The Korea Times

Jemulpo in the 1900s: An 'unattractive entrance to a great adventure'

Jemulpo in the early 1900s. The Japanese Settlement is on the left side of the street (the large building is the Daibutsu Hotel) and the Chinese Settlement is on the right side. Note the Lung Kee tailor shop.   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffIn the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jemulpo (modern Incheon) was described as an “unattractive entrance to a great adventure.” Many visitors bemoaned the lack of trees on surrounding hills, the vast expanse of mudflats which were exposed during the low tide and the haphazardly developed port consisting of four parts or settlements: the Japanese, Chinese, Korean and “General Foreign.” There was, however, a certain degree of charm to Jemulpo. It was said to be one of the more hygienic open ports among those in China, Japan and Korea and the more affluent foreign residents of Seoul often moved to Jemulpo in the summer to escape the oppressive heat of the capital city. In 1901, the port had a permanent population of about 20,000 people. Of course, Koreans, Chinese and Japanese made up the greater portion

Apr 30, 2022By Robert Neff

Jemulpo in the 1900s: An 'unattractive entrance to a great adventure'

Opinion

Korea's 1902 cholera epidemic

Outside the East Gate circa 1900s   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffAccording to William Franklin Sands, an American adviser to the Korean government, the great cholera epidemic of 1902 struck Korea in the late summer without warning. Years later, Sands recalled:“One morning forty men were dead in a cell of the central prison. The cell was built for twelve, but forty-eight had been crowded in. The jail was built on the main sewer canal and drained into it. Women washed their food and washed their clothes in the canal and threw their refuse there. At night countrymen came in to carry off loads of the black muck to spread on the market gardens and raise the cucumbers and melons that everybody ate in the streets. There was no doubt that an epidemic must spread from the prison to the town.”Actually, Sands wasn't quite accurate in his account. The disease had been reported throughout the country ― especially near the Chinese border ― long before the outbreak in Seoul. The small communities ― far from the view of the emperor ― were forced, at least in the beginnin

Apr 25, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

Emperor Gojong's meeting with an observant British sailor

The British consul heads to the Korean palace in the 1890s.   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffOn April 10, 1901, the British representative in Korea presented the Order of the Grand Commander of the Indian Empire to Emperor Gojong. The Korea Review ― an English-language magazine published in Seoul ― declared in a very short article that the document accompanying the decoration was one of the last signed by the late Queen Victoria with her own hand.For such an amazing honor, it seems somewhat disappointing the Korea Review deigned to celebrate it with such a short article. Fortunately, soldiers and sailors love to complain and moan and often lack the tact of their diplomatic counterparts.A British sailor ― his identity is not given ― accompanied his captain along with three other officers to Seoul in order to confer the award, which he described as “a somewhat magnificent order, badge, and collar, evidently instituted to a great extent as suitable for dusky potentates, &c.” All arrangements had been made for the award to be bestowed upon the emperor but a

Apr 24, 2022By Robert Neff

Emperor Gojong's meeting with an observant British sailor

Opinion

The shipwreck of the Izumo Maru in 1892

Jemulpo Harbor in the early 20th century.  Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert Neff On April 2, 1892, at around two in the afternoon, the Japanese steamship, the Izumo Maru, sailed out of Jemulpo (modern Incheon) harbor bound for Kobe, Japan. Captain Minamide Oshi was likely quite pleased with himself and his crew. It was the ship's maiden voyage on the Japan-Korea route and it looked as if this first trip would be profitable. It had a full cargo of beans, rice, mail and other sundries and was filled ― perhaps over-filled ― with passengers. Among the Japanese passengers were Mr. T. Hayashi (the secretary of the Japanese legation in Seoul) and a young naval surgeon from a Japanese warship. There were about 20 Chinese and a handful of Korean passengers; one of the Korean passengers was “a high official.”The voyage, at first, was uneventful, but, early in the morning on the fourth day, the steamship encountered rough seas “causing the ship to roll heavily.” Throughout the day, the vessel continued on its course but in the late evening, the wind died down, and, &

Apr 9, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

The watery fate of Korea's bell gifted to Japan

A view of Masan in the early 20th century   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffAccording to legend, up until a little over a century ago, residents along the western coast of the Japanese island of Kyushu would often hear the low mournful toll of a bell when storms struck the coast. The sound of the bell did not come from a temple or mountain retreat but, rather strangely, from the bottom of the sea. This bell soon became part of the fishermen's lives ― not merely as a curiosity but also as an early warning signal. Whenever earthquakes struck the region, the residents listened for the bell. If they heard it ringing wildly then they knew that the arrival of a tsunami was imminent and they would seek higher ground.Storms were an integral part of this bell's history.Taira Kiyomori (1118-81) was a great leader of the Heiki clan in the 12th century and, according to Wikipedia, “established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan.” He has been described as a ruthless tyrant but a great warrior and judging from the little I read,

Apr 3, 2022By Robert Neff

The watery fate of Korea's bell gifted to Japan

Opinion

Missionary misadventures with bandits, mountains, villagers

Guardians of the road in the 1900s.  Courtesy of Diane Nars CollectionBy Robert NeffRichard Sidebotham, an American missionary living in Korea in the early 1900s, is often associated (rather inaccurately) with bringing the first piano into Korea, but I always associate him with what he lost ― his clothes.On October 14, 1900, Sidebotham was accompanying Mrs. Johnson (the wife of a fellow missionary) and her small child from Busan to their home in Daegu when they were suddenly set upon by a band of 20 Korean highwaymen armed with swords and other crude weapons.Horace N. Allen, the American representative in Korea, was promptly notified of the attack but did not seem overly alarmed ― despite rumors of an anti-foreign movement being organized in Korea similar to that in China. Perhaps his lack of alarm was due to his less-than-favorable impression of Sidebotham. In a letter to his sons, Allen described the missionary as a “galvanized (I mean naturalized) American … of feeble appearance [and] feeble actions.” The ruffians easily intimidated the missionary and reali

Mar 27, 2022By Robert Neff

Missionary misadventures with bandits, mountains, villagers

Opinion

Daegu and the legend of Korea's first piano

Daegu market in the early 20th century   Courtesy of Diane Nars CollectionBy Robert NeffAt the end of March 1900, the streets and markets of Daegu were awash with anticipation and wonder. People gossiped excitedly about the arrival of “the ghost-barrel” ― a wondrous box that emitted strange sounds. “The ghost-barrel” ― better known to Americans as a piano ― had been presented to missionaries Richard and Effie Sidebotham as a going-away gift by their friends and family.The Sidebothams arrived in Korea in November 1899 and spent at least a couple of weeks in Seoul before being assigned to Daegu. Once they were settled in at their new home, they sent for their most-cherished items ― including the piano.On March 26, the piano, “seasoned for ocean travel,” was loaded aboard a river junk at Busan and sailed down the Nakdong River to the Samunjin ferry-landing at Daegu. It was then manhandled by a team of 31 Korean porters and carried to the missionaries' residence ― arriving there March 28. An article appearing on the Presbyterian Historical So

Mar 18, 2022By Robert Neff

Daegu and the legend of Korea's first piano

Opinion

Korea's precious trees in 1890s

A wood market in Seoul. Circa 1900. Courtesy of Diane Nars CollectionBy Robert NeffFor many residents of Seoul, hiking is a great way to get away from the confines of their apartments, workplaces and schools and get out into nature. It is a great outdoor activity during the pandemic as it maintains social distancing (although some of those mountain paths can be quite crowded). Seoul is blessed with an abundance of tree-covered mountains and hills but it hasn't always been like that.In 1896, poachers prowled the mountain slopes around Seoul ― especially the mountain known as Namsan ― harvesting timber and brush to sell in the city markets. The Independent (a newspaper published in Seoul) declared:“For the last two years the pine forests on the hills about Seoul have been encroached upon by wood gatherers and much timber has been cut without permission. If this continues the hills will eventually become denuded.”It happily reported that police had arrested four poachers who were caught in the act of carrying away stolen timber from the hills near Yongsan. Gathering timber a

Mar 13, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

Murder on the Yalu River

A sketch of Chinese soldiers robbing Koreans along the Yalu River in the mid-1890s   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffIn the late 19th century, the region around the Yalu River was the Wild West of the Korean Peninsula. At night, it was not uncommon for tigers to prey upon the unwary traveler or snatch farm animals and children from isolated villages. Its great natural resources, especially timber and gold, attracted a danger even greater than tigers ― it attracted men willing to murder in order to fill their own pockets. Chinese smugglers and pirates occasionally occupied the small islands near the mouth of the river ― engaging in their illegal activities until chased away by the Chinese navy. In the past, a great swath of land on the north bank of the river, nearly 100 kilometers wide and 500 kilometers long, was a no man's land ― a great wall of stakes defined the boundary of this unpopulated and uncultivated zone. However, in 1875, the Chinese government claimed the region to the banks of the Yalu.Koreans caught on the Chinese side of the river were to be summarily e

Mar 12, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

The short-lived Russo-Korean Bank of 1898

Bank of Chosen in Seoul circa 1920-1930s   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffIn early December 1897, rumors began to circulate that Russia was going to attempt to take control of Korea economically ― it was going to establish a bank in Seoul. On Dec. 8, J. Hunt, the commissioner of Korean Customs at Fusan, sent a missive to John Jordan, the British consul-general in Seoul, in which he reported that a Russian from Vladivostok named V.M. Koreylin would soon travel to Jemulpo and take up residence.Koreylin was “ostensibly as [an] agent for the Russo-Corean Bank” but was in reality a commercial agent for the Russian government and would remain at Jemulpo for no more than three years, during which time he would try to obtain all the concessions he could ― through loans to the Korean government ― so that Russia could “grab” Korea.Ad in the Korea Repository March 1898Jordan agreed that there might be some truth to the claim, as St. B. Gabriel arrived in Jemulpo on Dec. 13 aboard the steamship Baikal and was joined about a month later by Koreylin and a Sco

Mar 6, 2022By Robert Neff

Robert Neff

Read more

Jemulpo in the 1900s: An 'unattractive entrance to a great adventure'

Korea's 1902 cholera epidemic

Emperor Gojong's meeting with an observant British sailor

The shipwreck of the Izumo Maru in 1892

The watery fate of Korea's bell gifted to Japan

Missionary misadventures with bandits, mountains, villagers

Daegu and the legend of Korea's first piano

Korea's precious trees in 1890s

Murder on the Yalu River

The short-lived Russo-Korean Bank of 1898

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