessities, and take the measures necessary for the salvage of the ship and the preservation of her cargo.  They shall also bring the matter to the knowledge of the nearest Consular Representative of the United States, in order that steps may be taken to send the crew home and to save the ship and cargo.  The necessary expenses shall be defrayed either by the ship’s master or by the United States.

Article IV

All citizens of the united States of America in Chosen, peaceably attending to their own affairs, shall receive and enjoy for themselves and everything appertaining to them the protection of the local authorities of the Government of Chosen, who shall defend them from all insult and injury of any sort.  if their dwellings or property be threatened or attacked by mobs, incendiaries, or other violent or lawless persons, the local officers on requisition of the Consul, shall immediately dispatch a military force to disperse the rioters, apprehend the guilty individuals, and punish them with the utmost rigor of the law.

Subjects of Chosen, guilty of any criminal act towards citizens of the United States, shall be punished by the authorities of Chosen according to the laws of Chosen; and citizens of the United States, either on shore or in any merchant-vessel, who may insult, trouble or wound the persons or injure the property of the people of Chosen, shall be arrested and punished only by the Consul or other public functionary of the United States thereto authorized, according to the laws of the United States.

When controversies arise in the Kingdom of Chosen between citizens of the United States and the subjects of His Majesty, which need to be examined and decided by the public officers of the two nations, it is agreed between the two Governments of the United States and Chosen, that such cases shall be tried by the proper official of the nationality of the defendant, according to the laws of that nation.  The properly authorized official of the plaintiff’s nationality shall be freely permitted to attend the trial, and shall be treated with courtesy due to his position.  he shall be granted all proper facilities for watching the proceedings in the interest of justice.  If he so desires, he shall have the right to present, to examine and cross examine witnesses.  If he is dissatisfied with the proceedings, he shall be permitted to protest against them in detail.

It is however mutually agreed and understood between the High Contracting Powers, that whenever the King of Chosen shall have so far modified and reformed the statutes and judicial procedures of his Kingdom that, in the judgment of the United States, they conform to the laws and course of justice in the United States, the right of exterritorial jurisdiction over United States citizens in Chosen shall be abandoned, and thereafter united States citizens, when within the limits of the Kingdom of Chosen, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the native authorities.

Article V.

Merchants and merchant-vessels of Chosen visiting the United States for purposes of traffic, shall pay duties and tonnage-dues and all fees according to the Customs-Regulations of the united States, but no higher or other rates of duties and tonnage-dues shall be exacted of them, than are levied upon citizens of the United States or upon citizens or subjects of the most favored nation.

Merchants and merchant-vessels of the United States visiting Chosen for purposes of traffic, shall pay duties upon all merchandise imported and exported.  The authority to levy duties is of right vested in the Government of Chosen.  The tariff of duties upon exports and imports, together with the Customs-Regulations for the prevention of smuggling and other irregularities, will be fixed by the authorities of Chosen and communicated to the proper officials of the United States, to be by the latter notified to their citizens and duly observed.

It is however agreed in the first instance as a general measure, that the tariff upon such imports as are articles of daily use shall not exceed an ad valorem duty of ten per centum; that the tariff upon such imports as are luxuries, as for instance foreign wines, foreign tobacco, clocks and watches, shall not exceed an ad valorem-duty of thirty per centum, and that native produce exported shall pay a duty not to exceed five percentum ad valorem.  And it is further agreed that the duty upon foreign imports shall be paid once for all at the port of entry, and that no other dues, duties, fees, taxes or charges of any sort shall be levied upon such imports either in the interior of Chosen or at the ports.

United States merchant-vessels entering the ports of Chosen shall pay tonnage-dues at the rate of five mace per ton, payable once in three months on each vessel, according to the Chinese calendar.

Article VI.

Subjects of Chosen who may visit the United States shall be permitted to reside and to rent premises, purchase land, or to construct residences or warehouses in all parts of the country.  They shall be freely permitted to pursue their various callings and avocations, and to traffic in all merchandise, raw and manufactured, that is not declared contraband by law.  Citizens of the United States who may resort to the ports of Chosen which are open to foreign commerce, shall be permitted to reside at such open ports within the limits of the concessions and to lease buildings or land, or to construct residences or warehouses therein.  They shall be freely permitted to pursue their various callings and avocations within the limits of the port, and to traffic in all merchandise, raw and manufactured, that is not declared contraband by law.

No coercion or intimidation in the acquisition of land or buildings shall be permitted, and the land-rent as fixed by the authorities of Chosen shall be paid.  And it is expressly agreed that land so acquired in the open ports of Chosen still remains an integral part of the Kingdom, and that all rights of jurisdiction over persons and property within such areas remain vested in the authorities of Chosen, except in so far as such rights have been expressly relinquished by this Treaty.

American citizens are not permitted either to transport foreign imports to the interior for sale, or to proceed thither to purchase native produce.  Nor are they permitted to transport native produce from one open port to another open port.

Violations of this rule will subject such merchandise to confiscation, and the merchant offending will be handed over to the Consular Authorities to be dealt with.

Article VII.

The Governments of the united States and of Chosen mutually agree and undertake that subjects of Chosen shall not be permitted to import opium into any of the ports of the United States, and citizens of the united States shall not be permitted to import opium into any of the open ports of Chosen, to transport it from one open port to another open port, or to traffic in it in Chosen.  This absolute prohibition which extends to vessels owned by the citizens or subjects of either Power, to foreign vessels employed by them, and to vessels owned by the citizens or subjects of either Power and employed by other persons for the transportation of opium, shall be enforced by appropriate legislation on the part of the United States and of Chosen, and offenders against it shall be severely punished.

Article VIII.

Whenever the Government of Chosen shall have reason to apprehend a scarcity of food within the limits of the Kingdom, His Majesty may by Decree temporarily prohibit the export of all breadstuffs, and such Decree shall be binding on all citizens of the United States in Chosen upon due notice having been given them by the Authorities of Chosen through the proper officers of the united States; but it is to be understood that the exportation of rice and breadstuffs of every description is prohibited from the open port of Yin-Chuen.

Chosen having of old prohibited the exportation of red gingseng, if citizens of the United States clandestinely purchase it for export, it shall be confiscated and the offenders punished.

Article IX.

The purchase of cannon, small arms, swords, gunpowder, shot and all munitions of war is permitted only to officials of the Government of Chosen, and they may be imported by citizens of the United States only under a written permit from the authorities of Chosen.  If these articles are clandestinely imported, they shall be confiscated and the offending party shall be punished.

Article X.

The officers and people of either nation residing in the other, shall have the right to employ natives for all kinds of lawful work.

Should, however, subjects of Chosen, guilty of violation of the laws of the Kingdom, or against whom any action has been brought, conceal themselves in the residences or warehouses of United States citizens, or on board United States merchant-vessels, the Consular Authorities of the United States, on being notified of the fact by the local authorities, will either permit the latter to dispatch constables to make the arrests, or the persons will be arrested by the Consular Authorities and handed over to the local constables.

Officials or citizens of the United States shall not harbor such persons.

Article XI.

Students of either nationality, who may proceed to the country of the other, in order to study the language, literature, laws or arts shall be given all possible protection and assistance in evidence of cordial good will.

Article XII.

This being the First treaty negotiated by Chosen, and hence being general and and incomplete in its provisions, shall in the first instance be put into operation in all things stipulated herein.  As to stipulations not contained herein, after an interval of five years, when the officers and the people of the two Powers shall have become more familiar with each others language, a further negotiation of commercial provisions and regulations in detail, in conformity with international law and without unequal discriminations on either part shall be had.

Article XIII.

This Treaty, and future official correspondence between the two contracting Governments shall be made, on the part of Chosen, in the Chinese language.

The United States shall either use the Chinese language, or, if English is to be used, it shall be accompanied with a Chinese version, in order to avoid misunderstanding.

Article XIV.

The High Contracting Powers hereby agree that, should at any time the King of Chosen grant to any nation or to the merchants or citizens of any nation, any right, privilege or favor, connected either with navigation, commerce, political or other intercourse, which is not conferred by this Treaty, such right, privilege and favor shall freely inure to the benefit of the United States, its public officers, merchants and citizens, providing always, that whenever such right, privilege or favor is accompanied by any condition, or equivalent concession granted by the other nation interested, the United States, its officers and people shall only be entitled to the benefit of such right, privilege or favor upon complying with the conditions or concessions connected therewith.

In faith whereof the respective Commissioners Plenipotentiary have signed and sealed the foregoing at Yin-Chuen in English and Chinese, being three originals of each text of enen tenor and date, the ramifications of which shall be exchanged at Yin-Chuen within one year from the date of its execution, and immediately thereafter this Treaty shall be in all its provisions publicly proclaimed and made known by both Governments in their respective countries, in order that it may be obeyed by their citizens and subjects respectively.

Chosen, May the 22nd, A. D. 1882.

[seal.]  R. W. Shufeldt,  Commodore, U.S.N., Envoy of the U.S. to Chosen

[seal.]  Shin Chen, Chin Hong Chi } [In Chinese.]

Senate resolution advising ratification.

Resolved, (two thirds of the Senators present concurring,) That the Senate advise and consent to the ratification of the treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and the kingdom of Corea or Chosen, concluded on the 22nd of May 1882.

Resolved, That it is the understanding of the Senate in agreeing to the foregoing resolution, that the clause, “nor are they permitted to transport native produce from one open port to another open port,” in Article VI of said treaty, it is not intended to prohibit and does not prohibit American ships from going from one open port to another open port in Corea or Chosen to receive Corean cargo for exportation, or to discharge foreign cargo, and

Resolved, That the President be request to communicate the foregoing interpretation of said clause to the Corean or Chosen government on the exchange of ratifications of said treaty, as the sense in which the United States understand the same.

Resolved further, That the Senate in advising and consenting to the treaty mentioned in the foregoing resolutions does not admit or acquiesce in any right or constitutional power in the President to authorize or empower any person to negotiate treaties or carry on diplomatic negotiations with any foreign power, unless such person shall have been appointed for such purpose or clothed with such power by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, except in the case of a Secretary of State or diplomatic officer appointed by the President to fill a vacancy occurring during the recess of the Senate, and it makes the declaration in order that the means employed in the negotiation of said treaty not drawn into precedent.

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate all the foregoing resolutions to the President.

Attest:  F.E. Shober,  Acting Secretary. 

With the destruction of the Japanese fleet by Admiral Yi Sun-shin’s forces this hastened the retreat of the Japanese forces from the peninsula. However, what should have been a joyous moment for both the Koreans and the Chinese left a bittersweet taste in their mouths with the death of Admiral Yi, the destruction of the Korean peninsula, the heavy Korean and Chinese military losses, and the bankrupting of both countries due to the war against the Japanese.

The military and economic crippling of the Ming Empire by the Imjimwaeran War was complete 30 years later when the Manchu invaders conquered the Ming Empire and took control of China. Korea as well was crippled by the invasion and the incompetent Korean rulers in order to save money and weary of war virtually disband the military. An additional factor was that Chosun rulers were always concerned about a military general overthrowing the monarcy and now they had their chance to do away with the military by depending on Chinese hegemony. Admiral Yi’s state of the art and invincible turtle boats and navy were left in disrepair and sent to the dust bin of history.

The Korean court would later pay for this decision as well when the Manchu invaders attacked and conquered Korea. Possibly if Korea had maintained their naval might the peninsula might have a different story to tell. Instead this began a process of 250 years of Korea becoming a defacto province of Manchu China because they had to make annual tribute payments to the Chinese emperor. An additional humilation was the fact that as the Japanese retreated from Korea they kidnapped any artisan they find and took them back to Japan with them. These artisans would help lead Japan to a cultural revolution in their arts and ceramics during the Tokugawa era. Plus what cultural properties the Koreans had left were torched and destroyed by the Japanese. When reading about cultural buildings or Buddhist Temples in Korea you will notice that just about everyone of this buildings had been destroyed and rebuilt after the Hideyoshi invasion of the peninsula.

These humiliations caused the Koreans to look inward and distrust foreigners. Korea had once been a great maritime nation with strong influence in northeast Asia. After the war with the Japanese and the Manchu invasion afterwards, the Koreans became a poor, destitute nation, that closed their borders to foreigners. This inwardness would cause Korea to become known as the Hermit Nation. This Hermit Nation mentality caused Korea to not receive advancements in technology from the west before the Japanese. This would have consequences years later in 1898 when the Imperial Japanese Army would once again attack and occupy Korea in their quest to conquer China.

The Japanese on the other hand also faced steep change in the political make up of their country. The warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu had allied with Hideyoshi but he never sent soldiers to support Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea. Tokugawa always felt that invading Korea would be a failure and that it would only be a matter of time before Hideyoshi’s forces would fail in Korea. Fail they did and the forces that did remain were not enough to defeat Tokugawa as he made his claim to the title of Shogun of all of Japan by winning the epic battle of Sekigahara in 1600, two years after the end of the Imjimgaeran War. Tokugawa’s clan would rule Japan for the next 250 years. At no time during this reign did the Tokugawa rulers ever attack Korea again. This was all a legacy of the military prowess of Admiral Yi Sun-shin.

So what effect has Admiral Yi had on Koreans today? He is obviously a source of national pride for Koreans. He has statues everywhere and plenty of TV shows and movies have featured Admiral Yi. However, very little is known about the great admiral overseas compared to a comparable legend such as Lord Horatio Nelson. Both Yi and Nelson had a lot in common. Both became legends in their respective countries because they both were respected leaders who had never lost a battle at sea. Plus both admirals died in combat during one last epic battle that determined the fate of their countries. Lord Nelson died during the battle of Trafalgar where the British had finally soundly defeated Napoleon’s navy that ultimately ended his plans to invade the British Isles. Like Yi, Nelson also did not tell his men that he had been wounded until after the battle had been won. The only real difference between the two men is that, Yi according to legend never lost a boat which if true, is an extremely amazing accomplishment.

However, Nelson remains globally known compared to Admiral Yi who remains an unknown outside of Korea. This is historically due to Korea’s Hermit Nation policy, but also it is due today to Korea not promoting such a verifiable legend. People of western cultures know more about Japanese and Chinese historical figures than they do of any comparable Korean figures. This is mostly do to China and Japan’s promotion of their history.

Maybe things will change as Korea is now promoting their Hallyu phenomenon to spread Korean culture. However, it appears Hallyu is spreading not real Korean history or culture just cheap “dramas”, plastic surgery, and Bae Yong-joon. KBS did make a drama of Admiral Yi, but has yet to make an impact globally or even regionally. I wonder what would happen if they dressed up Bae Yong-joon as Admiral Yi? If he doesn’t appeal to a global audience they could always have Nicolas Cage play Admiral Yi. Doesn’t he look good in traditional Korean dress?

Never the less Admiral Yi remains a cetifiable legend worthy of respect from all people. He stepped up and became a great leader for the nation when a leader was needed most. Though often compared to Lord Nelson he reminds me more of the legendary Roman Cincinattus. Though beloved by the people, Yi never made a play for political power. He was strictly an honorable military leader that fought for the good of the nation, but was consistently being torn down by political opponents.

One could make an arguement that this Korean phenomenom continues today. In recent history the greatest Korean leader Park Chung-hee is consistently being attacked by his politcal opponents in an attempt to rewrite history. It is appears that every new President in Korea attempts to rewrite the history of past presidencies for their own political purposes. Even former generals such as Paik Sun-yup who distinguished themselves and led Korea out of what may have been the nation’s darkest moment, the Korean War, have been declared traitors by their political opponents by being recasted as Japanese collaborators. At least no one has recasted Admiral Yi as a Japanese collaborator. Instead he has a naval destroyer named after him to guard the Dokto islets with. Even in death the legend of Admiral Yi continues to defend Korea.

Prior Posting:  The Return of Yi Sun-shin

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Hopefully this series of posts has been able to shed a little light on the guy foreigners see all over the place in Korea, be it statues, paintings, or even the Korean currency, but know little of. I tried to write the posts as a series of brief overviews of his life. If you know more information or want to discuss deatails about Admiral Yi’s life feel free to add to the discussion in the comments section.

With the defeat and beheading of Admiral Won Kyun, King Seonjo immediately reinstated Yi Sun-shin to his post as commander of the Korean navy. The only problem, was that there wasn’t much of a Korean navy left to command. Yi had only 13 ships and a little over 130 men to fight the Japanese with. Once the Korean King realized how complete the destruction of the Korean navy had been, he ordered Admiral Yi to disband the navy and the remaining soldiers to join the Korean army to fight the Japanese mainland advance.

Once again, Yi refused the order from the King and was determined to fight the Japanese navy with the few ships he had. The Japanese navy on the other hand were preparing to move around the peninsula by sea to attack and recapture Seoul. The only thing standing between the Japanese military and an open invasion route to Seoul was Yi Sun-shin and his 13 ships.

Images of Yi can be seen all over Korea to those who pay attention. For example Yi’s likeness is on the Korean 100 won coin.

On October 26, 1597, Admiral Yi lured the overconfident Japanese armada of 133 ships into a narrow channel between Chindo Island and the Korean mainland. The narrow channel did not allow the Japanese ships to maneuver and surround the 13 Korean ships. On the other hand the Korean ships with their superior fire power were able to easily pick off the Japanese ships as they entered the channel. The Koreans were even able to capture the Japanese flag ship where Admiral Yi had the Japanese captain beheaded and his head raised on a flagpole.

The remaining Japanese ships now realized their blunder and tried to exit the channel. However, just as Yi had planned, the tide rolled in preventing the Japanese ships from exiting the channel. In addition a metal chain installed by Yi’s men was pulled across the channel trapping the Japanese ships. In all 31 Japanese ships were destroyed and 90 were partially destroyed and heavily damaged in the battle where Yi’s forces lost no ships except for the one battle ship commanded by Bae that fled from the fight. This amazing victory was called the “Miracle of the Myongyang” and solidified Admiral Yi’s mythical status as the man who defeated 133 boats with only 12 of his own. Definitely an achievement of a legend.

The Japanese were back on the defensive and Yi was eager to crush them once and for all. To do this he requested naval support from the Chinese. A Chinese naval armada led by Admiral Chen Lin arrived to augment Yi’s forces. The Chinese proved ineffective in hunting down the Japanese because negotiations between the Japanese and the Chinese restarted and the Chen Lin was willing to take bribes to leave the Japanese navy alone.

In September of 1596, Hideyoshi had grown ill and died. The regents he placed in power until his son was old enough to rule had decided to withdraw the Japanese forces from Korea. However, Admiral Yi would not let the Japanese navy leave intact to threaten Korea again in the future. The Japanese navy in an effort to crush China’s navy before withdrawing, cornered Chen Lin’s armada and Chen requested Yi to come to his aid. Yi’s forces arrived and battled the Japanese Navy on December 15, 1598 in the Noryang Strait between Namhae Island and the Korean coastline.

In this climatic battle Yi and his Chinese allies destroyed hundreds of Japanese ships and finally delivered the long awaited knockout blow to the Japanese navy. However, this victory came at a great cost as Admiral Yi was fatally wounded during the battle in the arm pit. He hid his injury during the battle from his men in order to not discourage them. After the battle Yi died from his injuries at the age of 53. Admiral Chen Lin reportedly fell to the deck of his ship three times in grief after learning of the death of the beloved and respected Yi.

With the end of the Imjimgaeran War, people mourned Yi Sun-shin throughout the Korean peninsula. In death Yi had finally received the respect he deserved from the Korean nobility when he was post-humanously given the title of the third head of state and the feudal great lord of Tokpung. His long time friend Prime Minister Yu Song-nyong provided the eulogy for the great admiral:

“He was capable of withholding the falling sky with a single hand of his.”

Yi was not only a hero in Korea but his exploits and honorable nature were lionized in both China and Japan. In fact in 1905, Japanese Admiral Heihachiro Togo declared that Admiral Yi was the greatest naval commander of all time and closely studied his strategies which would later prove invaluable during his defeat of the Russian Baltic fleet in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War.

It is ironic that the Korean naval hero, Yi Sun-shin would end up inspiring the Japanese naval commander responsible for rebuilding the Japanese navy that would ultimately lead to the conquest of Korea. After the defeat of the Russian navy at Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese had open access to Korea’s waterways that finally completed the conquest of Korea that Hideyoshi had begun 300 years earlier. Unlike 1598, this time there was no Yi Sun-shin to save Korea.

Prior Posting: The Fall of a Korean Legend

Next Posting: The Aftermath of the Imjimgaeran War