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.

Blog war!

Joe Mondello over at the Joshing Gnome documents the simmering antipathy between English language Korea bloggers and Ajumma bloggers, known as 와이프로거. Woe to anyone who would suggest that this is hilarious piss-take on the sniping seen in the English language blogosphere. This is most certainly a troubling aspect of the complex relationship between English language and Korean language bloggers, and when I get the chance, I'll research it further.

Oh, and I think the best way to commemorate the ascendancy of Lee Myung-bak to the job he's being aiming for since before he became mayor of Seoul would be to look upon this solemn photo.

From here.

We wouldn't want the city hall environs to look like the Gileum new town, one of his pet projects while mayor, now would we?

Chaser

I saw the movie Chaser almost two weeks ago and it's doing quite well, as the Joongang Ilbo tells us it sold 1.7 million tickets in 10 days. I enjoyed the movie, which certainly doesn't follow the rules of a typical thriller, but which is also pretty bloody at some points. One scene (an example of 'not following the rules') I really didn't like, but it made some sort of sense in view of a later scene. Worth mentioning is that it's obviously based to some degree on the serial killer Yoo Young-Chul.

A Korea Times article mentions other aspects of the film:

"Yes, it is,'' Na said bluntly when asked if the movie was a social criticism. "Fury prompted me to write the story,'' he told reporters following the film's press preview in Seoul.

One scene juxtaposes police sleeping in their car with a scene of horror, to which the audience I saw it with reacted audibly. The Joongang Ilbo article mentions it a bit about the shooting:

The shoot was tiring because filming went two months over schedule ― bad weather caused huge delays ― and the scenes were physically demanding. "Most scenes were shot in the dark and in heavy rain,” Kim said.

The final scene took 40 hours to shoot. No wonder they looked tired. Also, Mark at Korea Pop Wars wondered whether the scenes of chases through hillside alleyways were actually shot in decidedly non-hilly Mangwon-dong, which is where the film is set. Here, perhaps, is the answer:

The chase sequences mainly take place in Mangwon-dong, but Kim’s role demanded that he spend a good portion of the film sprinting through Oksu-dong, Pyeongchang-dong and Bugahyeon-dong.

At any rate, it's nice to see such a low-budget film doing well. If you're not put off by some realistic bloody scenes, it's well worth your time.

snow by night

people of mystery, in photos

Via Korea Beat, I learned of the display of the oldest known photos of Koreans, taken in 1863. As the Donga Ilbo describes them,

The six pictures of the Korean delegation to China were taken at the Russian legation in Beijing in January 1863. Three members of the delegation appear in one of the pictures. A British missionary at the time collected the photos and took them to Britain.

They were confirmed the oldest in 1999 and have been brought to Korea for the first time from London. All six photos are displayed here. I'd thought Felice Beato took the first photos of Koreans (during the U.S. 1871 expedition, ), but I guess his photos are just the first taken in Korea.

It might be interesting to read the opening of Frederick McKenzie's 1908 book, The Tragedy of Korea (contemporary NYT review here) for its description of the annual tributary visit of Koreans to the Chinese capital:





I have no idea if any Japanese people would have taken photos of Korea between 1876 and 1883 (a history of Japanese photography can be found here), so the next photos to be taken after 1871 may well have been by Percival Lowell. Lowell, an American who served as the counselor and foreign secretary to the 1883 Special Mission from Korea to the United States, lived in Korea for several months starting in December 1883, and wrote the book Choson: Land of the Morning Calm (1886). He also took numerous photos, which can be viewed here (click' search').

Applying the same standards

Last week Brian in Jeollanam-do drew attention to the "shameful scene" of Japanese tourists posing for photos in front of the ruins of Namdaemun. There is a remote chance that they were thinking,"We are certainly not gleeful to see that a monument Kato Kiyomasa restrained himself from destroying has now fallen due to the inability of those in power here to preserve their own history." To be sure, this photo, and others like them that were publicized in the Korean media, became the most-viewed story on Cyworld News.


On an unrelated note, it's nice to see that, two prime ministers later, this website is still operating. I couldn't help but be reminded of yet another similar scene I witnessed almost three years ago:


Here's a shot of three after the photo above was taken, revealing the location:


For those who don't recognize it, this is the Kwangju Uprising National Cemetery. These middle school girls were posing for a photo in front of a cemetery where hundreds of those killed or wounded at a time when Korean soldiers opened fire on unarmed civilians are buried. Though they are not Japanese, and are indeed Korean, I'm sure that the netizens who criticized the Japanese tourists seen above will be very interested in these photos, as the girls seen here show a similar cavalier attitude posing in front of a symbol of national tragedy, one where people - in large numbers - actually died. If anyone with a naver or daum blog would like to post these photos there, feel free, but please do leave a link to this post. I'm certain that those who posted comments criticizing the Japanese tourists above were not motivated at all by hatred of Japan, and would apply the same rationale to these girls. If you do choose to post my photos on a Korean portal, do let me know, so I can prepare myself for the deluge of nasty comments directed at these girls.

Dongdongju affirmation

A Canadian has made the (entertainment) news in Korea. Why? Because when she was back in Canada, she had a soju party with 5 other people and they drank 22 bottles of soju. Best to focus on this news item, as I'm sure there aren't any other stories with the number 22 in them these days.


This story was told by Dara, a Canadian participant on Misuda. I'm left wondering whether the ability to drink 4 bottles of soju creates a good impression or a bad impression. Okay, I'm not really wondering that at all.


The caption above reads "Dara's tale of drinking dongdongju in Canada!" Are viewers supposed to think,"Wow, foreigners drink our traditional alcohol in their home countries?" Do these viewers really need to have Korea's existence affirmed like this? I really don't think KBS does its viewers any favors by pandering to a desire for benign foreign attention, but then, since it likely helped play a part in creating this desire over the decades, such pandering isn't going to disappear anytime soon.

By the way, a worthwhile post on Misuda is here.

Further towards the surreal

According to this article translated at Korea Beat,

Kim, who has been homeless for three years, admitted, “for a long time I went [to Namdaemun] and cooked ramen and drank soju but…” According to Kim, about one week before the fire he ate ramen and drank alcohol with at least 10 other homeless people on the second floor of the gate. He recalled, “Sungnyemun was like a summer resort for us. A whole bunch of us would get together and all sleep up there jammed together.”

So what you're saying is that homeless people were using Namdaemun for shelter until it was burnt down by a man who was pissed off about the lack of compensation he got for selling his home.

Impermanence

Update:

It would be pretty nifty to know that a tree your father planted was to be part of the new Namdaemun.

Original Post:

I found this at Youtube. It's titled 다시 되돌릴 수 있다면 (If we can go to the PAST). It got me from the beginning with the shot of the magpie.



A very good post (with lots of photos) on a visit to the ruins can be found over at liminality.

In this overhead photo of the ruins, the curve of what would have once been walls can be seen:


Here's what those curving walls looked like in 1904:


Namdaemun can be seen in the distance in this photo, taken from Namsan.


One last, odd thing. Remember the ad campaign for "I am Legend"? I'm sure many people looked at the different posters of cities around the world in ruins and thought they looked pretty nifty.


At the movie theatre the other night, I noticed a booklet for the film Jumper. On each page is a shot of the main character standing on top of a famous building. The final shot, one designed for the Korean market, featured a scene which, as of a week ago, brings about a much different reaction than the one its designers envisioned.

Butting in

[update: Do read the comments for the reply to this post.]


In the comments to my last post, an anonymous commenter left the nastiest reply I’ve ever received, but it’s not without its merits, considering what I posted. Lesson to relearn - don't post quickly when you're tired and try to finish quickly so you can go to bed, especially when you're trying to be funny (and when your typical humor is too dark to be considered funny by most... or is simply not very funny at all).

I actually had a different title and beginning which would have worked better, but didn’t think it was complete and was too tired to finish it and so removed it and changed the title at the last moment and just posted it. The title as posted came from the fact that I noticed it was then Valentines Day, and associated it with the “Easter-style chocolates” I conjured up at the end of the post (which were meant to make fun of my own culture’s weirdness in celebrating the death and resurrection of Christ by telling children a giant bunny left chocolate eggs in the night). I've reinstated the (what I still feel is incomplete) original beginning at the top of the post (and have made clear how I changed it).

Reading what I wrote again made me see that there was a rather large gap between what I was thinking about and how the post turned out. I meant to criticize the media coverage and look at the phenomenon of people crying in front of media cameras in Korea, much as I did in this post. I think that if you read that post, you’ll see that while I might have poked a bit of fun, it was aimed at the media and how people react in the presence of cameras. I should make clear that I didn’t intend to criticize the people themselves who were going to Namdaemun, but the way in which it was turning into a media event. Of course, with the title and the caption under the photo of the children, it would be difficult not to think I was making fun of these people. That's not what I intended, and as strange as putting a photo of a building on an mourning altar might seem, I do realize that they are mourning the death of a symbol, much as the people in Pyeongchang months ago were mourning the death of their dreams of Olympic glory (and of their hope for a rise in land prices in the area).

I do think that the media's presence near, and coverage of, large groups of people influences their behavior and that the dissemination of the images of these groups' behavior in the media influences the behavior of those who observe it as spectators, and that this is a fascinating phenomenon. One only needs to see how media coverage of crowds near city hall during the 2002 world cup drew more people to city hall to be not only a part of that crowd, but also to be subject to that coverage. I just didn't do a very good job of conveying any of this in that last post. Sorry about that.

Now to reply to some of the complaints posted by my anonymous commenter.

these people are revering the past, they are revering something that lasted the test of time, at least within their imaginations, and they are bowing down to that image. and what they are bowing down to isn't profit... it isn't superficial beauty.... it isn't faddish or cutesy or trite. it's truly something noble. something gorgeous. something that has been there "forever" and was supposed to be there till the end of time. they mourn its passing... and that's a bad thing?

'Faddish' isn't the right word, of course, as that would refer more to something like this:

half price!

But it might be worth noting that the number of people visiting Namdaemun has increased markedly since in burned down. As for the popular imagination, allow me to say this:

The burning of and near-total destruction of Namdaemun is best thing that has happened to it since the dawn of the media era - as far as its place in the public imagination is concerned.

Suddenly, a landmark to which most people rarely given a passing thought has been destroyed, and its name (its proper name, at that) is on the lips of everyone. This is, of course, only human nature. While what Mr. Chae did to the actual, physical Namdaemun was terrible, what he has done to make people aware of Namdaemun's place in their shared history ensures that his name will soon be forgotten and drowned out by a million TV news reports, newspaper articles and websites shouting the name in unison "Sungnyemun."

let them mourn in peace without your holier-than-thou "we need a good sense o[f] proportion" thinking. it's their loss not yours, so butt the fuck out why don't cha?

As far as sense of proportion goes, allow me to restate the point of this post a little more succinctly: Nobody died. It's a building. Not only that, it's a building made out of wood, and made in style which the craftsmen currently rebuilding Gyeongbokgung and Gwanghwamun are very familiar with. Another thing worth pointing out is illustrated by this photo:

From here

It hasn't been entirely destroyed. It's even possible that some of these pieces of wood date back to the original structure and that some of them will be incorporated into the newly rebuilt Namdaemun. Of course, that doesn't take away from the fact that it burned and collapsed unexpectedly on live television, something I didn't realize until I read this comment. I can understand that this must have been shocking to see live, and would have had a markedly different effect than looking at photos of its collapse on naver, which is what I did. When I watched a video of it collapsing the next day, I have to say, it was an entirely different experience, and not a very pleasant one. But this all goes to reinforce just what a media event this was, which was what I was (clumsily) discussing in my last post. It's also interesting to note that it's precisely Namdaemun's central location that helped make it so easily accessible (to the general public, the arsonist, and the media covering the fire and the mourners) and which helped cement it in the nation's imagination (as well as the fact that it's more aesthetically pleasing than Dongdaemun).

As for me "butting the fuck out", please let me know what credentials I need to post about this topic. Do I need to have lived here for a certain amount of time? Do I need to have Korean ancestry? It might also help if you let me know what other topics I should not be commenting on. Is it okay to criticize the response of the police, fire department, Cultural Heritage Administration or president to the fire as long as I don't comment on the media's coverage of the public response? As for the "theirs" and "yours" distinction you make, you might want to direct your anger at this uppity foreigner who poked his nose into Korea's business and had the gall to point out that a house in Insa-dong that once belonged to a former prince had been turned into a parking lot (without a peep from the media).

they mourn something twice as old (if even in their imagination) as your own fucking country.... have a bit of feeling whydoncha?

As my country is 140 years old, Namdaemun would actually be about four times as old as my own fucking country, which would make Namdaemun about 10 times older than the Republic of Korea. As long as we're keeping count, I mean.

The burning of Namdaemun has certainly been the first big 'gust' of the year...