Book spotlights Dye, an unsung hero of Koreas modernization

By Chung Ah-young

There is a saying that history has neither a beginning nor an end and the act of telling it must be a creative act that entails an arbitrary selection of a starting point, which in actuality is artificial.

“Genesis of the Korea-America Friendship” written by Ahn Young-sop might be such a creative outcome.

The book puts a new spin on the historical origins of Korea’s relationship with America specifically through the lens of an individual contribution.

Consisting of two parts, the book examines the burgeoning friendship between the two countries in the late 19th century in Part 1, while delving into the crucial role of U.S. General William M. Dye, who contributed to modernizing the Korean military and to protecting the ill-fated kingdom from imperial powers in Part 2.

Korean history is marked by numerous foreign invasions; Japanese colonial rule (1910-45), the Korean War (1950-53) and the prolonged military and ideological confrontation between the North and South.

In the late 19th century, Korea was unable to effectively unite factional interests to make itself a strong nation.

The expansionism of neighboring powers — particularly China, Japan and Russia — posed continuous threats to Korean sovereignty, eventually leading to Japanese colonialism of the peninsula at the turn of the 20th century.

The tragedy was a result of Korea’s own internal faults. As the “power nations” flexed their muscles toward the peninsula, the incapable Korean government was fraught with internal problems such as factional conflicts, court intrigue and corruption, and as such was unprepared for the new challenge of Imperialism.

In this difficult situation, King Gojong regarded the U.S. as his only trustworthy friend, as Korea was in uncomfortable relations with China and Japan.

Shortly after the Korea-American formal treaty was signed in 1882, King Gojong asked the U.S. to send military advisers for the Korean Army to strengthen the kingdom’s defense capabilities against imperial threats.

The U.S. maintained a policy of political non-involvement in Korea and other parts of East Asia in the interest of good relations with all parties concerned. This policy positively affected the burgeoning friendship of the two countries from the start.

As the U.S. tried to help Korea maintain its sovereignty from other countries, King Gojong highly appreciated not only its non-expansionist policy but also its recognition of Korea as a sovereign nation.

But at the same time, Gojong had to see betrayal after the U.S. signed the notorious Taft-Katsura Agreement with Japan in 1905, effectively nullifying the 1882 treaty and recognizing Japan’s influence in Korea.

Gojong sought much help from American advisers in pursuit of military, diplomatic and educational expertise to modernize his nation.

Around that time, some 80 Americans lived in Seoul, while no other foreigners had such intimacy to the royal court. All those early American advisers from public officials to private citizens contributed to Korea’s modernization until the ill-fated kingdom fell under Japanese colonial rule.

Among the early Americans in Seoul who were devoted to Korea’s modernization, William M. Dye, who led the first American military mission to Korea, was a key figure in the dawn of the country’s modern history.

The author notes that his legacy is “unsung” and almost unknown to many Koreans and Americans including even historians.

He arrived in Korea four and half years after Gojong first made his request for American military instructors. Dye worked in Korea for 11 years (1888-1899) as one of the very few invisible heroes of the Korea-U.S. friendship.

The author explains that for the most part, little recognition about Dye is mainly because his contribution to Korea failed to attain its ambitious goals. There are also a lack of documents and records about him.

At that time, political instability during his service made it hard to keep intact the related records and data. Also, Korea experienced the Japanese colonial rule for 36 years and the Korean War, which destroyed important historical documents.

However, despite the deficiency in records, the author insists that the American general should be rediscovered in modern history.

“I highly appreciate, as some historians do, the remarkable efforts Dye made to modernize the Korean Army and protect the king from danger,” he writes.

“Also, Dye’s efforts in Korea represent a very powerful example of how early American advisers tried to help the secluded kingdom’s early phase of modernization. It is also noteworthy that a considerable amount of the American diplomatic documents about early

Korean-American relations is about the issue of the Dye mission in Korea.”

The writer puts much emphasis on Dye’s devotion to Korea through his work for the Korean military, although it was thoroughly monitored and hindered by the three imperial powers — Japan, China and Russia. In particular Japan reacted mostly strongly to Dyemodernizing the Korean army to protect the royal court.

As a military adviser, Dye endured dangers, hardship and adversity during the 11 years of his service in Korea — more serious than those of any other American advisers.

Despite these difficulties sometimes posing a life-or-death threat to him, Dye gave his all to the Korean military and the kingdom by teaching and training the cadets of the first Korea military academy, Yeonmugongwon.