Gojong the Great (An Alternate East Asia)

Gojong the Great (Hangul: 고종; Hanja: 高宗; RR: 'Gojong'; MR: 'Kojong'), the Emperor Gwangmu (Hangul: 광무제; Hanja: 光武帝; RR: 'Gwangmuje'; MR: 'Kwangmuje'; 8 September 1852 – 21 January 1919), was the twenty-sixth king of the Joseon dynasty and the first Emperor of Korea.

Gojong was a distant descendant of King Injo (r.1623-1649). When Gojong was born in 1852, Korea was an isolated, feudal, medieval vassal state dominated by faction court politics spearheaded by the Andong Kim clan. Through a number of successful wars, he expanded the Joseon Kingdom into a much larger empire that became a major East Asian power and also laid the groundwork for the Korean military after capturing ports at Azov and the Baltic Sea. He spearheaded numerous reforms that laid the fundamental background for future Korean development by building infrastructure, reforming the economy and creating the nucleus of the modern bureaucracy and military with several key alliances around the world. By the time of his death in 1919, Korea was transformed into a world power with a modern rapidly growing industrial base, modern infrastructure in railroads and ports, and a fully modern military. Gojong's reforms made a lasting impact on Korea, and many institutions of Korean government trace their origins to his reign. He was also an inspiration for most developmental dictators of the 20th century.

Growth of Factional Conflict (1700-1800)
After invasions from Japan (1592-1598) and Manchuria (1637), Joseon experienced a nearly 150-year period of peace. The early group of Silhak scholars advocated comprehensive reform of civil service examination, taxation, natural sciences and the improvement in agromanagerial and agricultural techniques. It aimed to rebuild Joseon society after it had been devastated by the two invasions. Under the leadership of Kim Yuk, the chief minister of King Hyeonjong, the implementation of reforms proved highly advantageous both to state revenues and to the lot of the peasants.

Factional conflict grew particularly intense under the reigns of the kings Sukjong and Gyeongjong, with major rapid reversals of the ruling faction, known as *hwanguk* (換局; literally change in the state of affairs), being commonplace. As a response, the next kings, Yeongjo and Jeongjo, generally pursued the Tangpyeongchaek - a policy of maintaining balance and equality between the factions.Yeongjo's grandson, the enlightened King Jeongjo enacted various reforms throughout his reign, notably establishing Gyujanggak, a royal library in order to improve the cultural and political position of Joseon and to recruit gifted officers to run the nation. King Jeongjo's reign also saw the further growth and development of Joseon's popular culture. At that time, the group of Silhak scholars encouraged the individual to reflect on state traditions and lifestyle, initiating the studies of Korea that addressed its history, geography, epigraphy and language.

However, the Joseon Kingdom was greatly becoming more isolationist, pressured by Qing China, and was starting to sufffer by court corruption. The population at the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty in 1392 is estimated to be around 6-million. The population would hit a peak of just under 19-million around 1750 slowly stagnating even declining a little to 18.5-million by 1800.

Rule by In-Laws (1800-1864)
After the death of King Jeongjo, the Joseon faced difficult external and internal problems. Internally, the foundation of national law and order weakened as a result of "Sedo" politics (in-law government) by royal in-law family. Young King Sunjo succeeded King Jeongjo in 1800. With Jeongjo's death the Intransigent Patriarch faction seized power with the regency of Queen Dowager Jeongsun, whose family had strong ties to the Intransigents, and initiated a persecution of Catholics. But after the retirement and death of the Queen Dowager, the Intransigents were gradually ousted and the Expedient faction, including the Andong Kim family of Kim Jo-sun, the father of the queen, gained power. Gradually the Andong Kims came to dominate the court.

With the domination of the Andong Kims, the era of *sedo politics* or in-law rule began. The formidable in-law lineage monopolized the vital positions in government, holding sway over the political scene, and intervening in the succession of the throne. These kings had no monarchic authority and could not rule over the government. The yangban of other families, overwhelmed by the power exercised by the royal in-laws, could not speak out. As the power was concentrated in the hands of the royal in-law lineage, there was disorder in the governing process and corruption became rampant. Large sums were offered in bribes to the powerful lineages to obtain positions with nominally high rank. Even the low-ranking posts were bought and sold. This period, which spanned 60 years, saw the manifestation of both severe poverty among the Korean population and ceaseless rebellions in various parts of the country.

Externally, Joseon became increasingly isolationist. Its rulers sought to limit contact with foreign countries. Joseon's population was also suffering during this time experiencing a decline of 10% from 1810 to 1850 from 18.46-million to 16.6-million.

Childhood of Poverty and Humiliation by Family
Gojong was born in a rather modest background for someone of the royal family. His father's early government career consisted of minor posts that were mostly honorary and ceremonial. For the beginning of his life, his connection to the royal house seemed of little help to him. He was poor and humiliated by the rich in-laws of the royal house. Gojong took this personally, and when he ascended to the throne he had those who humiliated him banished to poverty and slavery.

His Father as Regent
During the mid-1860s, the Heungseon Daewongun was the main proponent of isolationism and the instrument of the persecution of native and foreign Catholics, a policy that led directly to the French invasion. The early years of the Daewongun's rule also witnessed a concerted effort to restore the largely dilapidated Gyeongbok Palace, the seat of royal authority. During the Daewongun's reign, Joseon factional politics, the Seowon (learned academies that often doubled as epicenters of factional power), and the power wielded by the Andong Kim clan, completely disappeared as political forces within Korean state life.

Growing Conflict of Personality and Ideology with his Father
Daenwongun and Gojong were rather opposites in terms of personality and interests. Daewongun enjoyed calligraphy and painting while Gojong enjoyed reading and martial arts. Daewongun was conservative, close-minded, set in his ways while Gojong was endlessly curious, energetic, and always wanting to try something new. Beginning in 1865, the two were becoming increasing conflicted with eachother because of their different points of views about how the country should be governed. In 1866, he questioned why Catholics couldn't practice their religion behind closed doors if they weren't hurting anybody after executing French missionaries. When this ended up with a French Campaign which ended up with Daewongun leading a charge against the French naval soldiers reaffirming Korea's isolation, he saw how advanced the French ships were he thought that there was a lot to learn from them.

After this the rift between Daewongun would start growing much more rapidly with arguments becoming more frequent. When Gojong married the progressive minded Queen Consotr Min, the rift became permanent.

Banishing Daewongun and Consolidation of Power (1870)
After an argument on what to do with the more reform-minded officials in court, an argument arose between Gojong and Daewongun. After this argument, Gojong became so frustrated with his father's stubborn refusal to accept that the world had advanced. On 8 February 1870, Gojong used his title as the head monarch he convinced the royal guards to arrest his father and have him sent into exile in China. He then declares a new leadership in Korea where he bases his leadership style off of Sejong the Great.

First Wave of Reforms and Return to Silhak and Sejong's Meritocracy (1870-1871)
Gojong immediately began making his move ordering a purge on the Royal Court of the conservative members or and executing anyone who was loyal to his father, demoting their status to slavery, and appointing officials based on merit. He immediately began using the army to suppress uprisings in the court, ends the persecution of Catholics, fully eliminates the faction politics and restoring the Andong Kim clan under one condition that they work for the King and that the royal family is the absolute ruler of the country. He reinstated the Seowon school, makes the silhak philosophy the philosophy of the government, reforms the curriculum to math, reading, writing and science, reforms the Hyanggyo to allow members of all classes entry based on merit, along with peasants and also lowers taxes on farms.

United States Expedition to Korea and Meeting Commodore Rodgers
On 1 June 1871 the United States Navy led an Expedition to Korea headed by Commodore John Rodgers, while there was some tension at first the two parties eventually allowed to let the Untied States ships survey the peninsula and travel up the Han River. This led to the Gangwha Commission commencing on 6 June 1871 a convention that would take place over the next two months ending with the signing of the Korean-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce on 27 July.

Gojong Travels to the United States
On 2 August 1871 Gojong left the Korean Peninsula for the United States placing Empress Min incharge of the governmental duties and a doppelganger to fool any Chinese embassy who would send a mission to Korea. It would take Gojong sixteen days to arrive in San Francisco with an entourage of 40, including 5 translators where he would become the first Korean to travel on a railroad to Washington DC and meet with President Grant personally. Gojong even gifts President Grant with a myeonje baegab the world’s first examples of a soft bulletproof vest, and in a test, Gojong puts on his copy of a vest, and orders Grant to shoot at him with a musket pistol. The bullet fails to penetrate the vest, and Grant accepts the gift; Gojong learns a lot of American history, for uniting a country in turmoil, Gojong also creates an alliance with America, learns of railroads and canals for making inter-land travel and trade much more quick, easy, and efficient.

Upon returning from the United States on 20 November 1871, Gojong went right back to reforming and enacting new laws, encouraging incentives to start businesses, miners, metalworkers can eliminate their low-class status, and pay much lower taxes if they start businesses, or by how much they produce. He orders reforms on the reforms the education system to be based on the United States model for education making elementary education compulsive up to age 10, education is no longer limited to upper classes and elites, but is now mandatory for all, modernization, reformism, and progress.

Gojong Travels to Europe
Beginning on 7 April 1872 Gojong travels to Russia through China traveling north of the Great Wall with an entourage of 20 people including 5 translators and 3 stenographers. The group travels at a rate of up to 60-miles a day. On 11 April he makes it into China dressed up as a common Korean tradesman being allowed to pass through. There he travels through China making it into Russia on 3 May 1872. He makes it to the first Russian settlement Irkutsk on 15 May 1872. A prosperous center of education and trade in Eastern Siberia but a small settlement nonetheless. He continues to travel westward picking up a translator who can translate Chinese into Russian. Eventually, on May 24 he makes it to Krasnoyarsk a small trading post town of 8,000 people. The first major Russian town he enters is the city of Omsk on 10 June 1872 which at the time was a city of just under 30,000 people.

Gojong Makes it to The Russian Capital
On 3 July 1872 Gojong and his entourage finally enter the city of Moscow a city of 600,000 people where they run into a Polytechnic Expo being held at the time. He spends a week in the city resting up and enjoying the sites and the massive buildings. On 29 July 1872, Gojong heads off to St. Petersburg a city of 700,000 on a train arriving there on 31 July 1872. There they are even more amazed then they were at Moscow and spend a week in the city visiting local factories and craft shops, before eventually taking a job at a local factory for a month. He then meets with Tsar Alexander II on 7 September 1872 at the Winter Palace. Begins a conference eventually ending with the signing of the Russia-Korea Treaty on 9 October 1872.

Gojong's European Voyage
After spending several months in Russia, Gojong travels throughout Europe with the first country he visits being Austria-Hungary, he then travels to the newly formed German Empire, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and finally the United Kingdom. Each country he visits he is stunned by the size, scale, and grandeur of their capital cities. He was most fascinated with the architecture of Paris and the size and scale of London, he met with Queen Victoria. When he was escorted back home on a steamboat, he traveled through the Suez Canal arriving back in Incheon on 20 May 1873.

Gojong's Reforms and Initial Modernizations (1873-1876)
When Gojong returns he brings 10 translators back with him and spends two months reading the volumes of books he bought from the European nations he visited and has them translated into Hangul. On 20 July 1873 he makes a speech to the Courts proclaiming a new royal leadership. Gojong creates his model for leadership based off of former great European leaders Louis XIV of France, Otto Von Bismarck of Germany, Napoleon I and III of France, Catherine the Great of Russia and his most favorite historical figure to read about Peter the Great of Russia.

Gojong realizes after traveling through Europe how far behind Korea and China have become to the rest of the world models his leadership style after Peter the Great who he already paralleled himself with. This was because both Peter I and Gojong were energetic, intelligent, endlessly curious children who were never thought to inherit the throne until unusual circumstances of their country's politics thrust them there. Both when they ascended to the throne were at the mercy of their reactionary regressive conservative regent and henchmen, in Peter's case it was his sister Sophia and in Gojong's is was his father Daewongun. They both used their title as the head monarch and control of the military to take their positions of power away from the regents by force and forced their regents into exile. They both proclaimed a new order only to leave the country and travel abroad seeing how far their nations had fallen behind. This would be the first in a series of many parallels with Peter I of Russia and Gojong of Joseon. As a result, Gojong saw a lot of himself in Peter I and was the historical figure that he sought to emulate the most.

Gojong spends the next several years proclaiming a massive series of sweeping modernizing reforms, expanding the military, modernizing its uniforms and equipment, declares Hangul the official writing system of Korea, and promotes policies of universal education and mass literacy forcing all members of all classes to learn how to read. Gojong makes a series of decrees and orders the construction of the first printing house where he orders all works and signs written in Hanja to be replaced with Hangul. He also orders construction of the first patent office, the first modern science academy, the first center for mathematics, the first modern hospital, reforms Sungkyunkwan into a modern three-year university, the first modern postal service.

His new reforms don't stop there he also orders the Hwacha to be made with congrave and mysorean rockets, creates a new elite bodyguard for himself and his family called the Gukga anjeon bowibu. They are chosen out of the most skilled and most loyal soldiers wehre they're trained in ssireum, subak and takkyeon this is for fear that the traditionalists and isolationists might try to overthrow him. However, this is only the beginning of many more reforms and mdedrnisation projects to come during his reign.

Gojong and Kim Okgyum and the Gwangmu Reforms (1876-1892)
In 1873, Gojong learns of a young Andong Kim member Kim Ok-gyun who passes the civil service exam at level-6 at just the age of 22, which at the time was unheard of. Gojong goes to meet the man who is just a year older than him and the two become close friends fairly quickly leading Gojong to appoint him as the Yeonguijeong (Joseon equivalent to Prime Minister) in 1874.

Following this appointment, the two begin working on a series of reform projects and goals. The two men create what will become known as the Gwangmu Reforms, a much more sweeping wave of reforms aimed at modernizing the country as much as possible in as little time as possible. The Implementation of these reforms was slightly delayed when the Japanese invaded and occupied Gangwha which was a quick military incident in which Japan forced an unfair treaty on Korea and demanded an apology from the Joseon Emperor but he refused. This was a foreshadowing of later national feuds and tensions to come.

First Reforms (1876-1882)
The first wave of these reforms took place from 1876 to 1884 when Gojong recruited Kim Ok-gyun as his main policy advisor. In 1877 alone, Gojong ordered the first newspaper publication to promote nationalist, reformist stances and pro-modernization views and to be under his direct control. He also reformed the school system into a nationwide system, ordered them to take in as many children as possible and demanded parents to force their children to walk for miles to a school if necessary, and began reforming the land ownership system into a cadastral system.

In 1878-79, he began using slave labor to build a canal connecting the Han River to the Taedong River, commissioned the first Imperial Military Academy, the first modern hospital and the first national library. By 1880, the reforms were just starting to show the slightest evidence of bearing fruit as percentage of children reporting attending school went from 2% in 1870 to 6% in 1880 and the literacy rate had increased from 15-20% to 23% and the size of the military had increased from 5,000 to 31,000. By 1882, Gojong would have commissioned a central banking system a naval academy and construction of the first telegraph line from Seoul to Busan.

Crisis of 1882
However, in 1882, a drought occurs leading to food shortages and riots began breaking out leading to the first use of crowd suppression. This prooved that the military was starting to become effective in handling domestic matters by itself and that it didn't need Chinese interference. This was proven when in barely one day the Korean army quelled the rebellions before the Chinese soldiers could arrive to the scene. When the Chinse military unit arrived making up 5,000 men the head General told them that there was no need for their assistance and they had matters under their control. The Chinese negotiated with King Gojong to attempt to put Chinese military in the city of Seoul and establish control over policies to suit their interests. But Gojong pointed out that they had signed treaties with most of Europe and the United States and that doing so would probably bring envoys of European militaries to them. This argument was effective and as a result China was unable to re-establish their influence on the government, but technically Korea was still under the Chinese sphere of influence, and they agreed to pay them tribute and not interfere with diplomatic relations or other nations in exchange for being allowed to enact whatever policies they wanted on their own domestic front. The Chinese Emperor agreed along with Empress Dowager.

Second Wave of Reforms (1882-1886)
The year 1883 was a rather calmer year despite the drought and food shortages and in 1884 the Han-Nakdong-Taedong canal was finally completed after five years of laborious construction. Following this Gojong commissioned the construction of his dream palace the Hyundaegaehyuk (modern and reformist) Palace, it was modeled off of the Winter Palace, Versailles and Peterhof. The palace was designed with fountains, indoor running water, electricity, telephone wires and a telegraph lines to Russia and Japan. The architects behind the palace are Russian architect Alfansy Seredin-Sabatin and Korean architect Sim Ui-seok. The palace is designed in a combination of baroque, rococo, beaux-arts and traditional Korean architecture. The roof is styled on traditional Korean architecture and the Palace is surrounded by Korean style gates. The purpose of this Palace is to serve as a display for the advancement and modernization of the country’s monarchy.

Gojong also begins an intense propaganda campaign promoting his reforms, modernizations, construction projects and the monarchy. He also orders a massive expansion of the Gukga anjeon bowibu from 500 members to 10,000 and creates a new secret police organization called the Korean Countintelligence corps (KCIC). They’re a secret police force modeled after the Jinyiwei of Ming China and the Okhrana of Russia whose job is to suppress riots, persecute enemies of the state, combat political terrorism and revolutionary activities and seek out all information and they are under Gojong’s direct control. He would use this to help secure his reign and grip of power over the country making himself an even more affective ruler.

Third Wave of Reforms (1886-1891)

In 1886 after the Imo Incident and a treaty allowing free reign on domestic affairs so long as China can interfere in foreign relations with Korea Gojong set on enacting even more ambitious reforms and projects. In March 1886 he enacted a series of programs aimed at modernizing and reforming the Kingdoms economy, education system, land system, military and industry. He made a proclamation ordering the elites and people with money, encouraging them to set up manufacturing facilities such as textile factories and bough factory equipment from Russia. Gojong then made an order to double the widths of all major roads in every major city in Korea and all sewage must be covered. In August he passed a decree making primary school compulsory for all Koreans, and in June ordered the first modern shipbuilding operation. But his most ambitious reform yet came in September of that year when he made the Universal Emancipation freeing all the slaves throughout the nation, ending slavery as a whole in Korea. He sent 5,000 troops throughout the country ordering all the slaves to be freed and emancipated a process that would take almost 15 years.

The following year in 1887, the military had doubled in size from seven years earlier reaching 63,000 soldiers and he enacted the first ever mass public health campaign throughout the Kingdom. The public health campaigns became even more ambitious in 1889 when Gojong enacted laws encouraging good hygiene practices, cleanliness, and making littering and spitting illegal. That year he also ordered construction to begin on the first railroad in Korea connecting Seoul to Incheon, and had a commission set up a Pavillion at the Paris World Exhibition that year.

In 1890, the first modern census in Korean history was carried out under the orders of Gojong. The census revealed that Korea had a population of 17,116,000 with 247,086 living in Seoul, 56,282 in Busan, and 40,326 in Pyongyang. He also uses the census information to determine where to build schools, and makes a proclamation across the Kingdom that all children of primary school age must be attending school, and parents shall have to make their children walk for miles to the nearest school if necessary.

The reforms and new programs and laws only continued to keep getting more ambitious with each passing year. In 1891, Gojong reformed the eight provinces turning the cities of Seoul, Busan, Pyongyang, Daegu, Hanbat, Gwangju, Incheon, Ulsan, Nampo, Rason and Sinuju in one newly declared law. He also established a law declaring a new currency based on the gold standard the Korean Won, and ordered bank notes to be circulated nationwide. By 1891, Gojong would enact compulsory consription for all males who reach the age of 18, that they must serve in the military for a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 10 years.

From Kingdom to Empire and the Gabo Reforms (1892-1894)
Gojong decided that 1892, the 500th year of the Joseon Dynasty would be the year that Korea would transform itself from a Kingdom into an Empire. On 30 April 1892, the city limits of all Korean villages, towns and cities were expanded by 50% allowing for greater increases in the urban population of the country. Later Gojong would draft legislation creating the first modern legislature known as the Assembly which owuld consist of 300 unicameral parliamentary seats. Then finally on 17 July 1892, Gojong made a public announcement to the Royal Court that Korea was no longer known as the Joseon Kingdom but instead as the Korean Empire. He also enacts laws making it practice to hang his portrait in people's homes but most people do out of respect at this point anyway. The first election is hosted on 14 October 1892 where 5,026 people voted, however, the Imperialist Party a party that is fiercely loyal to Gojong won the election winning 162 out of 300 seats.

There were also other reforms passed that year such as agricultural reform combining small farms into larger scale farms to help increase crop yields. This reform however, would end up having disasterous consequences in the next couple of years.

Donhag Peasant Rebellion (1893-1894)
Gojong had increased taxes to help pay for his reforms over the past decade, and this combined with his complete disregard for his people's opinions or consideration on any of his reforms or decisions led to resentment. Many in the countryside felt that the recent land reforms and abolition of slavery were meant to help the rich landlords and wealthy elite. One of these discontented farmers was a man in the North Jeolla province by the name of Jeon Bongjun who felt that the increasees in taxes, rapid land reform, overruling government actions, and the colonial powers were all conspiring against the peasants of Korea. In July 1893 Jeon began gathering up a massive army of peasant farmer rebels in a buildup that would span three months with the peasant rebel army eventually reaching 150,000 even outgrowing the size of the Imperial Korean Military which had grown to 130,000 by that time.

Onset of the War
The army first attacked on 11 January 1894 by attacking the walls of Gobu eventually getting through the walls seizing and destroying all government offices. For a week straight the rebels attacked government institutions buildings, freed prisoners, and armed themselves with weapons. When news of this reached Seoul, Gojong was outraged and ordered the army to stop the movement at any cost.

The Qing Chinese government was growing increasingly annoyed with the Korean government insistence on constant reforms and modernizations. However, as long as they were still paying tribute they were not allowed to interfere with domestic politics in Korea.

On 20 March 1894, the siege of Gobu ended with 58,000 casualties the vast majority of them being the rebels. The Japanese heard about this and sent an army unit down to investigate through Busan on 23 April 1894. Japan had been growing increasingly insecure and annoyed by Korea, this was greatly exacerbated after 1889 during a poor harvest when Gojong ordered an end to the export of Soybeans to Japan.

As the war continued on China decided to interfere and send 30,000 troops across the Yalu River and Li Hongzhang to the city of Seoul. By 4 June 1894 the Korean military had successfully suppressed the rebellion at the cost of 200,000 lives. The Japanese and Chinese having enough of Gojong decided to talk to him and send an army to convince him to step down from the thrown. But unfortunately, both countries decided to send an army to Incheon on the same day. The Chinese government had violated the Convention of Tiensten by not informing the Japanese that they were sending troops into Korea, and they had also violated the 1882 Joseon-Qing Accord that Chinese shall not interfere with Korean domestic politics.

On 13 June 1894, Japanese military sent assassins to attempt an assasination on Emperor Gojong, Empress Min, and Kim Ok-gyun. While the attempts on Gojong and Min were unsuccessful, the attempt on Kim Ok-gyun was successful and he was brutally murdered. To make matters more frustrated the assassination attempt took place while Gojong was making a public speech and the body guard thwarted the assassins and Gojong continued to give his speech. Min was taken into a secret room in a building by Japanese soldiers only for the Gukga anjeon bowibu to hear her screams of terror and thwart the assassination by fighting the Japanese soldiers while Min ran away in horror and was found by a member of the Gukga anjeon bowibu in a container at a local shop. Gojong, after he finished his speech with a bullet in his chest right beside his lung was taken to Korea's best doctor and the bullet was successfully removed.

On 25 July 1894 war broke out between the Japanese and Chinese when 3 Japanese cruisers attacked and sunk 2 Chinese ships and captured 1 Chinese gunboat resulting in 1,100 casualties for the Chinese. In Cheonan the Chinese and Japanese engaged eachother with 4,000 troops each, and the Koreans military decided to kill off both of them for invading their country. On 17 September 1894 the Chinese were driven across the Yalu River by the Koreans.

The war finally ended on 17 April 1895 with the Treaty of Shimonoseki which recognized Korea's soverignty and transferred their sphere of influence from China to Japan. Japan would gain the island of Taiwan and Qing China ended up losing much prestige.

As a result of the war Gojong was enraged, he thought of the Japanese Empire as a symbol of colonialism and imperialism and even worse yet hated the Qing Government. After the First Sino-Japense War he became extremely determined to humiliate the Qing Governmetn as much as possible through an action of his own doing. In just two years from 1893 to 1895 the Korean Military had swelled in size from 130,000 troops to 235,000 and they had acquired modern rifles of their own design by the time. In Gojong's mind the Qing Government had come to symbolize everything wrong and backwards with East Asian politics. The Qing Government for Gojong became a symbol of backwardness, intolerance to new ideas, isolationism, status-quo maintenance, corruption, and incompetence.

Gojong ordered the great general of the recent conflict General Yun Ung-Nyeol to use modern training tactics on the military and order a recruitment drive. From September 1895 to January 1896 Gojong traveled to France, Russia, America and Britain to negotiate the existence of the Korean Empire as its own nation the attempt was successful in every nation except for Britain. He also argued for a military alliance of which the only nations who agreed were France and Russia. Korea had already built its first-ever domestically produced battleship commissioned on 18 March 1894, the KIS Guangje a 1,056-ton vessel that took 3 years to build at 30% of the nation's defense budget. It was the ship Gojong used to travel to those Western Nations.

When Gojong returned to Korea on 27 January 1896 he spent a month drafting a agreement for the Qing Government that would be on Korea's terms with no exceptions.

Death
Emperor Gojong died on 21 January 1919 in his Palace at 18:38 of a heart attack. He lived a very fast paced, strenuous life, known for his excessive coffee consumption and more often than not working over a 100 hours a week. His funeral took place on March 1, 1919 and was attended by over a million mourners. While all of Korea mourned his death, it was said that officials in China and Japan were relieved.

Health
His physical appearance was described by Angus Hamilton in 1904 as "his majesty is somewhat tall. Approaching five feet eleven inches in height." Hamilton also described him as "stocky sturdy strong build with a somewhat rotund torso." He was said to have had occasional breathing problems as a child hopefully cured with herbal Korean medicine. But he adopted a rigorous energetic lifestyle that soon caused asthma to gradually dissipate. While he was somewhat susceptiable to health problems caused by a weakened immune system from some minor inbreeding in the Joseon line.

Personality and Characteristics
Angus Hamilton described Gojong as "His face is pleasant, impassive in repose, brightening with an engaging smile when in conversation. His voice is soft and pleasant to the ear when speaking to him personally, but has a commanding voice when addressing a crowd or when angry.  He talks with assertiveness, easy assurance, vivacity, and limitless energy." He was described as endlessly curious and energetic, he loved to learn and read and would sometimes read up to 500 pages a day. He also had a tireless work ethic to match his energetic nature waking up as early as 4 am and working as late as midnight. He was tirelessly reading up on government finances, passing decrees, proposing projects. He demanded the utmost loyalty and obedience out of his courtiers and government officials. If anyone of them stood out of line he had them severely publicly beaten. If any of them challenged his authority, he had them killed. He was also known for his love of children and outgoing nature. Many in the Royal Courts thought he was a radical tyrant but no one would ever say it to his face and eventually they wouldn't even publicly oppose his decrees and reforms.

The Annals from 1864 to 1870 describe him even as a child and teenager as ambitious, rebellious, fascinated by anything modern, and always at odds with his stern, strict, ultra-conservative father the Regent Daewongun. It was said that after the 1866 French Envoy incident he always got into arguments with Daewongun. In 1867, when he married the 16-year-old Myeongseong, the two would have deep intellectual discussions that would last for hours. The two loved each other not just romantically but intellectually as well.

It was said that over the course of his life even all throughout his stressful long reign that he never lost his ambition, ruthless fascination with modernity, and love of modernization, this was key to making Korea modernize so rapidly during his reign. Historians have most closely linked his personality to that of other ruthless modernizers such as Peter the Great and later Joseph Stalin. President Teddy Roosevelt said of him "I have never even read about a more determined nor ruthless leader than this reforming Korean tyrant. I loath him for the way he treats people who oppose him, don't follow his orders, or speak against him or his policies.  Yet I admire him for his determination, drive, vision, energy and enthusiasm.  The Korean people are unfortunate for having to suffer under such a stubborn brute, yet fortunate of having such an effective ruler.  Perhaps that is why many people who have met both him and myself compare the two of us."

Family

 * Father: Yi Ha-Eung, Grand Internal Prince Heungseon (21 December 1820 – 22 February 1898) (이하응 흥선대원군)
 * Grandfather: Yi Gu, Prince Namyeon (22 August 1788 – 19 March 1836) (이구 남연군)
 * Grandmother: Princess Consort Min of the Yeoheung Min clan (26 June 1788 – 1831) (군부인 여흥민씨)
 * Mother: Grand Internal Princess Consort Sunmok of the Yeoheung Min clan (3 February 1818 – 8 January 1898) (순목대원비 민씨)
 * Grandfather: Min Chi-Gu (1795 – 14 December 1874) (민치구)
 * Grandmother: Lady Yi of the Jeonju Yi clan (? – 17 November 1873) (전주 이씨)
 * Consorts and their Respective Issue(s):
 * 1) Empress Myeongseong of the Yeoheung Min clan (19 October 1851 – 21 October 1931) (명성황후 민씨)
 * 2) Jongyul (1871-1872)
 * 3) Jungsook (1873)
 * 4) Sunjong (25 March 1874 - 24 April 1926)
 * 5) Sungil (1875-1876)
 * 6) Yuljong (30 March 1877 - 15 August 1965)
 * 7) Seonwa (25 May 1879 - 4 July 1930)
 * 8) Deokhye (10 July 1880 - 7 February 1943)
 * 9) Jangsoon (1882-1883)
 * 10) Gwiin (13 June 1882 - 7 February 1943)
 * 11) Gangwin (14 November 1884 - 26 October 1967)
 * 12) Chuksong (13 July 1887 - 1 April 1970)
 * 13) Junmin (1890-1892)
 * 14) Eunmin (25 October 1897 - 1 May 1980)

Titles

 * The Lord Yi Myeong-bok, second son of Prince Heungseon, a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Injo (1852–1864)
 * His Royal Highness King Gojong of Korea (1864–1884)
 * His Majesty King Gojong Of Korea (1884-1892)
 * His Imperial Majesty Emperor Gwangmu of Korea (1892-1919)

Honors
National
 * Founder and Sovereign of the Grand Order of the Golden Ruler – 17 April 1893
 * Founder and Sovereign of the Grand Order of the Auspicious Stars – 17 April 1893
 * Founder and Sovereign of the Grand Order of the Plum Blossoms – 17 April 1893
 * Founder and Sovereign of the Order of the National Crest – 17 April 1894
 * Founder and Sovereign of the Order of the Purple Falcon – 16 April 1894
 * Founder and Sovereign of the Order of the Eight Trigrams – 16 April 1894
 * Grand Order of the Auspicious Phoenix, Grand Cordon – 1900

Foreign

 * Italy: Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Grand Cross – 23 July 1892
 * France: Legion d'Honneur, Grand Cross – 23 July 1892
 * Japan: Order of the Chrysanthemum, Collar – 8 April 1894
 * United Kingdom: Order of the Indian Empire, Grand Commander – 1895
 * Spain: Order of Charles III, Grand Cross with Collar – 1895
 * Belgium: Royal Order of Leopold, Grand Cordon – 23 March 1896
 * China: Order of the Double Dragon, Class I Grade I – 1 December 1898
 * Russia: Order of St. Stanislaus, Knight – 1 December 1898
 * Denmark: Order of the Elephant, Knight – 31 August 1898
 * Germany: Order of the Black Eagle, Knight – 20 March 1899

During the Joseon Dynasty

 * 1) Gaeguk: used for the reign of King Gojong 1864 – 1892)

During the Korean Empire[edit]

 * 1) Gwangmu (광무; 光武; "Bright Valour") – used for the reign of Emperor Gojong, 1892–1919

Legacy and Achievements
He is the key figurehead credited with almost single handily spearheading the rapid modernization of Korea beginning in 1870 up until his death almost half a century later.

He brought over several western doctors, set up the first hospitals and health clinics and enacted numerous public health campaigns under his orders, and through the introduction of modern medicine by his reforms the average life expectancy for peasant and commoner Korean males was 24 and for females 26 years in 1880 to peasant and commoner Korean males living to 37 and females living to 42. This combined with his policies of encouraging rural families to have as many children as possible with tax breaks, incentives, and encouragement caused the nation's fertility rate to soar from 5.5 in 1880 to 6.5 in 1900 to 7.2 in 1909 to a high of 8.4 in 1917. This caused the nation's population to explode from 17.1-million in 1890 to 21.6-million by 1910 to 38-million by 1930.

In 1801, Government-owned slaves were all emancipated, and the institution gradually died out over the next century, but the universal emancipation of 1886 written and enacted by Gojong would completely end the practice. He is also known as a liberator of the slaves much like Abraham Lincoln in the United States and Alexander II in Russia.

He was not only the first Korean leader but among the very first Koreans in general to ride in a railroad car, steamship, ironclad,dreadnought, automobile, battleship, and eventually an airplane.

He created a political culture in Korea of meritocracy and leaders trying to establish a reputation by advancing the country (Kim Gu, Kim Chwa-chin, Park Chung-hee, Kim Dae-jung). His style of top-down modernization, ruthless reform and government action was used as an inspiration for many dictators throughout the twentieth century. His methods of persistent reform and modernization, ruthless suppression of opposition (Conservatives in the Royal Government (1870-1871), Imo Faction (1880-1885), Gapsin Faction (1890-1894), Pro-Japanese Factions (1895-1910)). By the time he proclaimed himself Emperor and proclaimed Korea an Empire he had virtually complete control of Korean political society. By the time of his death in 1919, it was said that nobody would interfere with politics or trade in East Asia without first considering the response of Gojong.

Dictators who were influenced by Gojong

 * Benito Mussolini of Italy
 * Kemal Ataturk of Turkey
 * Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union
 * Josef Tito of Yugoslavia
 * Mao Zedong of China
 * Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt
 * Huang Oudong of Manchuria
 * Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore
 * Deng Xiaoping of China