The Korean Emperor and the American Princess: Part 2
The streets of Seoul in the early 1900s. Robert Neff Collection
Throughout the world, dinners have long been popular for discussing business and politics, and Korea was no exception. Having arrived in Seoul on September 20, 1905, Alice Roosevelt, the 21-year-old daughter of American President Theodore Roosevelt, was honored the following day with a banquet at the palace hosted by Emperor Gojong.
Willard Straight, a member of the American legation in Seoul, recorded the occasion in vivid and denigrating detail. He noted that Alice was “treated with more consideration than has ever been shown to visiting royalty before.” Straight described how “the Emperor brought [the young American woman] in on his arm and sat at the same table with her.” The Crown Prince was also present, presiding over his own table.
Straight himself was seated at a smaller table, “sandwiched in with prominent Korean officials, many of whom had by special order of the Emperor got themselves into European clothes for the first time and who certainly did look, and from their appearance feel, like Hell.”
An outdoor party in Seoul held in honor of Alice Roosevelt’s visit. Courtesy of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
Amused by the discomfort of his Korean counterparts, Straight nonetheless paid close attention to the Emperor’s regard for his guest. “It was a strange and wonderful sight to see Miss Roosevelt on the Emperor’s arm, or rather he on hers, as they came into the banqueting hall,” he wrote. Despite being a diplomat, Straight’s private letters were anything but diplomatic. He quipped that the banquet hall “looked more like a boarding house parlor than anything else.”
When it came to the food, however, all he bothered to write was: “We had Korean chow.”
Years later, Alice offered her own recollections of the event: “We lunched with [the Emperor and the Crown Prince] in the European part of the [palace]. We were received in an upstairs room, and then the squat Emperor did not give me his arm, but took mine, and together we went in a hurried wobble down a very narrow staircase to an unnoteworthy, smallish dining room.”
Like Straight, she barely mentioned the meal, noting only that Korean food was “served in Korean dishes and bowls ornamented with the imperial crest. Those I used were afterwards presented to me.” She drank from a gold cup, while Straight and his peers used silver.
Gordon Paddock, secretary of the American legation in Seoul, and Senator Francis Newlands with Korean entertainers and other guests. Courtesy of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
Recent articles in the Korea Times have shed light on the “Korean chow.” The banquet included 17 dishes, among them yeolgujatang — a type of royal hot pot made from a variety of meats, mushrooms and scallions. Other dishes included:
Goldongmyeon – noodles tossed with assorted ingredients and seasoning
Jangkimchi – a soy sauce-based water kimchi made with cabbage and radish
Hwayangjeok – skewered vegetables and meat arranged by color
Jeonbokcho – thinly sliced abalone simmered in seasoned soy sauce
Jeonyueo – white fish dipped in flour and egg before being pan-fried
Pyeonyuk – thinly sliced boiled beef brisket
One can only wonder if the Americans might have been more impressed with a dinner given to a Japanese official:
“Asparagus tips soup; roast fish with mushrooms; pigeons with olives; duck liver pâté in aspic; braised fillet with truffles; asparagus spears with Hollandaise sauce; roast leg of lamb; salad; pineapple ice cream; cheese; assorted desserts; coffee; Cognac and liqueurs.”
The Imperial Guesthouse, next to the palace, where many of the American delegation stayed while in Seoul in 1905. Courtesy of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
Alice’s entertainment in Seoul was not limited to the imperial banquet. The very next day, a women’s luncheon was held in the garden at Changdeok Palace in honor of Alice and of the other women in the delegation. “The wooden paths and colored pavilions were decorated with American and Korean flags.” According to one American newspaper:
“The occasion was a notable one, inasmuch as it [was] the first time in the history of the country that a woman of the palace [had] entertained foreigners. Two missionaries, Mrs. Bunker and Mrs. Underwood, acted as interpreters. A toast to Miss Roosevelt was proposed by Om, the Emperor’s consort, who was hostess at the luncheon.”
It was an interesting account, but it was not entirely true. Prior to the assassination of Empress Myeongseong in October 1895, foreign women, including wives of diplomats, missionaries and even the mother of an American advisor to the Joseon government, were often entertained in the palace.
Senator Francis Newlands in Seoul in 1905. Courtesy of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
That evening, Alice was honored again at the American legation, where Korean military musicians and dancers performed before a crowd of diplomats, Korean officials, missionaries and businessmen. In the following days, more dinners and receptions were hosted in her honor at the British, German and Japanese legations.
Years later, Alice recalled: “The Korean and Japanese officials entertained us industriously, but as Seoul was a small place and we were all of ten days there, official parties finally ceased, and we began to feel like old residents.”
One day she spent the whole afternoon “riding through the city and suburbs on the American-built electric car line.”
Emperor Gojong and his son, Crown Prince Sunjong. Courtesy of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
Horseback riding was one of Alice’s favorite pastimes, and she later wrote of spending many afternoons on horseback in the city and along the slopes of nearby Mount Bukhan. In her memoirs, she wrote, “We rode nearly every afternoon getting home at dusk; the mountains sharp against the western sky.” But like many foreigners, she found the Korean ponies less than welcoming – especially to foreigners.
“I don’t think the native ponies liked foreigners; they frequently tried to bite us as we mounted. I recollect one that seemed to have a particular aversion to me. First, making sure that it was securely held by its groom, I would stand about ten feet off and make a face at it. The pony would respond by laying back its ears, baring its yellow teeth, and struggling to shake off the groom in its effort to get me at me.”
At least once she was in the saddle, she managed to stay there — something not all foreigners could claim. Some could only mount their ponies if the animals were blindfolded, and once the cloth was removed, the vicious little creatures would lunge, buck or snap at their riders with unnerving ferocity.
On September 28, Emperor Gojong granted Alice a “farewell audience and presented her with his photograph, to which was affixed his autograph.” The Crown Prince followed suit. There were other valuable gifts, too, as members of the delegation were also showered with tokens of the Korean monarch’s appreciation, “including tiger skins, silver and brassware and embroideries.”
Despite the honor, Alice admitted she was weary of such formalities. She later wrote that she “was more than fed up with official entertaining, with being treated, one might say, as a ‘temporary royalty.’” While she acknowledged that the role gave her the chance to experience things unavailable to most, she confessed that “how real royalty can stand it, in season and out, is hard to imagine.”
The following day, Alice and her party left Seoul for Busan aboard a special train. To ensure their comfort, the American Minister, Edward Morgan, arranged for several Chinese male servants to travel with them and prepare meals in the baggage car. Recent heavy rains, however, had washed out part of the line, forcing the train to halt overnight in Daegu.
Alice was to stay at the Presbyterian Mission, but her arrival could not have been more awkward and potentially scandalous. During the journey, someone spilled a whiskey and soda on her, leaving her reeking of alcohol. Worse still, as she stepped off the train with her small black dog under her arm, her cigarette case tumbled open, scattering cigarettes at the feet of the waiting missionaries. “I arrived in an atmosphere of alcohol and tobacco,” she later recalled, and considering her hosts were missionaries, she found it thoroughly mortifying. To her relief, the missionaries were unfazed, receiving her warmly and showing a genuine curiosity about her visit.
The following morning, the delegation resumed their journey to Busan and departed the Land of the Morning Calm. Alice’s own peace was short-lived, soon broken by a storm of criticism that would haunt her for years. She was accused of misconduct during her visit — not by the American missionaries, but from within the royal palace. That condemning voice is the subject of our next article.
My sincere appreciation to Diane Nars for her invaluable assistance and to Cornell University Library for its extensive online collection of Willard D. Straight’s photographs and postcards.