Korean writers of Japanese poetry

Over at the New York Times is a fascinating article about Korean writers and enthusiasts of Japanese poetry - and the negative response their work often receives.

The best known of the obscure group of Korean writers of Japanese poetry was Son Ho-yun, who died in 2003 at the age of 80. She had published six volumes of tanka, Japanese poems of 31 syllables, in Japan and had been invited to a New Year’s poetry reading at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

Despite this, in 2005, when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan recited one of her poems during a news conference with Roh Moo-hyun, then South Korea’s president, most Koreans were baffled as to who she was. In the poem, Ms. Son dreamed of better relations between the countries.

The article provides an example of the responses she received:

Once, a Korean editor who was invited to speak at one of her book parties humiliated Ms. Son by reproaching her for writing Japanese poetry.

Now that's how to behave when you get invited to speak at someone's party! Where do people learn such behavior? It's not like they're reminded of the history between the two countries every day, is it?

On an unrelated note, I had to both chuckle and shake my head in hopelessness when I saw the weather update on the Joongang Ilbo's website (in both English and Korean). It posts temperatures and weather for Korea's 6 largest cities... and one other place:

Unseen photos of the Samil movement, 1919

While looking for something else I came upon this page, which has scans of a 1919 Korean Red Cross pamphlet about the suppression of the Samil independence movement (which I talked a lot about here). It includes the declaration of Korean independence, 34 photos, and a statement from the Korean Red Cross. What's most remarkable are the photos, many of which I'd never seen before. The pamphlet says they were taken by a foreigner (singular), and one of them was most certainly taken Francis Schofield, so it would seem they came from his camera. I've included some below, but for those who want to see them all but don't want to spend the time necessary to look at them on the website, I made a pdf, which can be downloaded here (scroll down to bottom left).

The photo below is well known - or at least the right half of it is. I made a panorama from two separate photos. To the left is Deoksu Palace (with some sort of awning set up - perhaps for Gojong's funeral) and to the right is the old city hall, a building I know nothing about.


Here the protesters are behind Deoksu palace, with what I'm quite certain is the British legation in the background (The U.S. legation is nearby as well).


The caption for this photo reads "Japanese soldiers guarding the park gate." Perhaps this is the gate to Tapgol Park?


The caption for this photo says it's in a "corner of the park".


Below are women being taken to the police station for shouting "Mansei!"


The caption for the following photo reads: "Japanese soldiers dot the streets of Seoul and other important cities in Korea like flies - one Japanese soldier at an interval of five houses."


Shopkeepers stayed closed in solidarity with the demonstrators.


The photo below is of "A foreigner who was arrested for harbouring Korean revolutionists on way to trial with his head covered." Perhaps this is Eli Miller Mowry, an American missionary who was arrested and sentenced to 6 months in prison.


Schofield, working as he did at Severance Hospital, would have had many chances to photograph those beaten and tortured by the Japanese.



The following two photos are are very unpleasant, just to warn you.



These are about half of the photos of the wounded, and they really do make clear how brutal the repression was. Schofield hid his papers about and photos of the uprising in his false leg when he left Korea, if I remember correctly, because the Japanese were trying everything they could to stop images such as these from leaving the country.

Below is a well known photo taken by Schofield on April 18, 1919, three days after the Jeam-ri massacre. A Japanese police officer is explaining away the burned houses to a foreign missionary.



Above are two grieving widows. Below is one of the only houses left standing in Jeam-ri.



The photo above shows more destruction at Jeam-ri; the one below shows the destruction at the nearby Whasu-ri:


I've seen photos of Koreans tied to crosses at their executions, but have never been sure such photos were real. Here is one from the pamphlet which is captioned "Crucifixion in 1919: This photograph was taken by the International Film Company a few minutes after the execution by the Japanese soldiers." So what it's saying is that the Japanese, who were trying so hard to make sure no photos of atrocities left Korea so as to influence the west, let a foreign film crew photograph crucified prisoners? I'm not saying this didn't happen, I'm just saying I'd need some more proof.


At any rate, it's a fascinating pamphlet, as I'd never seen most of these photos before.

A lack of perspective

In this post I compared the images below, showing how an image of the American merchant ship General Sherman (destroyed on the Taedonggang in 1866) had been reproduced on a beer cap for the North Korean beer Taedonggang:



That post was linked to today in Andrew Leonard's column at Salon called How the World Works. Neat. But... in the comments to that post (and in those to my original post) a question is raised as to whether or not the image is actually of a bridge, and not the General Sherman. A link to these photos of Pyongyang shows the Cheongryu Bridge, which I'd seen on Google Earth before I'd written the post, but dismissed because, well, who's ever heard of a suspension bridge with two towers of very different heights? Those photos of Pyongyang (many more are here) were taken in 2004, two years after Taedonggang beer began production, and the caption next to the photo of the bridge reads: "It is pictured on bottle caps of a beer brand". Digging further, I found the stamps below of the bridge, which show it from a more stylized perspective. I think the most important word there may be "perspective", as the images below make it seem likely that the image on the cap is the bridge foreshortened. Compare the image at upper right and the bottle cap:



It seems pretty certain it is the bridge (which is, I believe, the newest one in Pyongyang), though the perspective is wrong and the blobs under the bridge look nothing like piers. Was the artist who worked on the cap one of the people who worked with Guy Delisle?

Perhaps I should have known - North Korean propaganda isn't typically very subtle, is it?

Korea under US occupation, 1945-48

I looked briefly at the book "I Married A Korean" in my last post. The author, Agnes Davis Kim, described the American occupation of Korea, which I've transcribed below (I've looked at that period before - the photos come from this site). The author's husband, David Kim, worked for the Office of Civil Information. They had previously lived near Seoul between 1934 and 1940. I think this is an interesting chapter, as it looks at different issues (thieving refugees, the behavior of the occupation troops) from both points of view.


"Korea under the conditions which existed at the time of the United States occupation was almost unbelievably different from the Korea I had known the first six years after my marriage. During those years, although we and all Koreans were constantly conscious of the power and supervision of the Japanese over our lives, the country was law-abiding and went peacefully about its work. The people, trained in the old Confucian morality, were quiet, courteous, and dependable – even the most illiterate. The dignity, conscientious attitude and earnestness of nearly every Korean I knew led me to feel that a Korean was a born gentleman. Many of those who knew Korea best felt the same way.

But when we arrived in Korea after World War II, everything was different. Through years of hunger and privation, the very nature of Koreans seemed to have changed. The calm dignity and courtesy which had marked them as a gentle people had given way to a defensively aggressive attitude that was often discourteous. Instead of a peaceful, law-abiding atmosphere in which everyone felt secure, the people lived under a constant threat of being robbed of what little they possessed. At night, a man might load his “jiggie” or cart with farm produce to take to market in the morning, only to find it was gone when he awoke and prepared to leave with it. Jars, pans, clothes left on the line to bleach, or anything removable what was left out at night, might be gone in the morning. This was almost unheard of happening during the pre-war days."

[She goes on to relate a story of firing through the window one night at an intruder her dog was barking at.]

"Careful investigation the next morning revealed nothing missing, and we concluded that if any thieves had been around they had been scared away by the shot. But when David’s nephew drove his father and mother into the city later in the day, a near accident disclosed what the thieves had been after. One of the jeep wheels rolled off and the ar skidded to a stop with one axle dragging. The thieves had been after the jeep tires, and had partially loosened the bolts preparatory to taking off the wheel.

The stealing of automobile parts was so well organized and so bold that it was dangerous to leave a car parked and unguarded for even a few minutes. Beggar children were taught to steal lights or small parts almost under the eyes of observers. Anything left in a car for even five minutes was taken from it. I lost all my winter clothes after having them dry-cleaned during Christmas holidays. David left them for only about two minutes, but in that time, the glass of the window was broken, the door unlocked by reaching through the hole, and my clothes made off with, and nor a trace was to be found.

The large amount of thievery which went on was not surprising however. During most of the time we were there under the United States occupation refugees from North Korea came into Seoul at a rate of about three thousand a day. These were people dispossessed of everything except the clothes they wore and what they could carry. So great was the refugee problem that relief facilities could not cope with it.

Seoul Station

Before the aggression from North Korea was initiated, some ten million people had fled from the north into South Korea. Some of these were members of our family clan. They had owned small plots of land on which they could grow enough food to feed their families and enough to sell to get money for their other needs. Most of the refugees had not been large landowners, but poor though self-supporting farmers. Their land was taken from them to become state-owned property.

These refugees tried making Korean souvenirs, food, or anything they could sell to earn enough money to exist. In most cases they had been hard working, law abiding folk before the division of Korea and the setting up of the Communist regime which had driven them from their homes. Relief organizations of the missionary group as well as the military government tried to help them with used clothes from America, food and, wherever possible, tents or other forms of shelter. But there was not enough to go around. Many had to gather bits of wood, pieces of tin cans, old cloth and straw rice bags which they pieced together to form rude shelters to keep out some of the snow and rain. But these were open, had no heat, and all the cooking had to be done outside over an open fire, no matter what the weather was. The people in these huts had to sleep on the ground, under inadequate rags or stiff straw bags for covers, and that winter was a very severe one. How they could keep alive under the hardships they had to endure is a miracle. Of course many did not. Is it therefore surprising that under the suffering that circumstances beyond their control had forced on them some of them took to stealing to get enough to keep body and soul together?


The attitudes of many of the young American soldiers in the occupation army did not contribute to the happiness and good feelings of the Koreans. Some of the G.I.’s were very good to the Koreans and treated them with respect, for they realized the Koreans were not a conquered people, and Americans were there to protect their interests. Unfortunately, many G.I.’s failed to realize this, and too often their attitude was one of contempt, or even viciously threatening.

One day as I sat in the jeep waiting for David I saw a Korean trying to sell little home-made Korean dolls dressed in bright native colors. He asked several groups of G.I.’s to buy while I sat watching. Several times they looked at him scornfully and struck the dolls from his hands as they passed on, but when he lifted his head, his eyes followed them with very evident hate. I sat there ashamed of the actions of my countrymen. Incidents of such a nature were all too frequent.

On that day I was taken to the hospital, the G.I. who drove the ambulance raved at the “damned gooks” and tried to scare them by swerving as close to them as he could without actually hitting them. “Gook” was the term of contempt used be nearly all G.I.’s. I protested tagainst the attitude and actions of the ambulance driver, pointing out that after all this was their country and we were merely temporary visitors. But he declared that all “gooks” were stupid fools who never watched where they were going. I am sad to say that this was the most common attitude that I observed among G.I.’s. This feeling came from the fact that for years under the Japanese, Koreans had been accustomed to look for traffic coming from the opposite direction, because with drive controls placed on the right side in cars, Japanese cars drove on the left side of the road. Americans had changed the traffic rules, but the habits of years could not be so quickly changed by the Korean people. Many Koreans were killed by American cars, and too often this was when they became frightened and confused by the contemptuous yells and swerving of cars by the American drivers, like my ambulance driver.

But one could not help feeling sorry for the young American soldiers. The rules of discipline with regard to freedom, especially with regard to the association with Koreans, were very strict. The hours of duty were often strenuous, because there were not enough men to carry out the many assignments. Guards at the Office of Civil Information told me that they were assigned to duty every other four hours of the day, with four hours of sleep between their tours of duty and seldom a day off. G.I.’s, resenting this, too often took out their resentment on the Korean people. But if only they had realized it, their contacts with Korean were more important for building up the attitudes towards America and democracy than any official ambassador sent by the American government. It was tragic that the actions of our young soldiers, many of them only in their teens, should have marred the admiration and friendliness that had been so strong right after the liberation.


Some Americans said to me, “Look at all the relief materials we have sent to Korea. That should make them feel friendly towards us. Why we sent seventy five million dollars worth of railroad equipment at one time.”

Where food and clothing have been supplied, or other help of individual needs, Koreans have been very grateful, but the railroad equipment brought us criticism rather than gratitude. If we consider the circumstances from their viewpoint, this criticism is easily understood. We sent $75,000,000 worth of railroad equipment all right, but it was antiquated and without spare parts for repair. The engines broke down so often that many of them were junked on the scrap heap as useless. The best of them had to be relegated to switching in yards, because they were not equal to the task of pulling trains. Is it to be wondered that Koreans said, “If Americans really want to help us, why do they send us their old worn-out stuff? Why don’t they spend the money on an even smaller amount of new equipment that would really be useful, and not this junk that is so aggravating because it is always breaking down and hindering us rather than helping?

Whatever the deal was by which such discarded equipment was sent to Korea, it was not only a futile expenditure of the American taxpayer’s money, but it created resentment in the minds of Koreans.

I knew a number of American civilians who had been sent out to work on constructive programs. For instance, in the agricultural improvement program, there was a very able man sent as an adviser. After surveying the situation, he recommended that the farm organizations left be the Japanese, whose Korean personnel were already trained to carry out such work, be utilized by the Americans. They could simplify and speed up the program, as well as save the extra cost of training and organizing a new group. But the military would not hear of using the exiting setup. In fact, they worked out not only one of their own, but two, one through the countryside and one through the university. Again, a man who was an expert in organizing co-operatives was brought to Korea, but instead of being allowed to do the work he had come to do, he was put at a desk to do clerical work. He resigned and went back to the United States. The cost of starting from scratch on programs for rehabilitating the Korean economy was much greater than utilizing existing organizations would have been. And using American techniques in an Oriental setting was not as effective as the plan worked out by the Japanese.


Our experiences during the 18 months we were in Korea under the army of occupation convinced me that individual contacts with people and the attitudes which those contacts produce in the minds of people under such occupation, or anywhere in fact, are more important than money or material help offered. Money and gifts do not buy friendship. Only friendship sincerely offered, respect and consideration can gain the friendship of a people. In spite of the cruelty and persecution inflicted on those who would not follow Communist orders, the manner in which the Russians treated those who were persuaded to follow them and be trained and indoctrinated in Communist ideas built up a friendly allegiance towards Russia and communism. Treating their followers with respect and restraint was a strict rule observed by the Russians and was maintained as a means of spreading their propaganda.

The effectiveness of teaching democracy and American ideas in South Korea was counteracted by the unfriendly attitudes that Korans met from so many Americans. The examples of drinking and loose living set by too many of the officers families, the attitude of superiority displayed by so many Americans – these too reduced the respect and good will of Koreans toward America, if they did not kill it altogether."

[She then mentions the announcement of American withdrawal in 1948, and her thoughts that this was a bad idea.]

"A short time before we left Korea, a jeep carrying a Russian officer and a Russian woman came along the road near our house, and turned off on the road leading across the valley. That night, and for several nights afterward, a brilliant light flashing dots and dashes came through our bedroom window and awakened me. Being suspicious, I reported it to the American Intelligence Section of the army, and they sent a man out to watch and report on the light phenomena. He found the signals were a code with a definite time pattern. Whatever was done about this, I do not know, but a few nights later, the light disappeared. A little while after that an irregular lard grinding noise took its place – a sound we had never heard before. I reported this also. A few weeks before we were to leave, the anti-communist group formed among the villagers to discover any communist activities got wind of a plot to waylay and kill David on his way home from work. The anti-communist group lay in wait for the would-be assassin, and he was captured and turned over to the police, who imprisoned him. David was earmarked for assassination because of his anti-communist information work among Koreans, in connection with the training for democracy which he carried out with the Office of Civil Information."

I married a Korean

[Update: There is more information in Korean, and scans of many of the illustrations, here]


When I was at home over Christmas my mom mentioned a book she'd read as a kid titled "I Married A Korean," so when I was at my grandparents I looked through the bookcase and found it. It proved to be a fascinating read. Agnes Davis Kim met her future husband David Kim (we never learn his Korean name [Update - Chuhwang Kim - 김주황]) when he was studying in the U.S.. After a 6 year engagement, (during two years of which her fiance was in Korea), she sailed to Korea with several crates of belongings in 1934 , staying there until 1940. They luckily left before the Pacific War began, and in the U.S. her husband's language skills proved useful to the government, so he eventually joined the O.S.S. and served in China. As he was sent to Korea to serve in the U.S. occupation forces there, she eventually returned to Korea with their son, staying there between 1946 and 1948.

There are a number of interesting things to be found in the book, such as a discussion of attitudes towards interracial marriage, or the ways in which she copes living in a farmhouse in the countryside (we never learn where, exactly, but it was likely within the modern boundaries of Seoul, perhaps northwest of Sinchon). She also describes how Korean food is made (an appendix includes recipes) as well as describing traditional ways of doing laundry and ironing (often deciding that the final product of such work was superior to the results of western methods - but that the effort involved was too much work for her). She also includes a number of her sketches:

"Ironing with ironing sticks"

The description of ironing which accompanies this sketch is interesting:

While the process takes a long time, two women often share in the pounding, chat on all kinds of topics which interest them, or work out intricate rhythms that make the ironing fun. Certain rhythms have come to have special meanings.

Fascinating. Also worth noting is the fact that, without she and her husband's efforts to operate a school and medical clinic, the farming families around them would have had no access to education or modern medicine. Considering that they lived very close to Seoul, it certainly makes me wonder just how much the Japanese did to improve education and health care in areas outside of the cities.

This book was originally published in 1953, but a 1979 reprint by the Royal Asiatic Society is described here. Also worth noting is that on her voyage to Korea she describes her conversations with John Patric, who would later go on to write a book about his adventures traveling in the Japanese empire called "A Yankee Hobo in the Orient." I managed to find a little information about this book and its author before realizing it was first published under the title "Why Japan Was Strong," which can be read in part at Google books. Pages 28-32 tell part of the story of the time he spent with her on the ship, and page 31 is well worth reading for a laugh. What's also interesting is that she told him only that she was marrying a missionary, though he would learn more about their marriage when he later traveled to Seoul.

This book may prompt a few posts; for now I'll start with her chapter on the American occupation of Korea in the 1940s.

The General Sherman sails again

[An update is here.]

Here is a photo of the USS Princess Royal, taken from this Wikipedia entry. Strangely enough, it doesn't mention that after it was renamed the General Sherman and turned into a merchant ship, it was sunk on the Taedonggang, the river that flows through Pyongyang, in 1866 (as the entry on that incident relates). Worth remembering, of course, is that North Korean historians claim an ancestor of Kim Il-sung was the leader of those burned the ship.


Here is the beer cap from a bottle of Taedonggang beer, made in North Korea. Notice any similarities?


The General Sherman is literally on the Taedonggang. Subtle, yet it gets the point across. Does Taedonggang have the honor of being the world's only anti-American beer? Besides Molson Canadian, I mean?

I was reminded of the beer cap after reading this post at DPRK Studies about Taedonggang beer, which mentions that it's no longer available in South Korea. It's possible that the beer made for export (in a 500 ml bottle at 5%) was better than the domestic stuff. I drank the beer made for export two or three times, but also drank a bottle of the domestic stuff a friend brought back from Kaesong (which comes in a 650 ml bottle at 4%, and is seen in the brewery photos at DPRK Studies) and the latter did not compare favorably with the former.

The emperor and his homeless children

A while ago I wrote a post on the 1941 film Volunteer, which was included in the box set "Unearthing the Past", which Mark over at Korea Pop Wars first brought to my attention. I finally got around to watching another film in the box set, Angels on the Streets ("Homeless Angels" is the direct translation). A synopsis and discussion of the film can be found here, which tells us that it is "based on the real-life story of the boys who lived in Hyangrinwon, Bang Soo-won's home for vagrant youth located just outside Kyeongseong in Hongje-ri." Hongje-ri was likely where present-day Hongje-dong is, which is in Seodaemun-gu north of Yonsei University. The location of the Hyangrinwon in the film appears to be in the Banpo area, as they have to cross the Han river to reach downtown.


Above is a shot of the view from the beach in front of Hyangrinwon. At left is Namsan; towards the right is Bukhansan. Other shots in the film show what Seoul looked like at the time, such as this shot of a stream:


Perhaps the stream above is Cheonggyecheon, but it's worth remembering that there were dozens of streams in Seoul that were covered up in the twentieth century by both Japanese and Korean governments.


Notice what appear to be street stalls in the photo above. Below is a shot of a flashing night scene:



The story begins as a sister and brother who are selling flowers on the streets enter the tavern seen above, where a kindly, drunken doctor gives them money without taking a flower.


When the sister allows the brother to buy some taffy, their minders catch him and take them 'home'. Exactly what the situation is between this disreputable group and the siblings isn't entirely clear, but it's obvious they are in the group's debt (perhaps they even 'belong' to them). The sister is cajoled into working in a 'bar', with the promise that they'll withhold punishment from her brother. Her brother instead escapes.


He then is rescued from a beating by the kindly Bang Seong-bin, who takes him to his house to stay with the small group of rescued street children already living there.


The kindly doctor from the beginning turns out to be Bang's brother in law, who helps Bang set up a home for wayward boys. Bang finds another recruit for his home when a boy tries to steal from him, and he saves him from being dragged away by the police (a Korean police officer, mind you).


The doctor takes in the sister as a nurse, and she is eventually reunited with her brother before the boys have to fight off the hoodlums who come to get them back. Though it's all rather tame today, the conditions the street children live in, and the fear the boy shows as he's being grabbed by the police officer, for example, do not really reflect an entirely happy colony.

The liner notes for the DVD tell us that it was invited to Japan to win a prize but was then rejected by the ministry of defense, who objected to the fact the film was entirely in Korean, and several cuts were made (whether these cuts were only made in Japan or in the version released in Korea isn't really clear). The director chose poor street kids as a way to protest against Japan, and included the pro Japanese ending to allow the film to be released. KOFA's notes on the film criticize this to some degree:

Near the end, there is a scene in which the film's characters recite in Japanese a pledge of allegiance to Imperial Japan. This scene constitutes a critical flaw in recognizing Homeless Angel as a representative film in Korean cinematic history. Nevertheless, the reason why KOFA cites Homeless Angel among the 100 representative works of Korean cinema is because it is one of the very few surviving movies from the Japanese colonial era. Indeed, the fact that the propagandistic sequence is inserted irrespective of the plot and thus does not pose a substantial threat to the text's actual subject, as well as the fact that the film shows the highest level of sophistication among contemporaneous works, both contributed to its inclusion on the list.

I could argue that having the pro-Japanese ending isn't a "critical flaw" and that it is in fact precisely the reason why it should be recognized as a "representative film in Korean cinematic history," seeing as it reflects so clearly the time in which it was made. That might not be the most popular assertion among some people, and there is certainly a desire in the popular realm to wring all the complexity out of the colonial era and either try to forget it happened or turn it into a simple morality play populated by independence fighters and colonialist traitors. There's so much more going on in this film, however, and I almost had the feeling that whoever wrote the notes above watched a different movie than I did. To quote again:

[T]he propagandistic sequence is inserted irrespective of the plot and thus does not pose a substantial threat to the text's actual subject.

Let's remember that this film was made in 1941, after Japan had been at war with China for 4 years, and then see if anything else in the narrative could be seen as being militaristic.

After Mr. Bang has arranged for living quarters for the boys, he and his family move to their new home in the countryside with the boys, who fall in behind a cart and walk in a line single file while the lead boy plays a martial tune on a bugle.


After arriving at their new home, the boys work outside. In the photo above they are cheering and pointing at an airplane flying overhead.


They are awoken in the morning by a bugler, seen here juxtaposed with the flag in the background.


Upon rising, Mr. Bang has them assemble and talks to them.


If you want to suggest they look like they're just at school, it's probably worth noting the degree to which militarism affected the school curricula and organization at that time.


They're later taught how to take apart and reassemble a machine gun. Just kidding - they're taught how to make noodles with the press brought to them by Mr. Bang.


Later, when the thugs come to recapture the brother and sister, the boys try to chase them away as a group:


That said, the pro-Japanese moment (which lasts three of the last six minutes) is worth having a look at.



One of the boys recites the pledge of allegiance:

"Pledge as citizens of the empire:
We are citizens of the great Japanese Empire.
We are loyal with all our heart to the Japanese Emperor.
As citizens of the empire we train to become an excellent and strong citizen.

Another young boy recites their daily creed : "Honesty, courage and love."


Thus ends the propaganda sequence. The point at which they leave for their new home is just over twenty minutes into a movie with a running time of 1:13, and from that point until the last six minutes (when the pro-Japanese moment appears), there are several scenes at the boys' home which suggest militaristic organization. That said, and after looking at the photos above, does the propaganda scene actually seem so out of place?

The epilogue is actually almost as fascinating as the "propaganda sequence". After hearing the boy recite the daily creed, the kindly doctor applauds and approaches the boys.


Then the doctor speaks and describes how he felt after arriving at the orphanage:

"At first I thought you were all incurable. My mind was set that you were impossible to help. But today I am actually ashamed of myself". Speaking of one of the boys, he says, "When I first saw him, I thought he had an evil mind and I thought he would never act like a decent human, but today he did a good deed. I am very happy". To help his friends, one boy "sacrificed himself".

"I was glad for all of you. You are here to become excellent people. And trying hard to become one by listening to your teacher. Do you know whose effort all of this is? Pointing to the man who has provided for them, this is [his] power of love. I believe you are the happiest children. You are all trying hard to become a great person, and it's all because of [him]. Now that the whole world knows about this, and the media is raving about it all around the country, I'm very happy. It's now that [his] great power, his great work has finally bore fruit. So now listen well to [his] words and become a great person. I hope you will be of great service to our country."

The first thing I thought of when I heard that speech was, "What would happen if you replaced the boys with "Koreans", and their teacher with "the Emperor"?

My mind was set that you [Koreans] were impossible to help.[...] "When I first saw [them], I thought [they] had an evil mind and I thought [they] would never act like decent humans, but today [they] did a good deed.[...] I believe you are the happiest children. You are all trying hard to become a great person, and it's all because of [the emperor].

I think with that speech, it becomes pretty clear what the boys are supposed to represent, and just how much of the movie is imbued with a militarist spirit.

Is it just me, or does the doctor look like Kim Il-sung?

With that, the doctor bids farewell and leaves with the sister, who will train under him as a nurse. Having made up with the thugs, they leave together:


The children wave goodbye as the troop ship boat departs, the flag fluttering in the air above them.


To put it simply, the propaganda in this film is not just limited to the last six minutes, "irrespective of the plot," but is actually embedded in the plot and is a part of the "text's actual subject."

The director would make up for this by directing his 'liberation trilogy', the first film of which, 1946's Hurrah! For Freedom, is available on dvd.

The battle for American perceptions of the Samil Movement

My Samil post took a little longer that I'd thought it would. As usual, what I thought would only involve linking to a few articles has involved linking to... more than that. I've written about Samil before, looking at Francis Schofield's part in the movement here and, the influence of the 1918 Rice Riots in Japan on the Samil movement here.


When the Samil uprising began on March 1, 1919, confrontations in the streets of Korean cities and towns took place which are well documented. What may not be so well known is the propaganda battle between the Japanese authorities and Korean activists which took place in the press in western countries, especially the U.S. During the first half of 1919 the Paris Peace Conference, which decided the structure of the post-war world, took place. Japan, wanting to control Germany's possessions in China and the Pacific, needed to put its best face forward, something that would prove difficult to do it news of the brutality of their suppression of the independence movement in Korea got out. Korean activists, and their foreign supporters (mostly missionaries) were trying their best to make certain Japan's actions, and Korea's desire for independence, became known to the world. What follows is a summary of the articles that appeared in the New York Times between March and September of 1919.

On March 1, an article appeared containing an appeal to the U.S. to intervene on Korea's behalf at the Paris Peace conference. The appeal was given to the American Minister in Peking before the uprising began, however.

An AP dispatch dated March 4, but not published in the NYT until March 18, reveals some of the early rumors, as well as Japanese attempts to blame foreign missionaries for the uprising.


On March 13, an article titled Koreans Declare for Independence quoted a cable from Peking describing the realization that "demonstrations were more general than has been officially admitted," as well as describing Japanese punishments like forcing Christians to carry crosses tied to their backs. It goes on to say that

At present the Japanese seem to have the Korean independence movement under control, but underneath the surface the whole country is seething. The Korean nation will accept only one solution. It is hoped that Japan, at the Paris conference, will offer Korea independence subject to Japan’s advisory control until such time as the League of Nations deems the Koreans fit for absolute self-government.

Also worth noting is that the declaration of independence quoted in that article may be the one read in Tokyo on February 8, as it has a reference to fighting "to the last drop of blood" not contained in the one read on March 1.

A second cable is found in the article, sent by AP from Seoul, which contains sections of the Declaration of Independence. On March 15, an article titled "Koreans Still Fighting Japanese"(which revealed that things weren't so "under control" after all) had this politely worded piece of comedy:

Isaburo Yamagata, Deputy Resident General of Korea, is quoted as saying that the chief cause of the turmoil has been an erroneous conception of self determination. [He] added that as a result of the disturbances the Government had discovered a flaw in the administration of Korea which would be rectified.

Another story, not at all funny, was also relayed:

In one instance, a girl who participated in a Korean independence demonstration was holding a manifesto in one hand when Japanese soldiers cut off the hand with a sword. She raised the other hand, the Koreans said, and it was also cut off.

Whether this actually happened is hard to know, but considering some of the rather gruesome tales I've read, I wouldn't rule it out. An article on March 19 titled "Missionary charges cruelty in Korea" reveals more about the missionary role (or lack thereof) in the uprising:

An American missionary who has just returned from Korea describes the independence movement there as the most wonderful passive resistance movement in history. The missionaries were taken by surprise when the movement began. After realizing that their churches had been closed by order of the police, and that most of their pastors were in jail, they concluded, it was said, to break silence regarding the brutalities witnessed in the last decade.

They had seen children beaten, old men ejected from their houses, and women struck with swords, it was stated, and they could not keep quiet, for humanities sake, whatever the cost to their missionary work and themselves.

The American Consul himself, the missionary said, had been arrested by Japanese soldiers at Seoul, but an interesting development was spoiled by his companion, also an American, who asked the Japanese if they knew this man, and informed them that he was the American Consul. The Consul was immediately released.

In the same article, an AP dispatch from Tokyo stated that

According to dispatches printed in the newspapers here,[…]it is indicated the national independence movement is remarkably extensive and well organized […] It is reported that the railway station at Pingyang has been stoned by a mob of 10,000 persons, the Korean national flag being commonly displayed.

On March 20, while the state department wondered whether the U.S. consul in Seoul had been arrested, missionary E.D. Soper wrote a letter supporting Japan's takeover of Korea, calling the uprising a "wildfire agitation by a people as yet unfit for self government". "He said the Koreans were yet "children", while the Japanese were "adolescents". Another article about uprisings in Egypt and Korea has this interesting passage:

Egypt and Korea may both raise the question of a people’s right to self-government, but they raise the even more important question of a people’s capacity for self-government. Whether a people has the divine and inalienable right to misgovern itself is a matter on which opinions will be held according to political theory; but in the present situation of a closely interrelated world a people which wants to rule itself may justifiably be asked to give some proof that it knows how to do it.

The next day a letter appeared written by Henry Chung. Raised in privilege in Suncheon, Chung had moved to the U.S. in 1904 to study, becoming the second Korean to receive a Ph.D in the U.S.. Both Chung and Syngman Rhee were to represent Korea at the Paris Peace Conference, but were denied visas. In his letter, Chung appealed for a chance for Korea to "show fitness for self government." After comparing Japan's actions in Korea to those of George III in the American colonies, or of the recently defeated Central Powers in Europe, he laid out what Koreans wanted from the Paris Peace Conference.

Korea’s appeal to the Peace Conference and to enlightened public opinion of the West is to have Korea internationalized under the mandate of the League of Nations with the guarantee of complete independence in the future. The accomplishment of this will convert the Korean peninsula into a zone of neutral commerce to the benefit of all nations. It will also create a buffer state in the Far East which will help prevent aggrandizements by any single power and maintain peace in the Orient. […]

The Korean people of all classes are united in this appeal to the Peace Conference and to the Western public. All they ask is for simple justice – a fair chance to prove their capacity for self-determination. To deny them this chance on the presumption that they are incapable of self government is like telling a young woman that she ought to learn to swim but she must not go near the water.

On that note, an article on April 23 has this quote:

Foreigners marvel at the ability and thoroughness with which the Koreans organized and are carrying on the campaign. Even the oldest British and American citizens had no idea that the Koreans were capable of planning and conducting such a widespread rebellion.

Also on March 21, letters from "A Son of Korea" and law professor Judson A. Crane criticized Japanese rule in Korea. An article on March 26 mentioned the situation in the provinces:

The Korean movement for independence is continuing determinedly, keeping for the most part to the method of passive resistance, but there have been numerous riotous disturbances in the interior, especially in the north, along the Manchurian and Chinese borders.

One feature that gives the authorities considerable concern is the appearance almost daily of a secretly printed newspaper [...] This journal keeps Koreans informed of the developments of the situation. The impression prevails from a recent search of the Severance Hospital and other Christian institutions by the authorities that they had hope of finding in one of these institutions the mimeograph outfit from which the bulletin is issued.

Severance Hospital

A description of a search by the Japanese of Severance Hospital can be found in the memoirs* of Mary Taylor, who had given birth there at the time. Her husband, A.W. Taylor, was to cover the funeral of former Emperor Gojong on March 3.

Doors were opened and shut. There was whispering and shouting, tramping and tiptoeing... I saw the nurse holding not the baby but a bundle of papers. These she actually slipped under my coverlet.[...] The Koreans, she[a nurse] said, "have hidden a printing press in the hospital linen cupboard. The Japanese police have raided the hospital and searched the building. They found the press, have arrested some of the Korean staff, but have not found the printed papers."

Needless to say, when her husband came to see the baby and found a stack of copies of the Korean Declaration of Independence, he had his brother smuggle a copy to Tokyo and became the first foreigner to report on the uprising. More information can be found in this fascinating article.

An article on March 30, "Koreans Appeal for American Aid", has a translation of two letters delivered to the American minister in Peking. The next day, this tale of violent protest appeared:

Serious disorders have occurred at Samga, a village in Southeastern Korea, according to dispatches received here. It is said that Koreans numbering 100, 000 gathered there, cut telegraph wires, and set fire to the Town Hall. Armed with scythes, the mob is reported to have attacked the Post Office and police stations. There was severe fighting, and many casualties were inflicted in the clash between the mob and the police and a small detachment of troops.

I don't know if this story is true (I do find it hard to believe that out of 20,000,000 people, none used violence against the Japanese), though it is worth pointing out that it's usually only dispatches from Tokyo which contain descriptions of violence; tales of such violence are absent in missionary accounts, but of course the missionaries were not neutral observers either. One Japanese officer offered a reason for the differences between Japanese and missionary accounts when he told the press that because missionaries only talked to Koreans, and not Japanese (as they didn’t know the language) they were hearing a “one-sided story”:

It is a notorious fact that the average Korean is a great liar. It is possible the Koreans are telling their foreign friends distorted stories, painting the Japanese in the blackest colors.

Apparently the answer to this was to arrest the missionaries. An article on April 11 described the arrest of American missionary Rev. Eli Miller Mowry in Pyongyang for aiding and abetting the Korean independence propagandists.

On April 13, a Japanese government statement which did its best to paint the uprising in "the blackest colours" appeared in an article titled "Fighting Spreads All Over Korea":

The uprisings in Korea are spreading and threaten to engulf the whole peninsula, says an official statement from the Japanese government today. There have been serious riots in the last three days in hundreds of places. A number of policemen have been killed and several police stations and post offices destroyed. Telegraph wires, the statement adds, have been cut in various places, and bridges and homes of Japanese burned.

The statement continues: "The fact that the situation has grown worse may be attributed chiefly to the activities of Koreans abroad, especially in Vladivostok, who seek to propagate Bolshevism in Korea and thence in Japan."[...]

“The mobs, taking advantage of the lenient attitude of the government, have increased their activities until they amount to lawless outrages and have increased the area of their operations over the greater part of the peninsula. The accounts of the last three days show that more than two hundred localities are now affected and large numbers of innocent persons residing therein are suffering greatly. Some have been forced to join the bandits and others are receiving immense damage to property and business.

Under these circumstances no one expects that the military forces will remain supine. If the government allows these riots to take their course the outrages will not only increase, but the movement will eventually ally itself with Bolshevism, which now controls the greater part of Sibera to which Korea is adjacent.

Impelled by this situation, the Japanese Government has now decided to send to Korea a military contingent consisting of six companies and 400 gendarmes, hoping thereby to restore order and bring back prosperity to the people as soon as possible.”

Replace "Japanese" with "Korean government" and "Koreans" with "rioters in Kwangju," and tell me if you don't see some striking similarities to the disinformation published by the Korean government during the Kwangju Uprising (a more in-depth comparison will have to wait for another day). The reference to Bolshevism in Siberia leaves out the rather important fact that many Japanese troops (wikipedia says 70,000) were in Siberia at the time (along with contingents of American, British and Canadian troops) in an effort to stamp out Bolshevism and aid the white army in the civil war there.

Japanese troops observe U.S. military parade in Vladivostok.

More photos and information about American participation in the Siberian campaign can be found here.

Also in the aforementioned article was the text of a cablegram that was sent from Seoul by a Korean pastor to Shanghai, and from there to the Korean National Association in San Francisco, which read:

Japan began massacring in Korea. Over thousand unarmed people killed in Seoul during three hours’ demonstration on 28^th. Japanese troops, fire brigades, and civilians are ordered shooting and beating people mercilessly throughout Korea. Killed several thousand since 27^th.

“Churches, schools, homes of leaders destroyed, women made naked and beaten before crowds, especially leaders family, the imprisoned being severely tortured. Doctors are forbidden caring for the wounded. Foreign Red Cross urgently needed.

I have a suspicion that one thousand killed in three hours is a tad high. The Japanese weren't the only ones exaggerating in an attempt to turn public support to their side.

An article on April 14 said that in addition to Mowry's arrest, Reverend Samuel A. Moffett and Reverend Ansel W. Gillis had been detained and questioned in Pyongyang. Below this was an article about a Korean congress meeting in Philadelphia, attended by "Dr. Syngman Rhee, Secretary of State of the Korean Provisional Government in Manchuria [which had been formed on April 9 in Shanghai], and Henry Chung, one of the three Korean delegates to the Peace Conference at Paris".

The next day, an article titled "Japanese rushing troops to Korea" mentions that

some Koreans have resorted to violence, but only after the soldiers had fired on the crowds who had shouted "Mansei!" [...] Despite the number of killings and assaults the Koreans persist in voicing their desires for independence.

On April 19, an article titled "Sending Troops to Korea" revealed that two divisions were being sent to Korea, and that 6000 troops had arrived in Busan. The Japanese also denied that any missionaries had been arrested. The next day, an article stated that Mowry was on trial and that missionaries had had their houses searched. Two days later, on April 22, it was reported that Reverend Mowry had been sentenced to 6 months in prison for allowing the premises to be used by independence activists, but he had appealed and was released on bail.

On April 23, an article titled "Uncensored Account of Korea's Revolt," written by Canadian missionary Rev. A.E. Armstrong, described the response of foreign missionaries to events in Korea. Armstrong had spent three months in Korea in late 1918, and visited Korea again (from Japan) on March 16 and 17, at the request missionaries there.

“[T]he missionaries desired that as a missionary Secretary about to leave for North America, I should know the facts about the movement. Press dispatches are both meager and inaccurate, a fact which should be kept in mind when reading what may come over the cables to our papers. It is unwise for any one in Korea to send any facts through the mails because of censorship. Only by travelers can the truth reach the outside world, even Japan itself.[...]

Thirty missionaries gathered in Seoul, March 16, that I might hear the situation discussed. They agreed in designating the Japanese military and police and gendarme system in the Korean peninsula, the German Machine! Foreigners –Consuls, business men, missionaries-are unanimous in their condemnation of the system which has ruled Korea since 1910. This system was learned from the Germans. While it may have been crushed in Belgium and Europe, it still exists in Korea and Asia.

He also talked to a Japanese member of parliament in Tokyo who “told me that the more the world knows about Japanese misrule in Korea, the better it will be for Japan, for thus the sooner will the nation get rid of the militarism which now dominates the empire.” The article ends with this comment:

Publicity, in the opinion of the missionaries, is absolutely necessary that the world may know and demand justice for Korea. It is common knowledge that Japan is extremely sensitive to international opinion. She covets the world’s good will. She is proud of and very much wants to retain her ‘place in the sun’. She will probably act very quickly when she knows the world’s mind about Korea.

On April 24 another article looked at the events in Korea, to where we should look for another battle in print. Beyond the New York Times and publications in the U.S. and Europe, another propaganda battleground was for the hearts and minds of foreigners living in Korea. This generally took place in the Seoul Press, a Japanese-run English-language newspaper.

Francis Schofield was a Canadian missionary doctor working at Severance Medical College who was very active and vocal during the Samil movement. He was the only foreigner to be told of the demonstrations in advance, he visited a number of villages burned by Japanese troops, and saw the conditions in Seodaemun Prison first hand. The story of his experiences in Korea during 1919 and 1920 can be read here. On April 13, 1919, Schofield had this letter published in the Seoul Press:

Since its occupation of Korea, Japan has been saying that materially it has done much for Korea, but I want to raise a question, Has it been solely for Koreans? The duty of the government is to make the majority of its people happy. Only then, the government can be said to be doing the right thing. The duty of a government is not just to provide the people with material comforts, education, and strength, but to make them happy and secure as well.

The Japanese government must realise that the reason as to why Korean people have risen against it with what must seem like foolish courage. The Japanese government must do deep soul searching and recognize that what the Korean people want is not material things but real freedom.

Seodaemun prison

On May 11, 1919, the Seoul Press carried an article about Seodaemun Prison which painted it in the rosiest colours. Schofield underlined what he considered to be the most blatant lies.

“The prison director Mr. Gakihara is a man of cheerful personality and generous heart. He is very kind.”

“The inmates are allowed every day to exercise outdoors and have a bath every five days.”

“The inmates can receive books, and Christians are permitted to receive the Bible.”

“The inmates are taught various skills. When they leave, they are skilled technicians. In other words, the prison can be called a vocational school rather than a prison.”

The next day, his response was printed in the Seoul Press under the title “Foreigners are Unjustly Suspicious of us.” Needless to say, the history of foreigners writing mocking or sarcastic letters to English language newspapers here goes back farther than one might imagine.

Dear Editor of the Seoul Press: I am very grateful to you for your article on the Sudaemoon Sanatorium (or the Sudaemoon Vocational School). A truly ignorant, mean person must have called it a prison.

In any case, we foreigners were very glad to read such a cheerful and beautiful picture of the prison, because we have always thought that there were many prisoners jammed into a small room, bitten by parasites, starved and in rags.

Contrary to our misconceptions, our Korean friends are said to have technical lessons, a cheerful atmosphere, and frequent baths.What a wonderful piece of news! But, may I make a small suggestion? Why don’t you translate the article into Korean and print it? Then, the families and friends of the prisoners will be so relieved of their worries.

Forgive me for taking so much of your space. But I must tell you about a Korean man I have met. He had been beaten so severely that he will not be able to sit for a long time. His skin was torn off in many places and raw flesh could be seen. A asked him whether it was true that he was given good food and frequent chances to exercise in fresh air at the Sudaemoon Sanatorium. The man said he had been released only a short time ago. He said the had been given nothing of the things the article mentioned. If your paper would go there personally and confirm the facts, it would be a great service for humanitarian causes.

The Seoul Press replied, “The letter from a foreigner confirmed that foreigners are unduly suspicious of us. We cannot accomplish what we plan to do unless we have the cooperation of our foreign friends."

As opposed to the people the euphemism "foreign friends" referred to above, Japan did have some true foreign friends overseas, and one of them was George Trumbull Ladd, who wrote the 1908 book "In Korea with Marquis Ito". On May 11, he penned a two page article titled "Causes of the Korean Uprising: Propagandism of Secret Societies, One Partly Religious, and Attitudes of Missionaries Held Partly to Blame - Situation as it is Seen by an American Admirer of Japan."

One cause of the present, and of all previous demonstrations, is the propagandism of a certain secret society ("patriots" in their own eyes, but "dangerous conspirators" in the eyes of the Japanese Government,) who procured the assassination of Prince Ito, of our countryman Durham Stevens, and of some of their most influential countrymen, supposed to be too friendly to the Japanese.

Ladd managed to quickly and deftly link the present protests to the assassinations of two of his friends. This could hardly pass without response, of course, and on May 18, a letter written by Syngman Rhee was published. Three days later, a letter written by Henry Chung, titled "Korean Independence: Not the work of Agitators, but a Popular Movement," was published. On May 25, Ladd responded to these letters, describing at one point one of the groups not mentioned by Rhee or Chung:

“The Korean Students League of America”, based at a headquarters in Ohio, “from which emanate misspelled and ungrammatical but insulting and threatening letters. I have myself received one apropos of my very mild article in the Sunday Times.”

Who knew that VANK had such a distant ancestor? On June 1, the Times printed two responses to Ladd's second article, again by Syngman Rhee and Henry Chung.

On June 7 the details of the Republic of Korea's constitution were published after a copy arrived in San Francisco, while an article on June 15 looked at the causes of the uprising.

Before the battle of letters, on May 13, an article titled "Korea Asks Big Four For Full Sovereignty" had appeared:

A petition from the Korean people had been submitted to the Paris Peace Conference, asking “for recognition of Korea as an independent state and for the nullification of the treaty of August, 1910.” It also mentioned a letter Syngman Rhee wrote to the leaders of the ‘Big Four’ powers, which ended with this:

“It is the hope of the provisional Government that your honorable body will use its good offices to persuade this offending member to desist from practicing such inhuman tactics for the purpose of retaining her ill-got territory. It is a reflection on your League of Nations, and it is certainly a blot on modern civilization.”

I would imagine the use of "good offices", the wording used in the 1882 American-Korean Treaty of Commerce and Amity, was no accident. What's interesting is that on July 1, an article noted that a resolution was introduced in the senate asking whether 1882 agreement with Korea should be invoked due to the "conditions between Korea and Japan" at that time. On July 19, another article noted that the senate had passed a resolution requesting information from the president about the charges against missionaries in Korea.

A lengthy article titled "Horrors in Korea Charged to Japan" on July 13 described in detail a "report of alleged Japanese atrocities in Korea made public yesterday at the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in America. It is a result of investigations by representatives in Korea of the Presbyterian Church in the United States", including H.H. Underwood. It looks at the treatment of prisoners, torture, the treatment of missionaries, and the burning of villages. Another lengthy article on July 16 did the same.

On July 26, it was announced that the Governor General position in Korea would be open to civilians for the first time. On August 15, it was reported that Admiral Makoto Saito would become Korea's new Governor General.

A short article on August 15 mentioned a talk given by Homer Hulbert criticizing the Japanese in Korea. A longer article appeared two days later, which detailed the contents of a statement Hulbert filed with the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the 16th.

“The time has come,” says professor Hulbert in his statement to the foreign relations Committee, “when it seems necessary to lay before the American people some facts bearing upon the request of the Korean people that they be freed from the tyranny of Japan. This request made by millions of that nation in a perfectly peaceful way on March 1, 1919, and was met be a perfect orgy of abuse and persecution on the part of the military authorities there. Thousands of people were beaten, tortured, and even killed, and women were treated with obscene brutality.”

An article on August 18 looked at the acceptance in Japan of reforms in Korea:

“Quite as important is the evidence that Japanese papers are beginning to discuss the disaster in Korea with freedom. The judgement is virtually unanimous that the real cause of the tragedy is the military method by which Korea has been governed since its annexation. These are condemned. Japanese in Korea, as well as the Koreans, are calling for the abolition of the military system.

“Among the reasons advanced for reform is the adverse judgement which will be formed in the West of Japan’s capacity for just treatment of alien peoples. Korea is the test of Japan’s fitness for responsibility in China.

On August 21, it was announced that Japan was "To Rule Koreans like Japanese."

“Korea, and Japan proper, forming equally integral parts of the same empire, no distinction should, in principle, be made between them, and it is the ultimate purpose of the Japanese Government, in due course, to treat Korea as in all respects on the same footing with Japan proper.

Ah, "in due course". The same phrase was used referring to the timing of Korea's independence in the Cairo Declaration in 1943. Let it not be said that the Japanese authorities didn't have a sense of humour:

It is stated that the disturbances which broke out last March retarded the introduction of the reforms.

Another article that day covered a statement by Syngman Rhee, ‘President of the “Republic of Korea”'

[This] certainly does not mean the withdrawal of the military government and the establishment of a civil one, which Japan promised. The appointment of a civil governor is merely one of those face saving diplomatic schemes of Japan. To those unsuspecting, well meaning people of the West, it may sound like a fulfillment of Japan’s promise for a civil government in military rule.

Rhee continued in an article on August 25, where he criticized the idea of home rule:

Our people do not want the United States to fight for Korea’s independence, for they will do all the fighting themselves. But we do ask the people of America to give us a sympathetic and fair hearing of our case. We do ask the same moral support which America gave to Japan when the latter was struggling against Russia. We do ask that the Government of the world’s greatest republic, the United States of America, extend official recognition to the Government of the Republic of Korea.

On August 23, "Kiusic Kimm" (Kim Kyu-sik) chairman of the Korean delegation to the Paris Peace conference gave an interview to the Times.

On August 31, Syngman Rhee declared Korea's independence, proclaiming the birth of the Republic of Korea.

On September 5, an article titled, "Saito Promises Reforms in Korea" appeared, in which the AP correspondent never let his skepticism waver for a moment:

On the eve of his departure for Seoul Admiral Baron Minoru Saito, recently appointed Governor General of Korea, announced in an exclusive statement to The Associated Press some of the things he hoped to accomplish during his term of office. The old method of punishment in Korea, he said, would be abolished, the right of free speech would be granted, and a Korean autonomous government in the villages and districts would be instituted with the eventual goal of Korean representation in the Japanese Diet.

Admiral Saito is a typical naval officer – affable, frank, and kindly. He gives the impression of liberality and broad mindedness. He speaks English readily and well.

He said he wished the American people to feel that his administration, backed by the home Government and unequivocally recognizing any mistakes in the past, would in the future be based on the principle of governing Korea in the interest of the Koreans and keeping progress with the age.

Baron Saito said he considered that he had been appointed as a civilian, and not in any way as a representative of the military. There would be no ruling by the sword or intimidation by the military. He recognized the weighty problems before him and would always entertain suggestions. He concluded: “I wanted to talk to you frankly because I like American friends to feel that I will do my best.”

Upon his arrival in Seoul on Sept. 2, a bomb was thrown under the carriage of Baron Saito. He escaped without injury, although several persons were wounded.

More information about the bomb attack is here, while this article from September 13 describes the aftermath of the bombing:

Since the attempt to assassinate Baron Saito at Seoul on Sept. 2, every part of that city has been occupied by Japanese troops and the place is virtually in a state of Siege. The bomb thrower is still at large, although a number of persons suspected of being implicated in the plot are under arrest.

This seems like the appropriate place to stop - at the beginning of a new era of increasing openness, but one which always had the threat of violence present.

In the immediate aftermath of the uprising, several books appeared looking at Korea, Japan, the uprising, and Japan's response to it:

Korea's Fight For Freedom. F.A. Mckenzie, 1920
The Case of Korea. Henry Chung, June, 1921
The new administration in Chosen. Comp. by the government-general of Chosen. July, 1921



*reprinted in Korea Witness: 135 Years of War, Crisis, and News in the Land of the Morning Calm

Back to school

It's the beginning of the school year, and I realized the other day that the kids in a kindergarten class I taught back in 2001, and who graduated in 2002, will start middle school today. Most of them I never saw again after they graduated. The other day I came across the photos that made up a 'silent film' I made as a graduation gift for them in 2002, and decided to make a digital copy of it.



I'd thought of trying to make a comic strip originally, mixing it with photos of the kids (which explains the black and white shots at the end), but in the end decided to shoot photos of the kids alternated with text, to make a kind of silent film. I'd made popsicles for them earlier (by putting grape juice into an ice cube tray, covering the tray with paper and taping it down, and poking toothpicks through the paper), which they had loved. I also had shots of them on a ride at an amusement park, and had photos of a trip I took to Jeju-do, so a story about a balloon ride to an island to recover stolen popsicles seemed, y'know, logical.

This was shot in between classes and practices for the big annual festival (where I had them sing and dance to "We're gonna have a real good time together," one of the Velvet Underground's more light-hearted songs) so I had to shoot it in little pieces here and there. Since I connected the camera to a VCR and recorded as I scrolled through the photos, they had to be shot in chronological order, so I'd had to plan it all out. I'm sure I still have the continuity sketches I made somewhere. The music was mixed in using a cd player and a discman connected to the VCR with a Y-connector composite cable - all very analog and lo-fi. I don't have a copy of the original video with me, so I was surprised I remembered what music I had used. This new version has one or two photos changed (one of Bucheon, and the one with Monster being zapped has a beam of light added to it), but otherwise it's the same as the version put to videotape in 2002 (barring the more elaborate transitions between photos).

Anyways, I have no idea where those kids are now; they were my favourite class at that academy, and I hope they manage to squeeze in some fun between studying and tests and hagwons over the next few years...

An opportunist at the wrong time

Yi Wan-yong and family

Andrei Lankov's latest column in the Korea Times is about Yi Wan-yong, and has a lot of details about his life I was unaware of. Lankov describes him thusly:

He was an opportunist, pure and simple: smart, to be sure, but always looking for opportunities to increase his power and, in later years, his fortune.

Born in 1858 into a poor country gentry family, he was adopted by a more prosperous relative and was able to take the state exams and join the bureaucracy. Some more details:

In 1887 Yi went to the U.S. to become a member of the first Korean diplomatic mission in Washington where he spent several years.[...]

When Japanese troops marched into Seoul in 1894, they established a new government [in] which [...] Yi was given the position of chief of national police. Eventually he became the minister of education.[...]

Later, Yi became active in the Independence Club, the first Korean political party.[...]
In 1905 he was instrumental in supporting the infamous Ulsa Treaty that made Korea into a de-facto Japanese protectorate.[...]

By around 1907 he was perceived as the most notorious pro-Japanese personality in the government, so in 1907 an arsonist set fire to his expensive mansion in Seoul. Along the way he was also the target of a number of assassination plots.

In 1910 when the Japanese forced the last Korean emperor to sign the formal treaty of annexation, Yi once again was one of the major forces pushing this treaty through the sometimes reluctant bureaucracy.[...]

He was richly rewarded for his services, becoming one of the most affluent people in Seoul.

He died in 1926, in great comfort and with official recognition, which, however, eventually turned itself into nearly universal condemnation.

The biography of Francis Schofield, a Canadian missionary who played an important part in the Samil movement, relates a story here that relays how Yi Wan-yong was perceived at that time.

It was near sunset when he got on a Seoul-bound train. The arduous and uneasy tour of the day made him hungry, so he went to the dining car. The moment he stepped into the car, he noticed a well-dressed elderly Korean gentleman surrounded by several uniformed policemen. The man’s face seemed overcast.

Sensing that the only Korean man important enough to have police protection at the time was Yi Wan Yong, Dr. Schofield went up to him.

“I am a Canadian missionary from Seoul. My name is Suk Ho Pill,” he said.

“I am Yi Wan Yong.”

By the way, Mr. Missionary, how can I become a Christian?” It was a question Dr. Schofield certainly did not expect. Mr. Yi, accused of being the most notorious traitor who had sold Korea to Japan, seemed to be remorseful, especially after the outbreak of the March 1 Movement.

“If you want to become a Christian, you must first ask the forgiveness of the 20 million people of Korea,” Dr. Schofield answered. Yi’s face darkened at this remark as the policemen became visibly tense.

Recalling the encounter, Dr. Schofield said, “I should have taken a picture of him. After that brief meeting, we arrived in Seoul."

I've mentioned Schofield before here. Another reference to Yi is found in this March 30, 1919 New York Times article, which is the translation of an appeal given to the American Legation in Peking. Referring to Annexation, it says

“Only one man, the traitor Li Wan-yung, knew anything about this act. How can one man privately give away a nation to another nation? Is it a thing to be pawned? This is not the action of a nation, but of a thief.”

I'll have another post on Samil up tomorrow.