By Kim Ji-myung
The year 1919 marked a historical turning point in Korea. It was the 10th year of Japanese colonial rule. Emperor Gojong suddenly died on Jan. 21, 1919, at today's Deoksu Palace. Rumors and information from reliable sources pointed to Japan as the mastermind of his murder by poisoning.
The Japanese had dethroned Emperor Gojong in 1907, replacing him with his unprepared son, Sunjong. Why? Japan decided to remove Gojong who dispatched three envoys behind Japan's back to The Hague in the Netherlands to proclaim Korea's rejection and protest Japan's illegitimate control of the country at the World Peace Conference.
The poisoning of Gojong was a measure to silence him for good as he continued to fight for Korea's independence. Later it was found the Japanese governor-general in Korea had the royal doctor poison the emperor's tea, according to the memoir of Yi Bang-ja (1901-1989), the consort of Crown Prince Euimin.
Words of officials who inspected the emperor's body instantly circulated throughout the city: His mouth was all black inside, and whole uprooted teeth were found at the bottom of his mouth.
The national funeral for the deceased emperor was slated for March 3, 1919. Enraged and frustrated at the story of the murder of their ruler of 56 years by the Japanese, people from across the country congregated in front of the main gate of Deoksu Palace to mourn his death.
This voluntary and peaceful gathering in protest against the Japanese interference in the Korean government was the beginning of what we now call the March 1 Independence Movement.
The Korean Declaration of Independence was read and the March 1 Independence Movement spread across the country. In reaction to Japanese suppression of the movement, the Korean Provisional Government was created in April 1919 as a government in exile in Shanghai.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan published a 10-year report, praising Japan's achievements in Korea and Manchuria. Before and after pictures contrasted the rugged poor agrarian lands and the well-designed modern commercial and industrial towns with newly built roads and buildings.
Next year, 2019, will be the 100-year anniversary of these events. Seoul reportedly proposed to Pyongyang to stage a centennial jubilee of the March First Movement together.
Korea's historical events cannot be independent of neighboring countries, especially Japan. In that sense, history is never a thing of the past but is here with us.
It is unfortunate the people of the two countries lack fundamental trust in one another. Their manners of expression and communication vastly differ. We can look in more detail at the events of 1919 and see how the views between Korea and Japan still differ.
Japan may ignore the fact, but Koreans can never forget the seven years of total destruction of their land and abductions by Japanese invaders during the 1592-98 Imjin War. Japanese students may not learn about the invasion itself.
Nor can Koreans forget the murder of Queen Min (Empress Myeongseong), committed inside Gyeongbok Palace by a group of Japanese elites and so-called ronin, or lordless samurai aristocrats. The killing in 1895 was brutal and vulgar, unprecedented by any standard of international law or diplomatic relations. Maybe because the act was so shameful, the Japanese do not teach about this event to their people.
It is ironic that the first in-depth book on this event, "Murder of Queen Min," was written by author Fusako Tsunoda (1914-2010) in 1993. Tsunoda was at first shocked to hear about the Japan's brutal killing of the queen of a neighboring country inside her quarters. And she felt ashamed to have been totally ignorant of such history. After five years of research, she presented a detailed and fact-based narrative of the event.
Since the people of Japan and Korea met as imperial colonizers and the colonized 120 years ago, we have lived in absolutely different worlds. Our narratives on history could never draw closer.
Sometimes we hope that Japan as a nation could open their minds to acknowledge their historic acts. Today, is our mutual understanding much different since 100 years ago? On our part, we may ask ourselves, are we telling stories on history in cool, objective calmness?
The writer (Heritagekorea21@gmail.com) is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage).
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The Japanese had dethroned Emperor Gojong in 1907, replacing him with his unprepared son, Sunjong. Why? Japan decided to remove Gojong who dispatched three envoys behind Japan's back to The Hague in the Netherlands to proclaim Korea's rejection and protest Japan's illegitimate control of the country at the World Peace Conference.
The poisoning of Gojong was a measure to silence him for good as he continued to fight for Korea's independence. Later it was found the Japanese governor-general in Korea had the royal doctor poison the emperor's tea, according to the memoir of Yi Bang-ja (1901-1989), the consort of Crown Prince Euimin.
Words of officials who inspected the emperor's body instantly circulated throughout the city: His mouth was all black inside, and whole uprooted teeth were found at the bottom of his mouth.
The national funeral for the deceased emperor was slated for March 3, 1919. Enraged and frustrated at the story of the murder of their ruler of 56 years by the Japanese, people from across the country congregated in front of the main gate of Deoksu Palace to mourn his death.
This voluntary and peaceful gathering in protest against the Japanese interference in the Korean government was the beginning of what we now call the March 1 Independence Movement.
The Korean Declaration of Independence was read and the March 1 Independence Movement spread across the country. In reaction to Japanese suppression of the movement, the Korean Provisional Government was created in April 1919 as a government in exile in Shanghai.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan published a 10-year report, praising Japan's achievements in Korea and Manchuria. Before and after pictures contrasted the rugged poor agrarian lands and the well-designed modern commercial and industrial towns with newly built roads and buildings.
Next year, 2019, will be the 100-year anniversary of these events. Seoul reportedly proposed to Pyongyang to stage a centennial jubilee of the March First Movement together.
Korea's historical events cannot be independent of neighboring countries, especially Japan. In that sense, history is never a thing of the past but is here with us.
It is unfortunate the people of the two countries lack fundamental trust in one another. Their manners of expression and communication vastly differ. We can look in more detail at the events of 1919 and see how the views between Korea and Japan still differ.
Japan may ignore the fact, but Koreans can never forget the seven years of total destruction of their land and abductions by Japanese invaders during the 1592-98 Imjin War. Japanese students may not learn about the invasion itself.
Nor can Koreans forget the murder of Queen Min (Empress Myeongseong), committed inside Gyeongbok Palace by a group of Japanese elites and so-called ronin, or lordless samurai aristocrats. The killing in 1895 was brutal and vulgar, unprecedented by any standard of international law or diplomatic relations. Maybe because the act was so shameful, the Japanese do not teach about this event to their people.
It is ironic that the first in-depth book on this event, "Murder of Queen Min," was written by author Fusako Tsunoda (1914-2010) in 1993. Tsunoda was at first shocked to hear about the Japan's brutal killing of the queen of a neighboring country inside her quarters. And she felt ashamed to have been totally ignorant of such history. After five years of research, she presented a detailed and fact-based narrative of the event.
Since the people of Japan and Korea met as imperial colonizers and the colonized 120 years ago, we have lived in absolutely different worlds. Our narratives on history could never draw closer.
Sometimes we hope that Japan as a nation could open their minds to acknowledge their historic acts. Today, is our mutual understanding much different since 100 years ago? On our part, we may ask ourselves, are we telling stories on history in cool, objective calmness?
The writer (Heritagekorea21@gmail.com) is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage).
