The Korea Times

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

The short-lived Russo-Korean Bank of 1898

Opinion

Yun Hui-sun, a female freedom fighter

By Robert NeffIs this card, circa April 1907, “a piece of Japanese political propaganda about Yun Hui-sun”?   Courtesy of Diane Nars CollectionThere is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words but is the story that it is telling the truth? When viewing an image we need context. Who were the people who appear in the picture, when and why was it taken and who was the photographer ― with this information we are better able to understand what the image is trying to tell us.My friend Diane purchased a postcard recently with an interesting but somewhat confusing story. The postcard ― postmarked “Yokohama, 18 April 1907” ― was sent by a Royal Navy sailor named Charles Walter Candy (1877-1930) to his future wife and, in itself, is not overly interesting, but the dealer's description of the card was:“This [postcard] shows a Meiji-period boy and girl, the boy reaching forward to take the girl's hand. He wears the uniform of a Japanese Army General and she wears a splendid kimono, richly and dramatically decorated. This would seem to be a ve

Mar 5, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

Korean kites: carrying away bad luck

The Great Red Arrow Gate (Hongsalmun) in Seoul in the winter of 1883/84   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffWhile wandering the streets of Seoul in February 1884, Percival Lowell commented about the number of large kites (birds) he encountered near the Red Arrow Gate (Hongsalmun):“There is one other place that is a great favorite with the birds. It is a certain double gibbet-like structure, painted a bright red; and it stands just off one of the main streets, at the entrance to another narrower thoroughfare. It is a magnificent post of observation for a kite; and I rarely passed under it, and over its ghastly, ghost-like shadow lying there black across the sunlit path, without seeing the silhouette of a bird projecting beyond the shade or the cross-bar; and instinctively turning and looking up, there, on the upper transverse beam, was perched the motionless body of a kite, to all appearance sunk in lazy drowsiness, but whose winking eye nothing escaped.”These were not the only kites that attracted his attention. He also encountered a large number of paper kite

Feb 27, 2022By Robert Neff

Korean kites: aerial battles as cornerstone of childhood

Opinion

Korean kites: aerial battles as cornerstone of childhood

By Robert NeffA postcard of a Korean boy preparing his kite for a day of flying circa 1920s.   Robert Neff CollectionIn early February 1903, the sky over every village and city in Korea was filled with kites. In Pyongyang, nine-year-old Il-han described the kites as resembling “a vast flock of gulls” dashing and whirling about, but they were not flying about aimlessly, for they all had “a real purpose” ― they were the weapons in the annual kite fights. These kite fights ― as well as the kite-flying season, took place during only the first two weeks of the Lunar New Year.These kite fights were, declared Il-han, “the [greatest] sport events of the year and every Korean boy at some time in his life has hoped for the championship of his village.” However, it wasn't just boys who took a keen interest in kites. Korean men of all ages ― including the king ― were either active participants or enthusiastic spectators.In the late 1880s, George Gilmore, an American teacher in Seoul, noted that it was “not at all unusual to see a boy flying a k

Feb 26, 2022By Robert Neff

Korean kites: aerial battles as cornerstone of childhood

Korean kites: carrying away bad luck

Robert Neff

Read more

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

Yun Hui-sun, a female freedom fighter

Korean kites: carrying away bad luck

Korean kites: aerial battles as cornerstone of childhood

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