Korea's first modern magician ventures abroad

A Japanese troupe of entertainers perform at the American-owned Oriental Consolidated Mining Company in northern Korea in the early 20th century. / Courtesy of Joseph Lower Family

• Published Apr 5, 2022 8:05 PM KST
• Updated Apr 5, 2022 8:13 PM KST

By Robert Neff

Seoul, on Feb. 4, 1884, was extremely cold. The Han River, for the most part, was frozen, cutting the city off from the port in Jemulpo (modern Incheon). Yet, despite the bitter temperatures, the Lunar New Year's traditions were followed ― feasts, offerings and, of course, stone and kite fights. Kites were not the only things overhead. For a little over two weeks a small comet graced the sky over Seoul. What impact this comet had upon the superstitious is unknown. However, for one family, this date was magical: it was the day that Kim Young-ju was born.

His was a hard life. We don't know much about Kim's family but we can surmise they were poor. Like so many things associated with him, there is a degree of mystery and illusion, fact and fancy.

According to one of Kim's accounts, when he was about four or five, his parents sold him to a traveling Japanese circus that was performing in Seoul. It is not impossible, but, considering the anti-Japanese/-Western sentiment (caused by rumors claiming Korean children were being purchased by foreigners for immoral purposes or as ingredients in medicines and to develop photographs) prevailing in Seoul at the time, it seems implausible.

In another account, Kim simply stated that at the age of five he became an apprentice to a Japanese magician and began to perform professionally in Japan as early as 1892. For over a decade he remained in Japan and would have presumably spent the rest of his life there except for a chance encounter with an American talent scout named James W. Price.

For a small number of Koreans in 1904 and 1905, San Francisco was the gateway to the U.S. Most of them were students (18), followed by druggists (9), a grocer, a teacher, a laborer, a merchant and, somewhat surprisingly, two magicians ― 20-year-old Kim Young-ju and his apprentice, 16-year-old Ok Ji-suk.

The two Korean magicians were part of Matuda's Royal Japanese Troupe and had sailed from Yokohama on April 7, 1904, aboard the steamship America Maru ― arriving in San Francisco on April 24.

In the middle of May, one ad announced that the city's largest theater ― the 3,500-seat Orpheum ― was presenting “the Marcel living statuary, [the] most beautiful of the living pictures ever seen here,” a trapeze act, performing dogs and “[Kim Young-ju] and [Ok Ji-suk], whose land the Russians and Japanese are fighting over, will contribute the first Korean wizardry ever seen in America.”

They remained in San Francisco for only about a month before they moved on to New York where they performed in the first theme park in the United States ― the summer resort Starin's Glen Park. This park “had a zoo, botanical garden, boats, beach for swimming (complete with large swings), and ponies by the dozen for the little ones [as well as] camel and elephant rides.”

The park was especially famed for its exhibits showcasing various cultures. In the summer of 1904, one of the main themes was life in Asia ― especially Japan. According to a Brooklyn newspaper:

“'Little Japan,' consisting of a complete Japanese village, in which will be seen a Japanese theatre, Japanese bazaars, picturesque tea houses, with geisha, maidens in attendance and every form of life characteristic of Japan. The industries of that remarkable country will be depicted in a manner both instructive and interesting.”

According to the ads, visitors to the park would encounter Japanese people of all walks of life including infants in the arms of their mothers and “tottering old men past their allotted three-score and ten” (70 years). There was also a troupe of female acrobats ― balancers, wire and sword walkers and jugglers. All had been brought to New York by “J.W. Price, who spent the last nine months in Japan selecting the inhabitants for the village.”

In addition to the Japanese entertainers were Kim and Ok, who bore “the distinction of being the Emperor's court magicians, and for whose safe return to [Korea] a heavy bond had to be furnished by the [Korean] Government. They are the first [Korean] performers that have ever come to this country, and their performance is said to excel anything ever seen here.”

The first Korean performers ― let alone magicians ― is a bold claim but was it accurate?

In Boston in May 1896, an exhibit was held at the Austin & Stone Museum in which “Mishi-Imura, the great [Korean] magician [had] the greatest hit of his life with museum patrons.”

Although Mishi-Imura does not sound like a Korean name, it wasn't uncommon for performers to use stage names. Kim Young-ju used a number of names and nationalities ― as did his wife, Tora Tanaka (she was a member of Matuda's Royal Japanese Troupe) and their daughter.

Mishi-Imura and Ok Ji-suk's names faded quickly from the newspapers but Kim's various names appeared with greater frequency as his fame grew.

In the early 1910s, he used the name Kinjiro Tanko Kumjaro (often abbreviated as K.T. Kuma) and appeared on stage throughout the United States. It appears that during World War II, he embraced the idea of being Korean and returned to using a variation of his Korean name ― Kim Yen Soo ― as well as Kim Kwang-san.

In 1946, he was described as being a Chinese magician and he and “his clever daughter, Ming, [were] baffling audiences with their hocus-pocus” Part of his act was “pulling an enormous brass bowl filled with water from his coat sleeve; huge slabs of glass from nowhere and an American flag the size of the stage out of thin air.”

In 1950, Kim Yen Soo [Kim Young-ju] was at the Palace Theater in New York where he and his company (two girls and a boy) “mystified [audiences] completely with standard now-you-see-it-now-you-don't stuff.” In 1952, he and Bela Lugosi made a “Spook Show” tour throughout the United States but they appeared to have played only in minor theaters ― apparently, both losing their relevance with the passing of time.

Kim died on March 27, 1963, and, as a true magician, he took his secrets with him to the grave.

Magic remains popular in Korea, especially with children. According to Korea Magic Culture Association Chairman Lee Nae-hyoung, about 50,000 elementary school students studied magic in after-school elective clubs prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. That number, however, has dropped to 20,000 due to measures to curtail the spread of the disease.

My appreciation to Diane Nars for her invaluable assistance and for allowing me to use her photograph.