Eastern Awakening

Premise
Many timelines depict Korea being swallowed up by Japan, Russia, or China, at the turn of the century. This timeline intends to subvert that. This is a limited nationwank: though Korea eventually makes a small empire on itself, bad decisions by the Korean leadership are the reason on the decline of the Korean Empire, though it recovered eventually at the end of the 20th century.

The POD is that some of the crew of the General Sherman escaped from Korea to China. after their ship was destroyed. There, they detailed the carnage the Koreans dealt to them, and then, with public opinion against Korea, the Americans, British, and French launched an alternate "Korean War." As a result, some reformist elements in the Korean government, disgusted at their leaders' failure to expel the Westerners, launch a successful coup against the reactionaries, and succeeded. They concluded that they had to deal the Westerners at the Westerners' terms, thus, the start of the Jeongmyo Reforms, the Korean Meiji.

Rough Draft
An Alternate History of Korea

Part 1

It can be said that Korea is even more unfit to Westernize than China was. Its economic system is bankrupt. The people don't trust the officials, seeing them as predatory. It was really a Hermit Kingdom; it only permitted limited trade with China [along the Amnok-kang river] and Japan [through the concession of Torai in Busan], and with limited periods only.

However, there are signs that Korea might open itself to the world. Like Japan, some Koreans dared to defy the government ban on foreign travel and see the world beyond them. Some Catholic missionaries entered Korea secretly, and won thousands of converts. These new Korean Christians wanted succor from the oppressive government, seeing the Confucian dogma as too harsh. Even some Korean government officials were converted. The French bishop Siméon-François Berneux, the head of the Catholic Church in Korea, said that there are at least 17,000 Korean Catholics, though this is disputed.

Naturally, there was heavy reaction among the Confucian officialdom. This not to say they are united; in fact, the most militant of those oppose the Korean Catholic movement, the Regent Yi Ha Eung, also known as the Heungson Daewongun, is actually a relatively competent reformist and wanted to cut down the bureaucracy. He abolished those Confucian literary academies called seowon that he claimed only produced idlers. He is, however, anti-Western and even anti-foreign in general, and that's only the start of the trouble.

So, when he got wind of the Korean Christian movement, he ordered the suppression of it immediately. He believed the Korean Christians will revolt and open way for Western invasion. The war that China fought against Westerners, in what known in the West as the Second Opium War, he heard, was a dismal failure to China. Besides, the Korean Christians might be Korea's version of what he called the "violent Taipings that nearly destroyed China." Besides, the harvest in 1865 is bad enough, and that upstart Choe Cheu, whom the Daewongun suppressed along with his movement, nearly destroyed the rest of the harvest, which was few to start with anyway. He could not allow this to happen in Korea, so he launched a preemptive strike.

As a result, hundreds of Korean Christians were murdered in an orgy of violence in 1866. Meanwhile, some Russian warships appeared in January 1866 demanding trade and residency rights. Of course, given the Regent's attitude towards foreigners, this was violently rejected. But some Korean Christians have come up with the idea that France must ally with Korea to prevent Russian control. Besides, these Korean Christians are mostly Catholics, so they don't want Eastern Orthodox Russians gaining hold of Christianity in the peninsula. So they appealed to the Daewongun to propose an alliance. The Regent saw this as an opportunity to clamp them down, and when he invited Bishop Berneaux in February, he was seized and executed. Then the Korean government ordered the roundup and execution of the foreign priests as well as their converts. The priests include Bishop Siméon Berneux, Bishop Antoine Daveluy, Father Just de Bretenières, Father Louis Beaulieu, Father Pierre Henri Dorié, Father Pierre Aumaître, and Father Luc Martin Huin, all of them canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1984. Many of the Korean Catholics were executed, too, some estimated at 10,000, at a place near Seoul called Jeoldu-san, or "Beheading Mountain", which was indeed appropriate name for its ghastly purpose.

Luckily, one of the surviving French priests named Father Felix-Claire Ridel, had escaped with his life to Tianjin, China through a fishing vessel. At the same time, Admiral Pierre Gustave-Roze, commander of the French Far Eastern Squadron, arrived about the same time as Ridel. When he heard of the story about the beheaded French priests, he was naturally outraged. He decided to make the Koreans pay through a punitive expedition. He had the support of the acting French consul to China, Henry de Bellonet, whose thoughts about the massacre were the same.

Besides, Bellonet also knew of the violence against French priests in China itself, and those officials in Korea who ordered such killings were the same as those in Beijing, reactionary and self-serving. So then, without consulting the Quai d'Orsay, the French Foreign Ministry, he sent a noted to the Chinese Foreign Office, the Zongli Yamen, stating that France will occupy Korea if China does not intervene [Korea is a nominal vassal of China], and he also gave Roze the go signal for the expediton.

Meanwhile in August 1866, an American ship called the General Sherman was sailing in the Taedong river, well on the way to Pyeongyang when it stopped at the Keupsa Gate. The crew, wanting to establish trade, was rebuffed by Korean officials, but the latter provided them with water and food anyway and was told that the ship had to wait until further Korean government orders. The crew of the Sherman were impatient, however, and they sailed again until it became stranded in Yangjak Island near Pyeongyang. Baek Gyu Su, the governor of Pyeongyang, sent an order through his subordinate Yi Hyun Ik, with food and told the ship's crew that they are supposed to be on Keupsa and again wait orders from the government. The resulting reply is predictable: get out of Korea or be killed.

What happened next is disputed by several historians, but one account is believed to be the most accurate. According to some accounts, when the crew saw armed troops, they quickly took hostage Yi. When the crew did not release the official, the troops opened fire to the ship. The ship fired back and the troops retreated. Meanwhile, the captain of the Sherman, ordered W.B. Preston, the ship's owner, and the interpreter and missionary Robert Jermain Thomas, to get out of the ship and find their way back to China. The two reluctantly agreed and with luck from the gunfire, hid to a nearby forest. When Korean Geobukseon ships, the "turtle ships" that Yi Sun Sin captained juring the Imjin Wars with Japan in the 16th century, arrived and fired upon the ship, it was of little use against the American ship. So the Koreans used old ships laden with nitrate, wood, and sulfur and rammed two to the ship. It was ineffective, however, so the governor Baek Gyu Su took the matters with his own hands, pouring soya oil to the water and order the ships to fire at the spill. The results were horrific; the crew jumped for their lives, but it turned that pikes, tridents, and swords were waiting for them. All of the remaining crew were killed.

Meanwhile, the two surviving members, Preston and Thomas, watched the scene in horror; they quickly moved out before they are killed as well. There they find a friendly Korean fishing boat and told they should be brought to China. Reluctantly, they sailed back to Tianjin in August 23, 1866.

When Bellonet heard this story, he decided that it was enough. He informed the US Consul in Peking about this, and sent Preston and Thomas to tell the tale. The Consul was convinced, seeing the rags of their clothes, and so he sent a cable to Secretary of State Seward to approve of an expedition by both France and the United States. Originally, he was reluctant to do so, having too much of foreign commitments, but suddenly realizing that the opening of Korea as a major foreign policy coup by the United States, and probably wanted to match the previous effort to open Japan, he informed President Johnson and though the latter saw it as unneccessary, Seward's position prevailed. And so, Johnson secretly authorized an expedition to Korea, and informing that the ship is called the General Sherman, the namesake volunteered, wanting more action after the War Between the States. Sherman then prepared troops in California for an expedition. Meanwhile, Henry H. Bell, commander of the United States Asiatic Squadron, was ordered by telegraph by Seward to prepare the ships from Japan to sail to Korea and to support the French expedition.

This the Congress failed to notice. Although there are rumblings about why Californian troops are being mustered, they were told they are mustering for any trouble with Mexico. Little they knew that the Pacific Squadron had been ordered to sailed at the 27th of August to Korea, having some stopovers in Hawaii, Wake, and Japan. It finally reached Korea, just as the French and Bell's squadron were engaging the Koreans.

to be continued...

Part 2 - The Korean War

Meanwhile, the French government never liked Bellonet's arrogance. The fact that he had sent a message that even implying the Korean king [who was at his teens] to give up his crown for France. However, the news of the two survivors of the General Sherman and the executed French priests, thanks to the yellow press nature of the French press, already stirred some French, at least in Paris, for a war against Korea for martyring the French priests. The fact that Napoleon III's Mexican venture had failed miserably didn't dampen their spirits; at least they could recover in Korea. This, alongside the fact that Napoleon needed more distraction from troubles at home, compelled him to declare war on Korea on August 30.

In Korea itself, rumblings that the killing of French priests and the Korean Catholics was a grave mistake entered the consciousness of some Korean elite. A small group of Seohak or Western Learning scholars, who advocate the modernization of Korea along Western lines, cry for the overthrow of the government and the opening of Korea. A more moderate group, called the Silhak or Practical Learning, urged moderate but immediate reforms. A third group, the Donghak or Eastern Learning, wanted foreign influences out of the country; their leader Choe Cheu had been executed in 1864. All of them call for the government to reform itself to protect Korea's sovereignty.

The Daewongun then ordered to beef up defenses and to suppress these dissidents. As a result, he beefed up Seoul's defenses, knowing they would strike here first. At least that what he expected to.

The French first conducted a survey of the Korean coast, knowing they are not familiar with Korean waters. These expeditions had resulted in having some crude charts about Ganghwa Island and the Han River near Seoul. The fact that the waters around the western Korean coast are treacherous convinced Roze that attacking Seoul directly was impossible. So he decided that he had to hold Ganghwa Island instead. That way, it could block supplies and force reparations from the Korean court.

Another notable incident had happened. As a British merchant ship sailing from Japan was entering Korean waters, it was fired upon by Korean ships near Jeju island. It sank instantly. Angry about the incident, the British consul in Beijing informed their American and French counterparts that they are seeking to join the expedition, which had to be approved by the British government first.

As for the approval, it got what it wanted. Preston and Thomas testimonies as well as of Ridel horrified the British public, and demanded that the Kingdom send troops to Korea. Disraeli, though initially skeptical, decided that the eyewitness accounts are valid and therefore "this outrage by this kingdom of Corea would not be allowed to get away." So the British approved the expedition as well. To this end, British troops from its colonies in Asia as well as some troops in China were prepared for an expedition to Korea.

So Roze had at least some backup. On the eleventh of October, 1866, Roze left Qufu in China with his fleet. When they landed on Ganghwa on the 16th, 170 French marines stormed the island, seized the fortress that guarded the Han river, and occupied the city of Ganghwa itself. Several booty were seized, including treasures and manuscripts that would later land on the Bibliothèque Nationale de France for its Korean collection.

Roze, knewing he is alone so far, needed some "coup de main" as entering the Han river to Seoul is dangerous. However, the French offensive so far is being checked by Korean defenders General Yi Yong-Hui on the narrow approach among the mainland. Roze repeated asked reparations to Yi to no avail. The arrival of the US reinforcements, however, saved the day for Roze, and with Sherman's bravado and brute force tactics, General Yi retreated to the northeast. A small fortification at Mt Munsu and a monastery at Jeongdeung–sa were seized at the 20th with light casualties. Now that the British reinforcements arrived, 22,000 strong, it was now possible for them to attack Seoul itself. Sherman, however, is not an idiot; he knew that the Korean are like the Rebels he fought at the Civil War, rarely giving up. So he devised a new plan. Sherman, although had two divisions at his disposal, decided that a march through Seoul is not a march through Georgia, so he took a clever plan. He decided to land a division Jemulpo [now Incheon], supported by the Asiatic squadron. He then moved some of his troops southward toward the islands surrounding Jemulpo. He then conducted a "frog-leaping" campaign; he landed a sizable number of troops, three companies strong on each island; when the resistance is light, one company is retained and the rest are used to seize the other islands. Jung-gu was hard to capture but was finally taken by the 2nd of September with 41 casualties. Jemulpo is finally taken at the seventh with 56 American and about estimated 140 Korean casualties. Sherman then marched northeast toward Seoul, in which he reached on the 10th.

Meanwhile, Roze's troops entered Seoul in the 9th, now with British reinforcements along with him. Some of the British troops are veterans of the Indian Mutiny and the Taiping Rebellion, and they knew Seoul would be bloody for them.

The Daewongun was not an idiot either; he then beefed up his defenses on the west, in which he expected that the foreign troops would arrive. Little he knew that Sherman made a half-circle around Seoul and struck from the eastern side at Heunginjimun gate.

Although the defenders from the eastern side were well armed and equipped, Sherman's guns and infantry made them surrender; at the start from the expedition, Sherman wanted a full coterie of artillery—he could not expect the Koreans to be poorly-armed like the American Indians. And so the Eastern side of the city is breached.

House to house fighting erupted when Sherman entered the city. Sherman was slightly injured in one occasion but it didn't deter him from fighting. After two nights of heavy fighting, with about 40% of the houses razed, and about 6,000 civilians dead, the Eastern side is taken over.

Meanwhile, the French and British troops beseiged the Western gates, with much more difficulty. Thankfully, the British had brought they heavy guns in which the Korean had no or feeble match. Besides, they had brought Charles "Chinese" Gordon who was a veteran of the Taiping Rebellion. He had even brought many of the veterans of his Ever Glorious Army for the fray. The Western and Northern gates were breached at the 11th of September. The same story of house to house fighting is repeated. But then the end results were predictable. at the 14th, the Korean government in Seoul is trapped.

The Daewongun having little choice to do, he committed suicide along with is followers at the night of the 14th.

The King and the Queen of Korea, both teens, decided that the only course of action is to surrender, considering the destruction the foreign troops have wrought on his people. He did so on the 15th.

Now, on a position to negotiate, the American, French, and British envoys had put on the negiotiating table harsh terms on the Koreans. King Gojong knew it will be harsh. But how to pay with the indemnities? So he decided on a plan to pay it; he decided that some reforms in the government are needed.

To be continued...

Part 3 - Resistance, Compromise, Reformation

The Korean War was arguably the most disastrous in the Peninsula's history, at least until the Second World War. Besides having at least 10,000 dead, there are still resistance in the countryside. The Treaty of Seoul, on the first of November, 1866, had the Korean government agree to open all its major seaports to foreign trade, mainly American, British, and French, and to allow foreigners to settle there. They also gain some economic concessions in the peninsula, something that the Koreans never really liked. The Americans and the French [the British departed on the 18th of September] have placed an occupation force in Korea. The resistance, is of course, predictable and harsh; a group of Donghak fanatics had burned themselves up with soya oil, but not before setting afire a French camp killing 23 French soldiers. Another incident is that some Korean women drowned themselves near the Taedong River in November 3; quick thinking of the American troops saved all but two.

This disturbances were created by Korean commoners as well as the literati; all profess anger at the defeat of their country, and the failure of China to help them [the Chinese government is in a situation that China could not undertake; China, too, is trying to rebuild her country after the rebellions of 1858-60 and thereafter] cast serious doubts to some Koreans whether the world view that China is the leading nation on Earth in the Confucian sense; meaning China is the center of the universe.

Some radicals propose that Korea's monarchy be overthrown and be replaced by a republic like in America, according to whatever information they have gathered in their trips abroad, still illegal under the policy of exclusion.

The government clung to the Neo-Confucian world order, pronouncing the West as "barbarians" and their works "evil." Such was the reaction of the majority of the Korean court and government institutions. They claim that when Korea opened its doors to the West, the old fabric of society will be unraveled. And it indeed was unraveled.

It was said that the Koreans are less fit to modernize than the Chinese, let alone the Japanese. The fact that it did succeed and probably prevented the peninsula's possible annexation by a Western country or by China or Japan [popular alternate histories in Korea in the present day portray a gruesome history of Korea under the latter country], and made it to a respectable member of the family of nations.

There are arguments against adaptation of Western institutions. Notably is that of the orthodox Neo-Confucian literati. But there are also moderates, some of them even of the Seohak [Western Learning] or Silhak [Practical Learning] schools who don't want haphazard adaptation of Western institutions. They prefer that the best of Confucian and Western worlds be harmonized. For example, Yi Hang No proposed that foreign capitalism be kept out of Korea and political and social reforms be carried out. It was due to practical reasons, that Korea is too poor, that they advocating preventing Western encroachment. The Donghak rejected both Confucian and Western influences and instead proposed a new society based on their own religion that would be later known as Cheondoism, despite the fact that the Donghak are also considerably influenced by the West as well, especially in certain points in their semi-religious creed. They are also noted for their position that all humans are equal

The victory of the Seohak and Silhak factions is usually accredited to their favorable position to the Western powers. While this is generally true, it must be noted that the Seohak and Silhak, while both reformists and having figures being members of both sides, are arguing against each other. There are also factionalism within their own ranks. The fact that the leading Silhak scholars, led by Baek Gyu Su, Oh Gyeong Seok, and Yu Hong Gi prevented the complete disruption of cooperation between these factions is vital to carry on a reform movement.

These Silhak scholars are important in uniting the Seohak and Silhak schools into a single school known as the Reform School, promoting what they call "enlightenment thought". They have acquired knowledge of Western culture, and were repeatedly turned down by authorities.

They seized an important incident. In December 8, 1866, a teenage boy is put to death by a Neo-Confucian governor in Jeolla province just for possessing a copy of a book about the West. This was used by the Reformists to pressure the King to give up on the Neo-Confucians.

Convinced that they have the right ideas to revive Korea, King Gojong had permitted them to give him memorials about their position. Baek Gyu-syu then made a powerful speech on the December 18, 1866 condeming the Korean government for its failure to protect the people, and the closing of Korea had condemned it to future uprisings. He also said that "if you do not take actions, in fifty years or so, Korea will just be a frontier region of Japan, starting likely on the Eulsa year [1910] if I am correct." This unnerved the King. He had a dream where a modernized Japan was able to take over an unmodernized Korea, killed his queen, and put its people under a condition worse than the Mongol invasions of the peninsula. Knowing what to do, he decided to act.

First, he allowed Baek and his team to see which officials are corrupt or not willing to accept new ideas. Baek later made a list, and that was long. He knew that he would face a massive resistance, and by this time, only the government of Gyeonggi, in which Seoul is situated, was even willing to reform. He had to do with either force, convincing, or both.

It was a tricky decision for the Reformists. But Baek had an idea. Why not train some of the Korean troops with Western arms? At least, the troops of the Korean army in Gyeonggi would be forced to accept training, given that this is also where the capital is located.

And so, Baek went to Beijing and approached Burlingame, the American Minister to China, who proposed that due to disturbances, the King's army needs some reform. Although Burlingame is skeptical about this, he informed Seward about this. Seward, meanwhile, have saw "such positive progress" and agreed to send military advisers to Korea. Some are already summoned from Japan and arrived on January, 1867. These will later transform the King's troops under his personal control into what was called the Pyeolgigun, or the Special Skills Force. This will later be the nucleus of the future Imperial Korean Army. With better pay and weapons, some of the old line Korean units treat with this with suspicion. An attack by a general of old-school Korean troops, the Second Garrison Troops, on Gyeonggi Province on February 18, 1867 was the first serious test of this force. The fact that the Pyeolgigun repulsed despite being outnumbered 2 to 1 with American help is indeed encouraging news. That general surrendered to the King on February 24 and beg him to give his troops food and pay. This the King did, but he knew that he had limited resources.

So he consulted the Reformists and told how to fix the finances. He was replied that financial reforms were to be implemented, including transforming the moribund financial system in line of the West. He could not copy China financial system, because he believed that system is also in need of reform. Confronted with this, and despite being young, he again brought the reformists to a closed-door meeting at February 27. The discussion was furious, with some ending with near acts of violence, but the fact that the young King overruled their disagreements led to synthesis.

So when it was over, the King had proclaimed to the people, on March 1, 1867, the Jeongmyo Oath. It was a inclusive declaration of sorts, but it was to be a profound effect on Korea's history. Korea's history would be changed forever for this.

Part 4 - The Jeongmyo Declaration

The Jeongmyo Reforms declared by Gojong are not a single set of reforms. Rather, it was a desire, at least for Gojong, for Korea to open up to the Western world. What transpired in Gojong's mind is still a mystery, but from the events described in the previous part, it can be said that Gojong wanted a solution to Korea's mounting problems.

Gojong personally did not like Korea to be an Asian country trying to act like Western; he knew that Koreans, and East Asians in general, are different than Westerners. And although he was a good Confucian, at least in the light of his supporters, he also wanted to revitalize it; he claimed that the teachings of Confucius today are not even what Confucius preached and advocated. So, he commisioned a group of scholars and to find works of Confucius as "he actually wrote it." The report, upon returning from China, asserted that "majority of the practices of political administration in Korea and China that are considered as that of Confucius were actually the editing and falsehoods of later writers. There was a suggestion that Confucius actually wanted to reform Chinese society, and some evidence mounted that Confucius was really a reformer, not a conservative."

This enraged many of the orthodox Confucian literati; they accused the committee of lying, and set up a new movement with the slogan wijeong cheoksa [rejecting heterodoxy and defending orthodoxy]. While this gained many supporters among the masses, the Pyeongyang incident in May 6, 1867 where some reformist and moderately scholars were publicly beheaded by orthodox officials, had forced the government a "carrot and stick" approach; either stop trying to convert public opinion, or resist and be crushed. The movement chose the latter; a series of arrests and assassinations in June, 1867 had weakened the resistance. After that, its surviving leaders gave up and decided to embrace Western politics through its political arm, the Korean Conservative Party, founded in 1876.

However, there was still a problem, while Gojong had forced the loyalty of the garrison commander near Seoul, he still need to force the loyalty of the other four Garrison commanders. Besides, he had little financial resources to equip the army left, so he sent Yu Hong Gi, with some other scholars, abroad, starting August 3, 1867. They first visited Japan, where they heard the Japanese Emperor, Mutsuhito, is planning a Jeongmyo of his own. Received in the Emperor's presence in Kyoto, Yu outlined his plan for a modern Korean nation. He said that:


 * Korea is a separate nation. It aims sovereignty, and wants to end formally the tribute to China, which drains Korea's financial resources so much. It also plans to upgrade its status to empire [Japan is technically an empire and Korea was a mere kingdom] to enhance prestige and pride.


 * The government will be of the Korean people as a whole, with the King as the chief or father of all Korean people. He is also the new head of state, with day to day governmental work to be done by a Council of State headed by a Prime Minister [the term Yu used is actually "chief minister", dating to the Daewongun's time as prime minister, but it is essentially the same] and a judiciary that is eventually based on the prevailing systems of the West but with a unique streak in administering justice


 * The new, or rather reformed Korean Army will be based on conscription regardless of background. Each able-bodied male twenty years of age will have to render service for two years. The system will be based on the French, American, and British systems.


 * Slavery is abolished, along with the old sinmun class system. Although a new peerage will be formed, this will be of merit. The actual royal family will be of Gojong's immediate family, alone, though the collateral side of the Yi family will be also considered as hereditary nobles.


 * Education will be free to all Koreans regardless of background and compulsory as well; girls as well as boys would be allowed to study; the Korean traditional academies [seowon] would be reformed to modern standards.


 * Traditionally degrading work such as leather tanning or acting will no longer be considered as degrading work. Beggars and orphans will also be cared of by the state and reform them to dignified Korean citizens. Also, the Korean people are free to chose any vocation they wished, and customs that are "evil" and "unnatural" will be discouraged and even punishable.


 * Appointment to the government will be based on merit alone. No spoils system will be established.


 * All Korean citizens will be allowed open discussion and even encouraged to do so. Deliberative assemblies will be formed through these discussions, with and without interference of Korean government.


 * Korea will seek knowledge of the world to strenghten and revitalize Korea.

The Emperor, impressed, then congratulated Yu for his formula and said he will implement reforms of his own in Japan. Actually, the formula was not Yu's alone, or even the King's. The formula had been the work of many people, of different backgrounds, of different motivations. So when the Meiji Emperor in April 1868 issued his Charter Oath, the influence of the Jeongmyo Declaration is detectable.

Yu Hong Gi then travelled to America and met several teachers and visited many cities; he even observed schools and even checked the curricula of the students. This was probably the main reason why Korea adopted an educational system in 1871 that resembled those of the United States, with some influence of France and Germany, newly unified after the Franco-German War of 1870.

Yu and his also observed the legal systems of other countries, which led to a civil code established in 1881 that resembled French law, and a commercial law in 1895 that had German inspiration.

Yu also checked the political systems of other countries. He later decided that a mixture of German and French methods would be the best methods for Korea. This, however, had serious consequences.

In all, the Yu Hong Gi mission of 1867-1869 had forced the government to implement more reforms. When he did so, some one must oppose this, of course. The four other Garrison commanders are the start of it.

Part 5 - Economic Bases of the Jeongmyo Reforms

The fact that the economy of Korea is not only revived from being a basket case to a considerably industrialized country at the end of the 19th century, behind Japan but not too far behind, is the fact that Korea's leaders detected early some of the sources that bedeviled the Korean economy. One of them is the decline of the irrigation system. The growing population created deforestation, and unlike in Japan where some of the commercial exploitation of the forest is regulated, Korea's forestry is in a state of mess. As the denuding of forests had created havoc among the water supply for the already antiquated irrigation systems, and increasing the frequency of floods, those who farm had little incentive to repair the damages, expecting others to do the same. The government in the early 19th century could do little to repair the irrigation system, given the pitiful state of the government's finances. This enabled some of the local aristocracy to administer the farmlands for the ailing government. While there are some able families in these ventures, most of the time, they are also failures, given their attention to infighting between clans, which made matters worse. Provincial officials even joined the fray at the decay by taking bribes from the families.

The Korean War of 1867 had forced the government to make fundamental changes in land tenure. King Gojong had invited foreign experts, mostly British and American, and asked what could have been done to revive the irrigation system. Many are indeed willing to enter, despite the fact that Korea had too little money to pay for them. They suggested that the irrigation system and land reforms are to be enacted. This the King did in 1874.

The Korean Land Reform program was along with Japan's in 1873, are among the first in the region. While both are successful and helped somewhat to alleviate their respective countries' agriculture, Korea had a different mechanism of land ownership at that time, in which there is already a class of free farmers as well as land tenants. To make into reality more effective, the Korean government hired American surveyors and a cadastral survey was implemented in 1875 to 1885, after the government's order to the landlords and peasants to. It also made into effect a new tax law putting a fixed tax rate to 10%, and it will be based on the value of the land rather than the goods the land produced. Naturally, the peasants groaned with this, and a peasant revolt by the last Garrison commander in Northeastern Korea in 1879, the Chongjin revolt as it was called, prompted the government to reduce the tax to 3% and set a minimum land ownership to 2.5 acres. The land reform failed to stop foreclosures of peasant land, and as a result, many of the dispossessed moved to the towns and even neighboring countries [Manchuria and Russia are the usual suspects]. However, in general, the land reform is successful, with the land owners getting a jigye showing the exact dimension of the land, and issued by the authorities concerned. It, along with the land tax system, with foreign experts help repair most if not all the worst aspects of the Korean irrigation system. Those provincial officials who are caught redhanded are mostly sent away to other countries as emissaries and ambassadors, though some of course remained and some even reformed or went to establish local industries instead. The reforms are done by corrupt but at least able advisers, and one of them, named Yi Yong Ik, will become Premier in 1895. The foreign specialists had not only succeeded in winning the hearts of some of the Korean peasants but also trained Korean experts in agriculture and agronomics. New strains of rice and seed were developed at that point, both of the resistant and those whose yields are higher than normal. They also convinced many farmers to plant crops other than rice. While the land tax accounted for at least 60% of the government revenue in 1890, modern Korean agriculture grew slowly at that time, at least 1% each year. The trade mostly goes of course, to Korea's neighboring countries, France, Britain, the United States, and Spain and Netherlands through their Filipino and Dutch East Indian colonies.

Korea also improved its infrastructure. A year after Japan established its first railroad, some of the engineers in that project were also wooed to go to Korea. The first railroad of Korea was built between Seoul and Incheon in 1874. It was small of course, but this will be the basis of the future Korean rail system that first included Mokpo, Masan, and Busan, and later Pyeongyang, Sinuiju, and Chongjin. Later, these railroad ventures will extend to Manchuria, and a company called the North Goguryeo Railway Company is established in 1890 to make new railroads in Manchuria. Of course, Russia didn't like this development, which had far reaching consequences for the Far East.

Most of modern Korean industry is concentrated on the treaty ports, but particularly Seoul. Most are first joint ventures with foreign, especially American companies. While Korea had an ample textile industry for example, and in fact, it was a critical source of income through its exports, is in bad need of modernization. Again, foreign experts and businessmen were critical in implementing modernization in that industry. While those Koreans who are still depended on traditional textile manufacturing techniques grunted, most accepted modernization, and those who really failed found new horizons in other industry.

But the Korean government, through the Ministry of Industry established in 1871 built their own plants and encouraged new businessmen and foreign investors by providing subsidies. Considering that the government's finances are still the process of reform, these industries made little headway. Private capital was small if found at all, and the high interest rate and the fact that Koreans are neophytes in modern industrial machinery hampered progress, not to mention transportation costs until communications are improved and expanded. Heavy government subsidies in the early years were vital to cotton and piece goods. Unlike in Japan where it was started entirely by their government, the wool industry in Korea is established by British and Australian wooling interests. The silk industry, more controlled in Korea than in Japan, also grew, and along with that, the textile industry, thanks to innovations by some farsighted Korean textile makers, did help to rectify Korea's balance of trade at that time, in which Korea was in the receiving end of the stick.

Strategic industry was also empasized at well. The Korean War had decimated Korea's defense industries, and the government was determined that if these foreign troops are to leave, it need to have a good military. The Korea's rail industries as well as the telegraph and other forms of communications were aggressively promoted and constructed by the Korean government. Many of the major cities were already connected by telegraph in 1882, and as in Japan, though the mountainous terrain of the peninsula were a serious engineering nightmare for the engineers, it was done despite the costs and technical handicaps and challenges.

New shipyards in Busan and other Korean coastal ports were built, and arms factories were built in Seoul and Pyeongyang. The first Korean shipbuilding company, the Joseon Ship Building Company, was established in Seoul in 1877, and the first shipping line of Korea, the Joseon Mail Company, was built in 1883, and others followed. By 1907 the tonnage was about 1,005,000, compared to 39,200 in 1885. By the end of the century, this would be the nucleus of the largest shipbuilding industry in the world this day.

These were conducted by companies called the Jaebeol. It was identical to Japan's Zaibatsu conglomerates, and it fact, both the words Jaebeol and Zaibatsu were of the same meaning. The main differences is that the Jaebeol from the start are prohibited by the government to own banks like the Zaibatsu, because the government want to have leverages in giving the banks credit. As a result, strategic alliances with independent banks were critical to that period to circumvent the problem of credit.

Speaking of finances, the Ministry of Finance was established in 1869 and the first national banks, modeled to those of the United States, appeared in 1872. The Bank of Korea was founded on 1884 as the financial foundation of the government. They are also responsible in making currency, and with this, the yang was made the official currency of Korea in 1890 until the won took over in 1900, with one won equalling five yangs. It was also patterned on the decimal system.

With this are the reforms necessary to save Korea. Whether these implemented reforms had did good to the populace stirred academic debate even to this day, but the success of these reforms meant that they worked.

Education and cultural policies are another matter, of course.

Part 6 - Life in Korea after the Jeongmyo Reforms

Korea's educational policy during the early Joseon period was to educate young boys for the Confucian examinations, and eventually to government service. While this may be viable for the 18th century, certainly this would no longer be a case, as it was obsolete. Only a pathetic five to twenty percent of the population in 1867 are literate, and that mostly male. This created a problem with the royal government, which wanted to explore more of the world. This meant that the educational system needs a complete overhaul. The Daewongun, for all his isolationalist stand, had made some progress in education. He closed the seowon or traditonal academies that opposed the government and to prevent more feuding. Gojong saw differently. He wanted to modernize the system as to "reunify the country, loyalty to the country, acquiring of modern scientific technique, and to encourage the science of national defense, so that the foreign powers will eventually leave the peninsula and not to strangle the economic life of the peninsula," as written by Yu Hong Gi in 1870 in his book "Korea Must be Reborn."

So the government issued a new decree in 1873, setting up a ministry of education, and through it will embody one of the principles of the Jeongmyo Reforms about seeking the world's knowledge for the people's benefit. It also stipulated compulsory education for all people, to make sure that they are literate and not ignorant. For starters, the American system of primary and secondary education had been copied and tailored for Korea. Compulsory education was instituted for both sexes for a compulsory period of six years. Western academic subjects as well as Confucian ethics, deempashized and modified but retained as a means of thought control and to convince the traditionalists, were taught to these students. The secondary or high-school educational systems were also tailored people to enter technical schools, and later universities. The first modern universities were those seowon that were closed by the government and later re-opened as Western-style universities. Foreign universities were opened; Ewha was the first Korean university for women [and it was a pioneer in women's education, and consequently rights], and what was once a missionary-operated medical school in 1885 later grew to Yonsei University. In a matter of two decades, these universities were to spew an endless amount of teachers, doctors, lawyers, and government officials, with American and European teachers. Commercial schools also spawned some of Korea's first industrial moguls. And women's rights were started in universities, convincing the government to reform the educational system for women [once separate for men], and in the 1930s gave the women the right to vote and participate in government affairs, and in the 1940s allowed women in the police and the military [though segregated in the case of combat units to the present day]. And their opponents in the traditional schools, though had put up great opposition, had eventually modernized themselves and produced both future conservative and liberal leaders. Like in Japan, the educational reforms in Korea were haphazard at first; the teachers barely understood what they taught. Unlike in Japan though, though in Korea, deference in superiors was still empasized, critical attitudes and the idea of free democracy or at least constitutional monarchy for men were tolerated. In general, the educational system of Korea, while producing literate people more slowly, was at least more open to foreign ideals.

In culture, the Jeongmyo Reforms had accelerated what a Chinese professor in 1960 called a "cultural revolution." The arts of Korea, still with competent artists but locked down by official conservatism, were revived thanks to contacts with the West. Nationalistic in nature, some schools competed in the preservation of Korean culture with either native Korean ideas and Western methods. A fierce cultural war resulted, with neither forces gaining a decisive victory; in fact, the new conditions in the late 19th century forced artists to produce more paintings and art based on western forms. A reaction of course from the other side also happened, but that other side of the cultural spectrum also made new innovations.

The same can be said of literature. It can be divided into two forms: the Western school, intended for the educated class, and the traditonal literati had reformatted themselves for the masses, decrying the Westernization of Korea and the revival of Korean values which was in their own eyes had degenerated into oppression and hardship. A third group can also be said, wanting a new Korean society based on a new foundation, both distinct from the past and the West. For that, the Donghak activists cultivated this "New Literature" with great enthusiasm.

As a result, some of the more radical Korean intelligentsia had proposed the overthrowing of the government and to establish a republic, a socialist or anarchist state, or so. Of course, the police suppressed them. Still another school demanded the end of annual tribute to China, which was done in 1876 [and therefore provoking the anger of China]. Some of them even wanted to explore new lands, such as in Africa. One of them, only known as Kim Il-Jeong, will become the "Father of Korean Colonization." These political currents will later be continued to the twentieth century, with new ideas joining the fray.

In religion, the government's Tolerance Decree had created a new missionary zeal for Christians. Other foreign religions such as Islam had also entered Korea. To this day, 15% of Korea worship Jesus, and 1% proclaim the glory of Allah. 2% more are freethinkers. New religions had been invented, particulary Jeongdo which was the Donghak movement after 1900. The old Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist religions were revitalized with contacts with Japan and China.

This events made Korea after 1867 very different from Korea before 1867. What was once a "fossil culture", as called by Arnold Toynbee, became a really lively culture.

Even Korean politics at that time were very lively. With audacity and violence.

Part 7 - Politics is Dirty, but People Like Politics

Korean politics after 1867 was thrown open to the public. Not only people could discuss what they wanted to say, but also they could use anything at their disposal to point out their opinion.

Including violence, of course.

Some of the most serious incidents in Korean politics include the wijeong cheoksa movement by conservative scholars in 1867. These scholars were enraged at what they call as betrayal of Korean and Confucian values. These scholars, they maintained, "you could not expect to fight the foreigners with their own weapons. This is a betrayal of ethics."

It didn't matter that they used dirty tactics; discrediting the moderates is the main objective. On May 6, 1867, they seized a government office and, having found their quarry of moderates, the orthodox scholars with their supporters dragged them away and had them beheaded by troops loyal to them.

But the opposite effect was the result. Some of the people who watched the execution thought the orthodox scholars had no permission from the King to execute them. And when the King heard of the news, and later checked the news authenticity through the heads of the martyred scholars, he flew in a fit of rage. The palace staff have never saw the King getting angry before, and not in this level. Gojong is reported to have said in an angry tone. "Do you think a hundred heads would satisfy an anger? No, of course!"

So the King issued a decree outlawing these scholars. Not that these orthodox Confucian scholars had their own band of supporters; they had a conservative Army commander in the Northeast in their pockets, and with crude rocket launchers, they tried to reach Seoul. Unfortunately, they were stopped in a roadblock by an American patrol. The wijeong cheoksa, of course, dispatched many of the soldiers, but some of the Americans escaped to their camp near Seoul and told that there are a "band of bandits on the road to Seoul", on the night of May 20, 1867. Alarmed, the American commander warned the Korean authorities about this and the King immediately sent his own troops. When they met at the East Gate, a bloody clash occured. The hwacha rocket launchers fired their munitions to the East Gate, and this caused panic, but then the Korean troops loyal to the king and the Americans saved the day. Many of the orthodox scholars were caught redhanded and were executed the next day. The surviving scholars, who did not directly participate in the uprising, decided to lie low and change their strategem. It also was a time for a discussion on why their movement failed. Some of them claimed that because they opposed everything that needs change, and change is in need at that time in Korea. Eventually they settled on practical reform set up by the late Daewongun, decided that Western contacts should be minimal, and later, even decided that China failed them in their task as suzerain. Thus, they eventually moved to nationalism as their new creed.

Actually, it was these Conservatives that petitioned Gojong to end the tributary system, seeing it as untenable. They claimed that at least the annual trade with China would be seen as tribute. They also claim that the Gojong should stop calling himself as King and declare himself as Emperor. This the King was reluctant. He had little desire to upgrade his country into an empire, but Japan and China were now empires, and Annam, a vassal of China, is an empire. Baek Nak Gwan, a conservative scholar, even suggested that Korea take over Manchuria, in which the King objected due to fears of Chinese response. Baek prevailed upon the King, however, and on March 1, 1876, he declared that Korea will now break the traditional tributary system with China. This the latter was enraged. However, the King was adroit enough not to declare Korea an empire yet; he needs to assess first the Chinese threat. Unsatisfied, these conservatives formed the Korean Conservative Party, or rather, the Joseon Preservation Party as it was literally translated to Korean.

Meanwhile, radicals in Korea had flirted with Western leftist ideals such as anarchism and socialism. One of them even tried to hurl a crude bomb to the King's entourage on January 5, 1871, but none of the injuries were fatal since the bomb is poorly made, and the King wasn't even hurt. The anarchist, who was from France as a soldier for the garrison and proclaimed his loyalty to the now-declining Paris Commune. Of course, he was deported to his home country and was shot for disobedience. Many waves of socialist and anarchist violence had occured to Korea until the new Korean Police were powerful enough to suppress them, the last serious incident in 1885, however. The surviving radicals decided to use peaceful methods instead, the communists forming the Korean Socialist Association on August 4, 1883, the first of its kind in Asia.

Meanwhile, the Korean government system is being revamped. The State Council had been revamped to a Royal Council in 1868, with the officials considered corrupt or reactionary replaced with moderates and progressives, and expanded its numbers from three to ten. The six ministries of Joseon were later also modernized, with the ministries considered as sinecures were abolished and their staff, with resistance of the latter, were retrained and reassigned. New ministries, such as education, were established, and the Ministry of Rites became the Ministry of Affairs with Other Countries [the forerunner of the modern Korean Foreign Ministry].

The provinces were later given their share of reforms, with their corrupt and reactionary mostly fired, a new and more effective taxation system implemented, and more control by the central government was imposed. Of course, this entailed resistance, but few could question the king.

Later, another reorganization in 1874 was implemented, making the government's structure more in line with Japan's. A new national assembly was formed [and met for five times], some new ministries were formed [like the Navy Ministry which was charged with the slowly but surely modernizing Joseon fleet], and a new Home Ministry was entrusted with a reformed Korean police, using the French police system. It was proven to be a good instrument of power to those who were Home Ministers.

In the case of national assembly, even though it was open to anyone who can read or write, only the elite usually still sit, because they are pracitically the only effective leadership. Most of the officials discussed and rubber-stamped the policies already implemented by the government. Some of the assemblymen, however, wanted this national assembly to become the parliament, and some of them even demanded a constitution.

The assassination of Chief Minister Oh Gyeong Seok by radical extremist of socalist leanings on May 7, 1879, prompted the government to make preparations for a constitution. Some of these drafters were very young, like Kim Ok-gyun who, while on a visit to Hong Kong, have heard of the British system and sees this as the best governmental system. A few wanted the American and French and German constutions as basis of the Korean constitution. After heated debates, a constitutional convention was set up in 1882 and finished it in 1890. On August 17 1890, the Korean Constitution is proclaimed. Critics complained it resembled too much of Japan. This is with good reason; most of the constitutional drafters were in contact with Japan's counterparts. However, when compared closely with Japan, it was more liberal. The Emperor was treated not as a god, but as a Father of the Nation. Also, mentions of "the people" are more frequently mentioned, and evidence of the liberal influences of the American and French constitutions were evident.

Korea at that time is now a thoroughly modern country after the 1890 constitution. Before that, it had to pass a trial of fire first. It came from China.

Part 8 - The Birth of the Korean Empire and the start of the Far Eastern War

As it is stated, Korea severed its tributary ties to China on March 1, 1876, claiming that resources for paying tribute to Beijing were more needed for economic development, the Chinese government naturally was outraged by the event, but could not do anything, being busy with some dispute with Japan. A terrible incident in which native Taiwanese [not Han but Austronesian, thus related to Filipinos, Malays, and Indonesians] attacked and killed Ryukyuan fishermen stranded on a storm in 1871 provoked controversy with Japan. Ryukyu is nominally a vassal of China, but the northern half was also vassal with the Satsuma fief of Japan, and the Ryukyuan royal family was said to be related to Japan's Minamoto clan. China disclaimed responsibility for the acts of the Paiwan natives. So Japan sent a military expedition to Formosa in 1874, and a punitive one at best. It continued the occupation of the islands while waiting for a settlement in China. Meanwhile, the later declaration of severance of tribute of Korea in 1876 complicated matters. Now the British mediated for a settlement; an indemnity for the slain fishermen and the roads built by Japan in Formosa was paid by China. Therefore Japan can now claim to be the protector of the Ryukyu islanders.

This was still shaky at best. The Ryukyuan court still sent tribute to Beijing. General U.S. Grant in 1879 tried but failed to defuse the situation. In the same year, Japan decided to annex Ryukyu for good, its king shipped to Tokyo to become a marquis. Ryukyu became Okinawa prefecture, with full guarantees of rights for Ryukyuans—or so they thought. China, but specifically its government, was outraged, but there was some even more anger. Korea mounted an anti-bandit operation in the "neutral strip" after 30 Koreans were killed in Sinuiju by Chinese bandits; the boundary between Korea and China [specifically Manchuria]. The mission was a rousing success, owing to American and French training. The problem is, the neutral strip was a neutral strip no longer; Li Hongzhang, a high Chinese official, had prevailed upon his officials to annex the neutral strip; another source of tension is that Korea wasn't notified of this.

When Gojong was finally notified of this in December 14, 1879, he was angry. "Why the Korean government was not notified of the annexation?" he said; he then through his minister in Beijing investigated the matter. When the minister in question came back with bruises [he had been tortured in Beijing by Manchu authorities for alledgedly disrespecting the tribute protocols and was lucky enough to escape in the American Legation] in December 30, 1880, the Korean opinion, at least in Seoul, was that of anger. Why the King couldn't protect its ministers, much less its ordinary citizens? The King was faced with a dilemma that the new Chief Minister, Kim Hong-jip, brought a book written by a young scholar planning to study to the US named Seo Jae Pil, called Joseon Chaengnyak or Joseon Strategy. It was stated in the strategem that Korea must declare true indepedence; it must declare Korea as an empire equal to China and Japan, modernize its political structure in line with the West, specifically the Anglo-American-French version of democracy, and along with Japan, must be the liberator and regenerator of Asian peoples. However, the nation must not be dependent too much on Japan or Korea will be just like Ireland or Poland. The King heeded this advice.

So on January 2, 1880, a new proclamation was heard through Seoul. Korea will now be known as Dae Han Jeguk, the English translation is the Korean Empire, and meant it. This aroused first skepticism among some crowds, claiming that this was going too far. However, the majority opinion prevailed. The ceremonies will be done for a few months pending preparations.

Japan's opinion is that "the Koreans are good but too upstart. It will take a war to know if they are really worth to be called an Empire."

The Western powers' reaction is similar, but muted. Korea still had unequal treaties with the West; why they would so "such a wasteful formality."

But the most vigorous reaction is in China. Li Hongzhang, the Chinese viceroy of Zhili, advised the Empress Dowager to take action. Seeing the pathetic state of the army, even though he and other Chinese military officers decided that invading Korea now would be disastrous. So he advised that the Chinese army be modernized. Indeed, the Beiyang or northern army is modernized, but modernization is haphazard. It was larger than Korea's entire army. Fortunately, corruption in the Beiyang ranks and relatively poor organization of its army were blessings for Korea.

So, when the Chinese and the French in Vietnam had a series of clashes in late 1883, the ministers in Seoul had been in a state of panic. The constitutional process was not going well, and they needed a boost. Immediately, they had prepared for a war footing. The garrison armies became Western-sized corps formations, and although they are comparatively poorly equipped to the armies of the West, fortunately are led by some average but commanders competent enough to handle the worst of situations.

And when the Japan turned down a Franco-Japanese alliance in 1883 when the situation of France in Tonkin is going badly for the Gallic Rooster, they turned to their trusted ally in the Far East: Korea.

The Koreans however replied that they will accept the alliance if the Chinese attacked them, and if the French at least removed France's extraterritoriality treaties with Korea, in which France is tinkering about.

Two incidents have altered the course of the Sino-French War. In February 14, 1884, a Korean ship, the Yangmu, was fired upon in 1884, with only a few surviving including including its captain. A Beiyang warship turned out to be a culprit, claiming that the Korean ship strayed too much in the Sea of Bohai. Another incident near the Sino-Korean border in which the Manchu Banners and the Third Korean Corps exchanged fire near the Yalu river in March 5, 1884, killing 23 Manchus and 5 Koreans. This was enough for Seoul for a pretext for war. An exchange of notes, often with angry descriptions, were noted, and on March 12, the Empire of Korea declared war against China. This was the start of the first Far Eastern War.

Part 9-The First Far Eastern War

The first Far Eastern War was rather brief; Japan declined to join the conflict between Korea, France, and China, but insisted that the Rising Sun's rays have now extended to the Ryukyu Islands.

Korea, however, had a lot to show to make itself a truly independent nation. Li Hongzhang had advised that not only the Beiyang Army which was formed from the Anhui army that defeated the Taiping rebels and advised that the old Manchu Banner and Green Standard armies in his area are to be given modern weapons. He even prevailed upon the Empress Dowager not to use the funds for military modernization to rebuild the Summer Palace that had been destroyed in the Arrow Wars, which was proven to be largely ineffective in any case. So Li attempted to test his strength with his Beiyang Army and Navy.

It was a shocking spectacle for the Koreans; they were surprised when some of the Beiyang warships, although less modern than their Korean counterparts, were able to bombard Korea's northwestern ports of Nampo and Haeju on March 18, 1884. Another blow to the Koreans is when elements of the Beiyang Army, under the leadership of Yuan Shikai, attacked Sinuiju on March 20. Both the Koreans and the Chinese sustained heavy losses, but the Koreans had to fall back to Cheongju on March 22. The attack by the Manchu banners on the northeastern and north side, in Hyesan, and Tumen on March 19 and 20 respectively, fared poorly. The fact that the Banner commanders were arguing on how to launch a bridgehead were a good omen to the Korean commanders. The Koreans then launched a counter-attack to the west from Unsan that eventually resulted to the epic battle of Seoncheon on the 28th of March, in which despite the death of the Korean commander of the Imperial 2nd corps, was able to defeat Yuan Shikai's forces and were able to push him back on April 5 to the Yalu river. Meanwhile, the Koreans, deciding that the Banners' numbers would be ultimately disadvantageous to them, the Korean 2nd and 3rd Corps, reinforced from the south, decided on a mission to defeat the Banners as quickly as possible. The Yellow and Blue Manchu Banners, plus with Beiyang reinforcements, executed another offensive on the Tumen river, this time, on the town of Tumen on April 7, 1884. The General Staff in Seoul was alarmed that this invasion force, or rather as Li Hongzhang coined "the coercion force", had more modern troops and equipment, and discovering that Li ordered some of his Beiyang troops to mix with the Banners. So, studying American, French, and German military texts, the Koreans conceived a bold plan. The Tumen Offensive, a pincer attack that was aimed to cut off the Banner-Beiyang invasion force, was ultimately successful on April 9, 1884, but with a heavy price on the Koreans. Poor coordination by the Korean generals, and the fact that these troops are fresh and their generals relatively new hampered their efforts, resulting in 2,342 Korean deaths out of the 40,000 or so assembled. It managed to cut off the Qing supply lines, however, and realizing this, Li ordered his remaining troops to withdraw on the 11th of April.

Meanwhile, the Koreans eventually evicted the Beiyang fleet out of their waters near Nampo on 21st of March, with 5 Korean ships destroyed as opposed to 7 Chinese ships sunk. A later assault against the coast of Zhili on April 1 was indecisive; Chinese Admiral Ding Ruchang, despite being a ground commander by background, was competent enough to hamper Korean bombardment of Zhili, and to its pains, the 1st Korean Fleet's commander ordered to retreat on April 14th, suffering 8 ships sunk and 12 Chinese ships destroyed, but getting no decisive results. The Imperial Korean Navy, however, trained by French and American advisers, the former advocating the Jeune École battle doctrine that advocated small, agile ships that had better guns to fight larger warships, and using commerce raiders to hunt down an enemy's supply lines. The Koreans however, failed to apply it properly, and it can be said that it is due to the bravado of the Korean admirals that their naval defense and counterattack against the Qing failed at first.

At least the Korean military commanders learned their lesson, for the French requested them occupy Formosa for them. The Koreans, however, decided that it may anger Japan, so the Koreans entered a proposal in which Hainan is to be occupied as a base for French and Korean operations and Formosa to be merely blockaded. This were effected in late August 1884, and Hainan was occupied by Korean troops on August 4, 1884. However, the Koreans had to defeat resistance by both Qing forces and native tribes for months, preventing the Koreans to make any sizable operations against the French in Vietnam. However, Koreans held on their promise to blockade Formosa, and they participated on the Battle of Fuzhou with 4 of their warships, none suffering serious damage. All of the Chinese warships in Fuzhou on August 23, 1884, including their flagship, were sunk. The French and the Koreans took turns in destroying Qing shore batteries. The Koreans and the French later launched an attack against Qing forces in Keelung and Tamsui in Formosa on October 1, 1884. Although the French and Koreans fought bravely, they were able to only hold the fort for at least 5 months due to heavy Chinese resistance by Gen. Sun Kaihua. Another French and Korean offensive, this time with ample new troops, then advanced from Keelung's environs, but on February, they had to halt it not only due to increased Chinese resistance but also due to bad weather.

A serious attempt to crush the Franco-Korean blockade of Formosa in February 11, 1885 by the Nanyang Fleet was stopped and were chased towards Shipu Bay in Ningbo on Valentine's Day, 1885, without loss for the French side and dispatching the Chinese warships there. The Koreans then destroyed the remaining Chinese warships that escaped in Zhenhai Bay on March 1, but with their ship Taeryong sunk by a crude Chinese torpedo.

Irritated by these defeats, the Qing government prevailed upon the British not to accept French and Korean warships in their holdings in Hong Kong, in which the British agreed in February, 1885. The French then retaliated by implementing a rice blockade in the Yangzi river. The Koreans, on their own part, threatened to raid any ship that entered the Gulf of Bohai to prevent the Chinese from gaining surprise. Alarmed, the Chinese then decided to transport ships overland from Shanghai, in which the French and the Koreans are reluctant to blockade, being an international settlement.

Besides, there is the Tonkin Affair, in which a series of miscommunications between the troops in Tonkin and the government in Paris. The situation reported to the telegram was allegedly much worse than it really was, and Premier Jules Ferry authorized more shipments of troops. But the Chamber of Deputies and some of the media thought this was going too far, fighting a war for little gain and wasting lives for useless causes. So the French deputies issued a vote of no confidence that brought down the government of Ferry on March 30. Ferry's successor, Charles de Freycinet, then concluded peace with China on April 4, 1885.

In Korea, another raid against the Beiyang based on March 21, 1885, that disabled three Chinese warships and enabled some 500 Korean troops to land in the eastern coast of Zhili alarmed the Chinese government, but Li then decided that it was really time to make peace and let the Koreans loose the chains of tribute which the latter already severed.

So the peace treaty of June 1885 with France and China left the French getting what they want except in Formosa and the Pescadores. The convention of Tianjin, however, on 18 of April 1885, were more advantageous with Korea. Korea not only won their independence, but China was forced to cede Hainan to Korea, thanks to Kim's aggressive blackmail, details, in which few scholars even today would like to discuss to prevent a flame war. Japan also joined with the treaty, sending their envoy Hirobumi Ito alongside with Kim Ok-gyun and Li Hongzhang, to make sure China recognize Japan's annexation of the Ryukyus. The Chinese were only willing to accept it because they are on the receiving end of the stick. The Japanese and the Koreans finally shattered for good the old Chinese theory of foreign relations, and as for Korea, they finally gained their first colony. This was milked up for propaganda, and people in the streets of Seoul were happy and on a state of euphoria. How this state of euphoria will last will be discussed on the next installment.

Part 10-The Aftermath, and how to do with Hainan

Korea by 1885 had now entered its debut as a modern, respected, and rapidly industrializing nation, along with Japan. It had secured not only formal and meaningful independence from China, but also took territory from it through Hainan island. Now most of the American and French occupation troops left, leaving a small group of advisers, and at least France had now ended Korean extraterritoriality as of 1886, and America and Germany did the same [thanks to the efforts of the German ambassador to Korea, Paul Georg von Möllendorff, and a personal friend of the King-turned-Emperor Gojong] in 1887.

However there was a problem.

Many in Korean government circles questioned why they had to take Hainan when they only want to secure Korean independence. A vocal group demanded to return Hainan now to China, beleiving that the cost of occupying it would be of better use for improving Korean industry back at home. The composition of its leadership were mostly Korean leftists or if rightists, tend to be converts to Christianity or Donghak. However, a more vocal group, led by such men as Kim Ok-gyun, now one of the powers behind the throne, wanted to keep Hainan for prestige, and to serve as an gateway for Korean trade to Southeast Asia. It was also convieniently situated near Hong Kong, Singapore, and Manila, only of the few trading ports in that area. Kim Ok-gyun and his "Nation-builder" clique used intimidation, bribery, and blackmail to silence anyone who opposed the annexation of Hainan. He also threatened to cancel the constitutional convention if the opposition persisted.

An incident nearly indeed forced Kim to make good use of his threat of no constitution. Choe Si-hyeong, the new leader of the Donghak movement, ordered his followers to steal weapons from the Army barracks on the night of November 8, 1885 to start a rebellion. The plot was foiled, but Kim was so greatly angered with it that he ordered anyone, in his new capacity as chief minister of the government, to arrest anyone associated with Donghak. The Eulmi Night of Knives of 1885, from November 12 to November 18, 1885, was for that time, the worst Korean massacre in the late 19th century, and Choe Si-hyeong only survived due to the Emperor's warning to Kim to stop or be dismissed. Kim, fearing that he will be discredited and replaced by an equally able but less idealistic minister like Yi Yong Ik, decided to relent. When the carnage ended, 189 people who opposed or allegedly opposed Kim Ok-gyun were killed. It nearly derailed the constitutional convention that was not going smoothly. Again, only Gojong saved the day by haranguing the delegates at a convention in January 8, 1886. Choe was later given a pardon and he will again be free to expouse Donghak, later to be transformed into the Cheondoist religion in 1904 and form his own political party, the Korean People's Party, in 1895.

Meanwhile, the work in the constitution continued, but there was a problem. In the proposed constitution, Korea is stated to be merely the peninsula. But Kim wanted Hainan to be included as well. Opposition delegates, however, had made their way by excluding Hainan from what it called the "Korean homeland" and proposed that Hainan be like the custom in England and Austria, be personally united by the Yi Dynasty. The second proposal failed, however, and eventually a compromise was made where Hainan is to be a "settlement" of Korea but not to be a part of the "Korean homeland." This last minute proposals were made by the Korean Conservatives as a bone to be thrown at what they call "Liberal" dogs. They also demanded that Manchuria be included as "lost territory," but to no avail. However, the rest of the constitution, based on the Korean delegates' talks with their Japanese counterparts and the American and French constitutions at that time, was finally passed and approved by a plebiscite, despite the fact that the qualified electorate, estimated to be 45,000 males over the age of twenty, are wary over even voting on this measure. Japan had outed Korean in drafting the first modern constitution by one year; Korea only proclaimed it through Gojong in August 1890. However, there was much rejoicing after all, and even with their limited rights, the people, at least some of the intellectuals in Seoul, were convinced that Korea had now "grown up."

Hainan for the meantime, became a formal colony of Korea in 1890, with Kim Ok-gyun as the first Governor-General. He tried and succeeded in improving the lives of the Hainanese people, to his critics' chagrin, by instituting modern health reforms learned from the French, particularly by some of the disciples of Pasteur. Infrastructure, roads, and telegraph were already in place when the Koreans annexed the territory in 1885, and Kim had made sure to improve it. Moreover, he instituted modern educational reforms, but he had to do it in 1890 due to the fact that most Korean teachers are unavailable for that time. So he enlisted Japanese teachers to do the job for a while. While the number of schoolchildren incalcated and educated in the new system were relatively small for the population [compulsory education was only extended to Hainan in 1890], this was impressive enough for Kim. Meanwhile, Hainan had been transformed into an agricultural center, and made also a fishing area for the South China Sea area, and Sanya and Haikou had been modernized. Kim is however, shrewd enough to make both Korean and Hainanese official languages of the administration.

For now, it looks like the Koreans are now contented with their precious pearl of Hainan. However, things in the surface masked a greater desire. They now wanted the land north of the Amnok-kang/Yalu river. That was Manchuria, where both Russia and Japan are trying to gain economic hegemony over that frontier land. For many of the more nationalistic Koreans, Manchuria is northern Goguryeo, and no other people should be entitled in that land, whether Manchu, Chinese, Russian, or Japanese. This will be the basis of Korean politics after 1890.

Part 11 - The Problem with Manchuria, and how Korea and Japan Nearly Went to War

Now that Korea is nearly independent and secure from any foreign intervention by Western powers, and now is trying to grasp the status of equality among nations. It won an empire in Hainan, and is planning to take over the vast land on Korea's north: Manchuria. It was sparsely populated, but it was a treasure trove for anyone trying to seize it. Some die-hards in Japan are planning to seize Manchuria, and China is trying to enhance its sovereignty by relaxing immigration among its Han Chinese population to Manchuria, which was supposedly an ethnic Manchu reserve; this was rather formal, since Han Chinese are already living on the other side of the "Willow Palisade", or as the Chinese-Manchurian border was called. Russia is also trying to seize Manchuria as part of its railroad expansion project; it also needed a warm-water port since Vladivostok was seen as inadequate for Russian needs in the area.

Korea, for that matter, is trying to acquire Manchuria partly due to economic reasons, but also to boost the national ego of the state. Many nationalist scholars claim Manchuria as the northern part of the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo, and wanted the Manchurians and Han out of what they call "Bae Goguryeo." So, they set up a clever plan; they invited any Korean tenant farmers to settle in Manchuria; at Jilin province at least. Given the pathetic state of the Korean tenant farmers, many decided to grab the chance. So, illegal immigrants crossed the Manchu-Korean border and set up farms like wildfire in Southeastern Manchuria. Soon, for example, the Jiandao region of Jilin province by 1900 had a sizable Korean minority, enough to influence and manipulate local Chinese politics there. They even convinced some Korean businessmen to petition the government to build a railway from Cheongin in the northeast, through Tumen in the Chinese side of the Yalu, and reaching out through Jilin city in Manchuria. These businessmen were later commisioned by the government to charter the Goguryeo Railway Company in 1890, with $13,000,000 in capital. The Russian government issued a protest, claiming that it was interfering with Chinese sovereignty, until the Korean Foreign Minister at that time, while in St. Petersburg, pointed out that Russia is planning to build a railroad to Vladivostok that crossed Chinese territory and Korea had the same rights, too. Russia backed down after Korea agreed that if the railway was completed [it will be so in 1899, but the Boxer Rebellion delayed it to 1902], it will be accessible to any nation wanting to use it without special privileges to any nation, including the Chinese.

This un-nerved the Qing court back in Beijing. They couldn't imaging a Qing empire without their Qing homeland, ruled by Russians, or worse, by former vassals like Korea and Japan. The Korean consul in Beijing had assured his colleagues in the Zongli Yamen that Korea had no territorial designs in China after the Sino-Korean War and in fact, will try to help China build up defenses against Russian and Japanese aggression. This alarmed the Zongli Yamen, and informed their Japanese counterparts to stop Korea. This fell to deaf ears.

A serious incident nearly put Korea and Japan into war. One night, in September 9, 1895, one Japanese on their legation in Seoul told his Korean colleague in doing away with the Emperor's wife, and it was heard that Miura Goro is the mastermind. The Korean colleague informed it to the Foreign Minister, and they informed it to the King. So on September 11, 1895, four Korean officials were arrested with the charge of attempting to kill Empress Myeongseong, and had most of the Japanese legation expelled and Gojong told the Japanese government to investigate the men.

This nearly enraged the Japanese press, and in many quarters, many of them want to declare war with Korea. The Meiji Emperor, however, seeing that securing Japan's victories against China in its war in 1894 and 1895, wanted the nation "some rest" and do not want another war. The problem is that the Korean side are mostly intrangisient about their demands, and only the intervention of France, Russia, and Germany stopped the war. On September 24, 1895, the Japanese government agreed to investigate the charges, and despite the acquittal of the Japanese legation by a Hiroshima court and predictable outrage in Korea, the relations between Japan and Korea began to normalize. The "Four Eulmi Traitors", as the arrested Korean officials were called, were sentenced to death, but the Empress intervened, seeing that the convicted were repentant [they admit they did this because of the Korean government's refusal to intervene with the Korean citizens in the Sino-Japanese War, and had cooperated with some die-hard Japanese to accomplish this], and commuted their sentences into 10 years of imprisonment. For now, Korea had time to celebrate and just relax, but for only a short while. Meanwhile Russia is inexorably penetrating into Manchuria, and both Korea and Japan didn't want this.

And there was still another problem. Now with a political scene, there was a fight in the parliament by Preservationists [Conservatives], Progressives, Enligtenment Party, and the Chongu Party, the last the Donghak's political arm, were in trouble in how to fix the salaries of the government bureaucracy; the Chongu and Enlightenment Parties wanted to cut it down, while the Progressives and Preservationists wanted to increase it. The speech of Seo Jae-pil, a newly elected MP of the Enlightenment Party, against corruption in the government, enraged the opposition, who charged him of treason as he was the first US citizen of Korean descent. Seo retaliated in claiming that he gave up US citizenship to become a member of Parliament. The deadlock was still in force as of December 6, 1895. It looks like only violence could end the deadlock, or was it?

Part 12 - The December Controversy of 1895

Seo Jae-pil's speech in December 2, 1895 was originally intended to be the need for ending corruption in the Korean bureaucracy, which can only be solved by either cutting out useless offices or cutting down on the salary of government offices. This move angered the Progressives, which said they are aiming at the military expenses. Seo denied he wanted to cut down military expenses; he wanted merely to increase the spending on R&D which in that time was on its infancy, and to raise more pay for the enlisted men as to dissuade mutinies. The leader of the Preservationists, while agreeing with Seo, demanded why he had to attack the bureaucracy. Seo then replied that the bureaucrats are "getting fat while nothing has been done for our people. Are they supposed to be the servants of the nation? Well, we could consult our Japanese friends and amend the constitution so it will be said 'the government officials are the servants of the emperor!' That was for jest, but it was the common people who needed the most help. And you fat Preservationists are such dumb cows who can't do anything, and all we got is Hainan!"

This caused a walk-out among the Preservationists, who claimed they are scapegoated for Seo's targets. Meanwhile, the Progressives demanded to censure Seo, which was stopped by most Enlightenment and Chongu MPs by a bare majority; one vote in fact. Then the Progressives walked out of the parliament as well.

For three days, the Parliament did not met. No one knows how it will open. Until on December 7, 1895.

Some random man accidentally smashed the door of the parliament while being intoxicated. While he was arrested for disturbing the peace, some Progressive and Enlightenment MPs have heard of it and suddenly entered the Parliament house without their permission. This angered the police, which promptly arrested them. Meanwhile, a bomb was thrown at the same police station the Progressive and Enlightenment MPs are held up. Few were injured and none of them are the MPs in question. A later probe later proved some anarchists are at fault and the suspects were arrested immediately. But the Progressives and Enlightenment Parties claimed that either the Preservationists and and Chongu were at fault; both denied it, of course.

A lightning rally by supporters of the imprisoned MPs in the Parliament grounds, on December 12, 1895, however, turned into a riot. After a provocateur, turned out to be a Preservationist supporter, threw a stone to police, the police opened fire. 12 were killed in the standoff.

Outraged, the Prime Minister, Baek Jesun, a Progressive, declared martial law indefinitely. But the Emperor intervened and declared the martial law as unconstitutional, citing an article in the constitution that no martial law will be declared by the Prime Minister indefinitely; it must be of maximum of 60 days.

But the opposition defied this order. On December 14, 1895, Chongu and Preservationist MPs marched to Baek's home in Seoul and demanded he resign. But Baek was nowhere to be found until he was spotted in his carriage trying to board a ship in Incheon. Outraged, Hong Jong-u, a Preservationist MP, literally chased Baek around the docks of Incheon, and according to legend, Hong said everything he knew about Baek's illegal activities, and he will reveal them if Baek did not resign. Apparently, Baek relented, and the next day, Baek tendered his resignation to the Emperor. Kim Hongjip, an Enlightenment Party MP, became Prime Minister.

Although the December Controversy was solved, the problems that arose were still there. It will take until March 1896 to solve the crisis of government salaries to be solved.

And it will take a war in China to make the wounds heal completely. In fact, this was the Boxer Rebellion.

Part 13 - The Boxer Rebellion and Korea's Intervention

In China, the attempt by the Guangxu Emperor and reformist scholar Kang Youwei to effect a reform in 1898, called the Hundred Days Reform and based on the Meiji and Jeongmyo Reformations, failed due to extreme conservative reaction by the Dowager Empress Cixi. Accordingly, she had Kang executed, and he was only lucky to survive because he fled to Hong Kong in time; many of the others aren't quite so lucky; they were slowly sliced to death at their public execution.

In Korea, the reports that the Korean settlers and citizens in China have been attacked by a certain group called the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, or the Boxers as the Westerners called them. A good number of those in the Korean government also suspected that the Donghak abetted the Boxers, but subsequent investigations eventually proved no evidence of Donghak support of the Boxers; in fact, the Chongu party leaders denounced the Boxers as a "poor caricature and mockery of Donghak ideals. The Boxers are for reaction, not revolution." This declaration by Korean MPs in December 2, 1899 precluded any support at all in favor the Boxers.

What is more disturbing, however, is that there are sizable Boxers in Manchuria, and this caused panic in Seoul. A murder of 23 Korean citizens in Shanhaikwan in April 2, 1900 is enough pretext for Seoul that the Manchu government abetted this act of atrocity. Plus the reports that the Boxers made minced meat out of innocent Western civilians in the International Settlement in Beijing had contributed to anti-Chinese sentiment in Europe, the United States, Japan, and now Korea. Premier Shin Kisun had requested the Western powers and Japan that they join the expedition forces and help clear out Boxers in Manchuria, at least. Desperate in finding ways to end the rebellion, the Western Powers agreed. So in June 12, 1900, two full Korean corps-sized armies had crossed the Yalu. What's more, they are helped by civilian volunteers who formed a militia in the Korean areas of Manchuria, as well as armed constabulary forces 20,000 strong. Within a month, the Koreans had engaged in serious battles in Manchuria, suffering 1,243 deaths [combatants alone] and killed at least 35,000 Boxers; the Koreans had employed brutal tactics so that high casualties among the Boxers would result. The Korean constabulary had employed brutal torture and interrogation techniques, learned from the Americans by observing the latter's work in the Philippines. The Koreans also employed poison gas at murderous qualities, a tactic that Japan also copied and widely used in their later operations, a thing that the Western powers condemned, but can't do anything, since both Japan and Korea didn't sign the 1899 convention banning chemical weapons.

Meanwhile, the situation of the other powers is worsening. The nine-nation intervention force [Britain, Austria-Hungary, Russia, France, Germany, United States, Japan, Italy, and Korea] that are attempting to seize Beijing and rescue the beleagured foreign residents failed to reach Beijing due to the railroad being destroyed not only by Boxers, but also Manchu government troops. The Korean contigent, however, found an abandoned weapons cache of the Qing army, called The Great Xi-Ku Arsenal, and it was well-stocked. They dug in from this armory until reinforcements arrived in June 25, after repulsing with great casualties Boxers and Qing troops.

Unable to seize the Taku forts, the Allies had employed the Koreans in Manchuria to crush the Boxers from the northeast direction, accordingly, the 3rd Korean Army crossed the Willow Palisade on June 4, and on June 17, 1900 and the other Allies seized the Taku forts, and eventually Tianjin. The 120 kilometer travel by the International forces to Beijing had only minor incidents. However, when the International force reached on 14 August, the real deal had started. What happened in Beijing can be only described as pure savagery; many of the Relief forces had engaged in looting and wanton murder; the arrival of the Koreans from the Northwest and in time only made matters worse for the Qing. In effect, the mere presence of the Koreans, reputed to be killing machines at their finest, had elicited pride among the Westerners; unfortunately, this amounted to jealousy on the Japanese, which still regarded Koreans as upstarts; however, they grudgingly accepted and even eventually praised the Koreans.

The Western powers, meanwhile, had been attempting what to do with China. Some wanted only reparations; others wanted that China's border regions should be taken away. In the end, the people favoring reparations prevailed, so on September 7, 1901, the Boxer Protocol was signed in Beijing. 700 million taels were to be paid; Korea got the biggest amount, though not a lion's share. Even so, the Korean government demanded that all any Chinese land that was not China proper be ceded to the other powers, with Korea claiming Manchuria. Russia and Britain agreed that Manchuria be only seized when the government in Beijing collapsed. However, Russia decided not to respond to the demands of the Mongols; it instead seized and annexed western Xinjiang [including Kashgar] in 1903. Tibet with its Dalai Lama requested British protection, but it was rebuffed by the British. China agreed to the acquisitions in order to reduce the indemnity in which the Powers agreed. The Koreans also demanded the exile of Cixi and they managed to do so despite the protests of Yuan Shikai, a Qing commander who actually stopped the Boxers. But eventually she was released and actually did some reforms that were ineffectual in the end. By 1911, the Qing Empire faced a rebellion that put fifteen of the eighteen ethnic Chinese provinces under the control of the rebels, and established a new Republic of China. Eventually, all of the Chinese provinces except those controlled by the foreign powers were under the control of the Republic. The last Qing Emperor, the child Xuantong, abdicated in 1912, and Korea formally annexed Manchuria the same year.

Meanwhile in Korea, the troops returning home had been greeted as heroes in Seoul. Problem is the casualties are murderous, and there are many people questioning how they would handle this. This forced Premier Shin to tender his resignation to Gwangmu on November 2, 1901, and a new Progressive government took over.

At the end of the 19th century, Korea had proven itself to be a member of family of nations. It had not only managed to have passed laws and civil codes in time, but it also convinced the Western powers that Korea along with Japan are worthy to be included as equals. However, this was only the 19th century. Korea had to enter more challenges in the 20th century.

Part 14 - The Russo-Japanese-Korean War

Meanwhile, Russia is consolidating its hold on Manchuria. Korea is worried that Russia might occupy Manchuria first; occupying Manchuria meant that Korea is bare naked against Russian aggression. Japan, meanwhile, is worried that its investments in Manchuria will be threatened by Russia. Russia wanted a warm-water port; Korea and Japan said that it could lease at least Port Arthur, so no problem with that. However, the Korean Prime Minister at that time warned that the Russian control of Manchuria will show who is the "really greedy nation" in the Far East. Japan concluded an alliance with Britain in 1902, and Korea, wanting to do so, decided to ally itself with France in 1904 [an attempt for a concrete Korean-American alliance in 1904 faltered]. Meanwhile, Korea and Japan agreed to send their envoys in St. Petersburg in July 28, 1903 for a proposal. They proposed that Russia, Korea, and Japan will divide Manchuria each by province. Russia will get Heilongjiang,Korea Jilin, and Japan Shengjing. However, this proposal was rejected by Russia. So on February 4, 1904, Korea withdrew her legation in Russia, and Japan did the same two days later. Though both Korea and Japan had conflicting interests in Korea, both needed time to stop Russia.

Japan contacted an American shipyard, the Electric Boat Company to construct 5 Holland Type VII-P submarines for the IJN. The Koreans also contacted the Company and made the same request, but ordered 7. Japan's submarines were delivered to Yokosuka under Arthur Leopold Busch. Korea's submarines were delivered to Incheon by Frank Cable. Both EBC personnel had trained Japan and Korea's fledgling submariners about the operation of these ships.

But the submarines can't wait. Korea and Japan declared war on Russia on the eighth of February, 1904, citing Russia's failure to give up claims in Manchuria. Japan struck out first. Three hours before the attack, the IJN assaulted Port Arthur. However, Heihachiro Togo was unable to dislodge the Russian ships completely due to the shore batteries in the harbor. Actually, it was a diversionary attack to allow the Koreans and the Japanese to attack from the Yalu. So on the 30th of April, two Japanese and two Korean divisions stormed the Eastern Detachment of Russian troops. The Japanese were able to crush the detachment, the Koreans pounding the Russians with their new French-made 75-mm cannons, greatly devastating the Russian positions which allowed the Japanese to storm the detachment.

Meanwhile, General Yasukata Oku and his Second Japanese Army landed on the Liaodong peninsula on May 5, 1904, 60 miles from Port Arthur. He is attempting to break through the Russian positions near Dalian, and seize Port Arthur as a result. The Russian defenses, while impressive under General Stoessel, were left useless since the Russian admiral in Port Arthur, Wilgelm Vitgeft, left the Japanese landing unopposed, claiming that he didn't received an order to intercept them. This caused them dearly in the Battle of Nanshan, in which the Japanese stormed the hill of Nanshan on May 26, 1904 with 4,300 killed or wounded on the Japanese side and 182 being killed on the side of the Russians.

Meanwhile, the Japanese are preparing to lay siege to Port Arthur. The Koreans were also made participants, sending some of their new US-designed frigates, 8 in all, as a gesture. The Japanese before tried to block Port Arthur with sunken cement blocks on the February 13th and again on May failed. The Koreans, however, layed mines at Port Arthur, so when the Russian ships Petropavlovsk and Pobieda set out to sail to break out of the harbor, they had the unfortunate honor of being blown by Korean mines. Both sank immediately. It also occured that Admiral Makarov was sailing on the Petropavlovsk and died with his crew. Makarov was the most competent Russian naval strategist in the war and it was a real blow to that side. As a result, the Russians decided to copy the Japanese and Korean minelaying tactics. It was fatal to the Japanese ships the Yashima and Hatsuse, but any attempt of a breakthrough by Admiral Vitgeft on June 23, 1904 failed, thus, allowing the Japanese to shell the harbor. As a result, the Battle of Port Arthur was fought on the 10th of August, 1904. Togo is in a disadvantage; he had only one battleship fleet, the Korean reinforcements had been given a mission to intercept the Russian Baltic Fleet, and had lost already two battleships. Though no ship was sunk by either side, the Japanese managed to hit Vitgeft's flagship, killing him instantly. The Russians then retreated to Port Arthur.

Meanwhile, the Koreans made a even more daring assault. They sent the entire 2nd Korean Fleet from Chongjin to attack the Vladivostok naval base itself on June 29, 1904. Against all odds, the Koreans managed to disable the elements of the Russian Pacific Fleet still penned there, at a great cost of 7 Korean ships and the life of Admiral Lee Hyeong Seong. The Koreans then occupied Vladivostok.

Words came that the Russian Baltic Fleet was sailing around Africa and towards the Indian Ocean to battle the Japanese and Korean fleets in the Pacific. The new Korean admiral of the 2nd fleet, Admiral Lee Sang Do, and Togo decided to intercept them near the Kurils. Fortunately, the Russians had made the mistake of firing upon British fishing trawlers on the Dogger Bank, and mistaking them for Japanese or Korean torpedo boats. Although Britain remained neutral throughout the war, it was a serious break in Anglo-Russian relations.

Meanwhile, the Koreans are preparing for an offensive towards Manchuria. The Japanese had finally captured Port Arthur for good, now leaving the Russians exposed to the Koreans. The Russians and the Korean-Japanese forces had camped on each other south of Mukden, only 110 kilometers in distance within each other.

The Russians, by General Oskar Grippenberg of the Second Army, struck at the Japanese left flank on January 25–29 in Sandenpu, almost destroying that position. The Japanese are in desperate position, and the Koreans are needed to stop the surprise assault of Grippenberg, which halted by Kuropatkin due to lack of reinforcements. But the Japanese knew if the Koreans failed to take Mukden, they would be in serious trouble. The Russians are using the Trans-Siberian railroad to send reinforcements. The Koreans then decided to use General Seong Min Ji's 1st Army, straight from Seoul, to crush the Russian right flank, while the Japanese under Marshal Iwao was to defeat them on the left. The fierce battle on Mukden, starting on the 20th of February, 1905, was a total victory on the Asian side. The Russians suffered 32,656 casualties; the Japanese and Koreans suffered 35,233, according to estimates. While the Japanese are in poor condition to find the retreating Russian units, the Koreans wasted no time. They decided to use a modernized version of the Korean hwacha launcher, but loaded with crude inciendary warheads; the city of Mukden as a result suffered fires in which 1,230 civilians are reportedly killed. Terrified, the Russian commanders laid down their arms on the 28th of February. Meanwhile, the Koreans had a mop-up operation that with 23,400 casualties on their sides, cleared Manchuria of the Russians.

Meanwhile, Admiral Rozhestvensky had heard reports that both Port Arthur and Vladivostok had fallen. It demoralized his sailors. Nevertheless, he wanted a last push; he will fight the Japanese and the Koreans head on.

Admiral Lee decided that he will intercept them near Okinawa, which Togo disagreed; the latter decided to intercept the Russians in Tsushima. But the Russian admiral had a clever plan; he decided to cross the East Sea. He thought the Asians will not intercept him and he is planning to retake Vladivostok by force. Fortunately, his tactic of sailing at night was discovered when one of the Russian hospital ships opened its lights. The Japanese scouts had noticed this, and in Tsushima, on May 28, Togo, with some Korean warships, exterminated the Russian Fleet of Rozhestvensky. After this, the Japanese occupied Sakhalin to force the Russians for peace.

This shocked the Russian nation. Already the Revolution of 1905 is underway. An angry Russian captain blamed this defeat on the "barbaric slant-eyed hordes and their cousins, the Jews." So anti-Semitic pogroms were carried out both by vigilantes and authorities.

The US President Theodore Roosevelt decided to negotiate, and the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed by Russian envoy Count Witte, Japanese delegate Baron Kimura, and Korean delegate Yi Jun in Maine, on the 5th of September, 1905. Japan was forced to annex only southern Sakhalin due to US pressure. Korea is more willing to forgo annexing Manchuria; besides, its still under Chinese sovereignty, anyway.

The war proved the weakness of Russia. The Russo-Japanese-Korean War was one reasons why Russia fell during World War I. As for Korea, it proved that they could preserve their independence; however, many in nationalistic circles were angered at their government's failure to annex territory, accepting instead a puny indemnity. The Japanese, for their part, was elated that the Russian bear had been humbled with the aid of the Korean tiger, but they were still politically unsatisfied. This had serious consequences in the later years.

Part 15 - The Peninsula in the 1900s and the annexation of Manchuria

Flushed with victory over the Russians, the Koreans can now claim some more legitimacy in the world stage. However, many Koreans feel that they are outsmarted by Japan, and plots to take over Korea soon, using the informal Japan-Korea alliance.

Such sentiments are echoed by the movements influenced by Jeondogyo and the Hananim movements, claiming that they should not take part of the affairs of other nations and the modernization caused social disaster in Korea. Adding to that sentiment is the Neo-Confucian holdouts. However, these Neo-Confucian movements through their "Purify Korea" movement, are quite rabid in their extreme xenophobia, though the burning of a Hamhung high school in which 3 students were killed turned the public opinion against them.

There are some who said that the Korean government and business elite oppress the workers and a revolution is needed. In addition to the Korean Socialist and Communist Parties, a group of Korean anarchists were formed in 1906, but they too were crushed by the police despite their terrorist attacks, one even wounding the visiting Japanese statesman Hirobumi Ito, and probably embarrassed Korean officials. A more moderate Korean Social Democratic Party was formed in 1908, but despite disowning violence, they too were targeted by both government and ultranationalists.

The economy was growing at a fast pace. Raw materials from Hainan [rubber and iron ore] supplement the Korean mineral and chemical industry, while rice, sugar, fruits and vegetables also reached Korea. However, for the most part, Hainan did not developed well for Korea's benefit like Taiwan was for Japan. The Korean economy is geared toward trade toward its rival states, and seek better markets. Peasant unrest is growing despite the successful land reform program. Many peasants simply want more land. In turn, they are easy material for the Communists and the Ultranationalists to exploit. In the end though, the ultranationalists won because they promised the peasants that if many of them migrate to Manchuria, it will be effectively theirs. Besides, the nationalist claimed that Goguryeo did control most of Manchuria [and indeed confirmed by experts] at some point in their history. The problem is that the Korean settlers had competition with the Chinese and native Manchurians, who were alarmed that Chinese and Koreans are overrunning their country.

So the ultranationalist "Young Korea" fanatics shot the Prime Minister Baek Jesun to death while the latter is bathing in his residence on September 23, 1909, claiming that he is bought by foreign [specifically Japanese interests]. The perpetrators were caught thanks to the Korean Minister of Interior, An Jung-geun, and An, after given permission by the government, personally shot the 3 of the 23 Young Korean fanatics with his pistol five days after Baek's assassination.

This didn't stop the ultranationalists. Waves of bombings, assassination of what they call 'traitors', sabotage, were all old news in Korea in 1909 and 1910.

This was to abate significantly by a force beyond Korea's control.

In China, the Wuchang Uprising, started on October 10, 1911, caused many Chinese to revolt against the Qing. The new Korean government under Yi Wanyong saw this as an opportunity to redress a "historical wrong." No longer will Korea be treated as a "younger brother" of the Manchus. Using the bombing of Harbin station in October 25 as a pretext, and the bombing of the Korean consulate on the 29th, the Korean government informed the Russian and Japanese governments that "the situation in China is untenable; therefore, we must take measures to ensure the safety of our people and interests in Manchuria." Hirobumi Ito sensed that Korea is planning to annex Manchuria and said that restraint is needed. Korea replied that since Russia already annexed western Sinkiang province and with Tibet on the verge of changing its allegiance to the British Empire, China should be stripped of its vassal territories, and Manchuria is considered separate from China anyway. He reassured the Japanese that their investments in Manchuria as well as their Kwantung Leased territory will not be molested. The Japanese side eventually agreed, and so more Korean troops poured in, but now with government officials at their side. Resistance among the Manchus and Han Chinese were moderate but predictably defeated by superior Korean arms, thanks to being trained in counterinsurgency methods by the Americans during their rule of the Philippines.

Manchuria was annexed on the fifth of January, 1912, as the Northern Territories, China un-notified, and with little fanfare, and with the tacit approval of the other Great Powers, most importantly Japan and Russia. Now, Korea could have its supply of economic raw materials at its grasp. And, by being allowed to annex a resource-rich nation by the Great Powers, Korea was now a great power itself. The Korean people are looking for a new period of empire and prosperity.

But by 1914, things are becoming different. Especially in the Balkans. The assassination of the Austrian heir to the throne sparked the First World War. And Korea, with its alliance with France, decided to join the fray.

Nations
Dae Han Jeguk: an Alternate History of Korea