The Korea Times

Western travelers to Seoul in 1882: Part 1

Area just outside of Seoul in the winter of 1883/84   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffThe summer of 1882 brought many changes to Korea, including the establishment of treaties with the West, but it did not bring the anticipated rains. Wells and streams dried up and, without water, the rice crops died in the fields. Rice prices doubled, then tripled. Already burdened with the Korean government's heavy taxes, many people fled their farms and villages for the surrounding countryside and hills where they roamed as bandits, preying upon one another.There were many who objected to the government's policy of establishing treaties with the West and Japan. Diviners, shamans and anti-foreign elements took advantage of the drought to play upon the superstitious fears of the common people. They claimed these treaties had angered the spirits of their ancestors and, as a result, the land was cursed and rain was forbidden from falling. The city was a powder keg of unrest and all it needed was a single spark to set it off ― that spark came when soldiers were cheated out of their just w

Aug 28, 2022By Robert Neff

Western travelers to Seoul in 1882: Part 1

Western travelers to Seoul in 1882: Part 2

Opinion

Korean archery - 'A fundamental aspect of refinement'

Korean archers along what looks like part of the city wall. Circa 1930s.  Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffIt has been said that the bow was once the most powerful Korean weapon in combat until the early 17th century when matchlock rifles appeared on the peninsula. However, archery remained an integral part of Korean society and it was, according to Shin Myung-ho, the author of Joseon Royal Court Culture, “a fundamental aspect of refinement.”Many of Joseon's early monarchs were masters of archery. King Jeongjo (r. 1776-1800) frequently demonstrated his prowess with the bow and, according to one source, was “unrivaled by his contemporaries.” While practicing in Suwon, he hit the target 24 out of 25 times. “The king used a red painted bow made of rhinoceros horn” and shot at a target with a bear's head painted in the center of a white background and surrounded by red hemp cloth. Other participants in the competition or practice shot at similar targets except theirs had a blue border and a painted stag's head in the center. “The differen

Aug 21, 2022By Robert Neff

Korean archery - 'A fundamental aspect of refinement'

Opinion

Traveling on the Han River in the 19th Century: Part 2

A hand-colored postcard of the port of Jemulpo. Circa 1910-1920s.  Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffAfter the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), the fairly lucrative Han River steamboat business between Jemulpo (modern Incheon) and Seoul remained firmly and uncontested in the hands of Japanese enterprises, the primary one being the Shoji River Steamer Company.Like its predecessors and competitors, Shoji River Steamer Company faced frequent groundings and increased displeasure from its customers. Complaints were frequent and occasionally were printed in the regional newspapers. An example of this is an article that appeared in The Independent in May 1896:“Some gentlemen started last Saturday at noon from [Jemulpo] and came up the river on a Japanese steamer arriving in Seoul at 7 o'clock Sunday morning. It will be a glad day when a man can go by rail between these points instead of being at the mercy of these poor crafts.”A small steamship at Jemulpo circa 1911.  Robert Neff CollectionTravel on the river was considered so haphazard that many people were wary of usin

Aug 14, 2022By Robert Neff

Traveling on the Han River in the 19th Century: Part 2

Traveling on the Han River in the 19th Century: Part 1

Opinion

Traveling on the Han River in the 19th Century: Part 1

The port of Jemulpo in the early 1900s. A steam launch, possibly a river boat, can be seen in the background.  Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffIn the late 19th century, before the construction of the railroad, travel between Jemulpo (modern Incheon) and Seoul was either an arduous overland journey by foot, rickshaw, palanquin or cantankerous pony ― all were slow and uncomfortable ― or by a handful of small steam-powered riverboats. One might assume the riverboats were more comfortable and quicker, but those assumptions are generally wrong.In the early 1890s, one English adventurer described ― somewhat amusingly ― his experiences of traveling on the Han River in a small steamboat. According to him, the steamboat company had two small vessels ― one was a small side-wheel paddleboat (possibly the 30-ton Kei-lei) and the other a screw steamer. He denounced them as “very rickety [and] wretchedly-managed craft.” They sailed from Jemulpo on alternate days and returned from Seoul the following day ― at least they were supposed to.At 5 in the morning on June 30, the Engli

Aug 13, 2022By Robert Neff

Traveling on the Han River in the 19th Century: Part 1

Traveling on the Han River in the 19th Century: Part 2

Opinion

The fate of Sontag Hotel

The main building of Sontag Hotel in 1909 ― Boher can be seen standing near the fence. Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffWhen Marie Antoinette Sontag returned to Korea sometime in late 1906 or early 1907, she found Seoul had greatly changed. The foreign legations were now mere consulates and Japan dominated Korean politics and business opportunities ― most of the Westerners employed by the Korean government were replaced with Japanese. Yet, Sontag managed to return to her former position in the Imperial Household and apparently was still operating a hotel for distinguished guests.There were only a couple of hotels operating in Seoul in early 1909 ― the most important and well-known were the Astor House Hotel (formerly Station Hotel) and the Palace Hotel. According to the English-language newspaper, The Korea Daily News, “both of [these hotels are] managed by hard working Frenchmen who have sunk their all in their respective businesses.” The proprietors of these hotels were, respectively, Lucien Martin and J. Boher.The newspaper's editor, Ernest Thomas Bethell, asserted

Aug 7, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

Sontag Hotel - 'consultation center for diplomatic conspiracies'

A view of Sontag Hotel and its staff circa 1910   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffOne of the greatest obstacles for Westerners visiting Seoul prior to 1900 was a lack of accommodations. With no suitable hotels, visitors were forced to impose themselves upon friends or family or throw themselves upon the mercy of foreign residents of the city or even their legations and consulates. However, in 1900, things began to change.In a letter to his sons in September 1900, Horace N. Allen, the American minister to Korea, described the recent developments in Seoul:“[Ms.] Sontag is about to build and run a fine first class hotel in Chong Dong (Jeong-dong). You know it will be good if she runs it, and we will at least take our Sunday dinners with her when she gets it started. [Kalitzky] and Mrs. Emberley and a Korean are also preparing little hotels, so Seoul will be supplied at last. You would hardly know the place now.”It turns out Friedrich A. Kalitzky (a German citizen of Polish heritage) did not establish a hotel but instead started a general store. Mr. and Mrs. Emb

Aug 6, 2022By Robert Neff

Sontag Hotel - 'consultation center for diplomatic conspiracies'

Opinion

Marie Antoinette Sontag: “The uncrowned empress of Korea”

The Russian Legation in Seoul circa 1900 / Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffAccording to a Korean almanac published in 1895, in the 12th month of the lunar year (Jan. 16 to Feb. 14, 1896):“The wild goose stands with its face to the north and the magpie builds for itself a nest shelter. The crow of the pheasant is heard on the hillside; hens feed on milk and the lake's stomach becomes solid.”What did this mean? Like horoscopes, the interpretation of the almanac's pearls of wisdom depended upon the perspective, gullibility and need of the reader ― its accuracy varied from reader to reader. It is unlikely, however, that the almanac predicted that on the cold morning of Feb. 11, 1896, the winds of politics in Korea would suddenly change when the monarch and crown prince found refuge in the Russian Legation in Seoul. Nor did it predict that this was the day when Marie Antoinette Sontag started on the path to becoming “the uncrowned empress of Korea.” According to Dr. Sylvia Braesel, during King Gojong's year-long stay at the Russian Legation, he “came to a

Jul 31, 2022By Robert Neff

Marie Antoinette Sontag: “The uncrowned empress of Korea”

Opinion

Russians arrive in Korea in 1885

Members of the Korean foreign office in the winter of 1883/84   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffThe Russian cruiser Razboinik, with its crew of eight officers and 105 sailors, steamed into the harbor of Jemulpo (modern Incheon) on Oct. 3, 1885. The harbor was quite crowded with Chinese, Japanese, British and American warships ― many of them having just arrived ― and an English steamship whose crew was busily engaged in unloading the Joseon government's newly purchased mint.Like many of the recently arrived warships, the Russian cruiser's purpose was to transport a passenger to Korea. The Russian warship's passenger was Carl von Waeber, the newly appointed Russian charge d'affaires. His arrival had been anticipated and, to a degree, feared. About six weeks earlier, the American acting charge d'affaires, naval officer George C. Foulk, had reported to the U.S. State Department that the Russian representative would arrive with an escort of several warships and would build the most imposing legation in Seoul.Although Waeber did not arrive with a large escort of Russian warsh

Jul 24, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

The return of Heungseon Daewongun

The port of Jemulpo (modern Incheon) in the late 1880s or early 1890s   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffWhen Arthur H. Heath (a journalist for the Illustrated London News) and his two companions (Charles Joseph Uren and Lionel F. Gowing) traveled to Korea in late September 1885, they expected a great adventure and were not disappointed.Heath wrote:“It was in very unsettled times that we paid this visit to the Hermit Kingdom, and [on Oct. 3], the day we returned to Jemulpo (modern Incheon) from Seoul, we found the long-expected and notorious “Daewongun” (Prince) had just arrived in a Chinese gunboat. The port was quite lively with British, Russian, American, Japanese and Chinese men-of-war…”While the Daewongun's arrival may have been long-expected and welcomed by much of the general public, many in the Korean court ― including the queen ― opposed it. George C. Foulk, an American naval officer in charge of the American Legation in Seoul, wrote:“The possible return of the Tai Won Kun has for some time been the subject of much speculatio

Jul 23, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

The Korean power shovel

Not all “Korean power shovels” used just three or five men ― some used nine. Circa 1900-1910s.   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffIn the modern age of “ppali-ppali” (a Korean expression that means to do everything quickly) one still occasionally sees what some Westerners over a century ago called “the Korean power shovel.” American missionary George Heber Jones (1867-1919) described the “Korean power shovel” as an “interesting invention [that] occupies a front rank among the labor-saving machines of Korea, for it saves from three to five men a vast deal of work.” He was obviously being somewhat sarcastic as he waxed on almost poetically:“When in operation, the captain [the man holding the shovel's handle] inserts the iron shod point of the shovel as deep into the earth sometimes as three inches, and then the crew of two or four men give a lusty pull and a shout and away will go a tablespoonful of dirt fully six feet, if not more into the distance. This operation is repeated three or four times and then the

Jul 10, 2022By Robert Neff

Robert Neff

Read more

Western travelers to Seoul in 1882: Part 1

Korean archery - 'A fundamental aspect of refinement'

Traveling on the Han River in the 19th Century: Part 2

Traveling on the Han River in the 19th Century: Part 1

The fate of Sontag Hotel

Sontag Hotel - 'consultation center for diplomatic conspiracies'

Marie Antoinette Sontag: “The uncrowned empress of Korea”

Russians arrive in Korea in 1885

The return of Heungseon Daewongun

The Korean power shovel

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