German merchant’s bodysnatching expedition in 1868

The tomb of Namyeongun, the father of the regent Daewongun during the King Gojong era in the late 19th century, is located in Yesan-gun, South Chungcheong Province. The German merchant Oppert tried to dig up the bones of Daewongun’s father and hold them hostage. /Courtesy of Robert Neff

Misguided effort failed to open Korea to the West

By Robert Neff

Ernest Jacob Oppert is perhaps one of the most infamous and notorious Westerners in Korean history. Oppert was a German merchant in Shanghai, China, in the 1860s who was obsessed with opening trade with Korea. First in March and then in August, 1866, he sailed to Korea in hopes of establishing trade ties but the Koreans refused. Although financially ruined, Oppert was not discouraged.

But Oppert was not the only foreigner in Shanghai interested in opening Korea. In the early spring of 1868, Oppert met Father Stanislas Feron.

Feron was one of three French priests who managed to get out of Korea alive during the religious persecution in 1866 — the same persecution that resulted in a short war between France and Korea.

Feron told Oppert that he had a plan to open Korea to the West. According to Feron, the average Korean desired relations with the West, but it was Daewongun, the regent, who was violently anti-foreigners. If Daewongun could be removed or coerced, Korea could then be opened up. He then said:

“If the project I am going to lay before you will at first sight appear to you strange and out of the common, remember that a great aim can never be gained by small means, and that we must look at this affair from another point of view than that which may be taken by narrow-minded people.”

Feron stressed the reverence Koreans held for their ancestors before he proposed something that was completely unacceptable to Westerners and Koreans alike — to dig up the bones of Daewongun’s father and hold them hostage.

Perhaps sensing Oppert’s revulsion, Feron quickly assured him that the bones would in no way be harmed nor would they be taken out of Korea.

Once Daewongun agreed to open Korea the bones would be immediately returned. He also indicated that it was the Korean Christians who had devised the plan.

As for risk, there would be very little. The unguarded tomb was located only a short distance from the coast — they would have the bones before anyone could arrive to stop them. Feron declared that the means justified the end in opening the dark country of Korea to the light of God.

Oppert considered Feron’s macabre proposal for several days before accepting it. His earlier attempts to open trade with Korea had resulted in financial ruin but if this plan worked he would recoup those losses with his initial monopoly of trade. Not only would he profit financially; he would be viewed as a hero for helping to end the persecution of Christians.

They chartered two small steamships and hired eight Europeans “of dubious character,” twenty Filipinos, and over 100 Chinese described as “the riff-raff of humanity such as swarm in every Chinese port.”

On April 30, the expedition quietly left Shanghai and sailed to Nagasaki where it stayed for two days to buy coal, rations and ten cases of muskets. The expedition then sailed to Korea and on May 10th anchored off the mainland.

In the dead of night, Feron and Oppert, accompanied by a large force of men, sailed to shore and then began their long trek through the hills and mountains to the tomb. Their passage, however, did not go unobserved and soon the “hills were white with people.”

When questioned, Oppert told the Koreans that he and the other Europeans were Russians. He was possibly trying to capitalize on the perceived fear that Koreans had of the Russians.

Oppert’s later recollections would have us believe that his trek to the tomb was uneventful and that they were even aided by friendly Koreans.

Korean accounts indicate otherwise. The expedition is alleged to have attacked the county office and looted buildings of weapons and goods.

The Koreans, unwilling to confront the well-armed foreigners, merely followed them throughout the night until they arrived at the tomb in the early morning.

Keeping a close watch on the angry crowd of Koreans, four Chinese coolies, each armed with a coal shovel, were designated to dig up the tomb.

“As spadeful after spadeful of earth was removed by the shaking hands of the frightened coolies, shouts, hisses and oaths went up from the maddened crowd.” Oppert and Feron urged on the frightened Chinese “grave-diggers with promises of rewards as well as with the invigorating butt-ends of their rifles.”

The Chinese managed to uncover the top of the tomb but were unable to break through the cover stone. The men quickly abandoned their efforts when they noticed a Korean magistrate accompanied by a large number of soldiers and villagers approaching.

Incited by the audacious acts of the foreigners, the Korean villagers and soldiers began to throw stones at the tomb desecrators and rushed them. The foreigners, firing their rifles over the heads of their pursuers, safely made their way back to their ships.

The expedition then sailed up to the coast to modern Incheon where Oppert demanded in a letter to Daewongun that he open Korea to the West or “your country will face a great danger in a few months.” Daewongun refused and the expedition was forced to return to Shanghai after two Filipinos were killed trying to steal a Korean calf.

The slain Filipinos’ heads were displayed in Seoul and the surrounding countryside — further inciting hatred toward foreigners and Christians. Oppert’s failure further strengthened Korea’s resolve to avoid contact with the West.

For his role in the attempted bodysnatching, Oppert was returned to Germany where he stood trial and was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment — his reputation forever sullied by the incident. Feron was transferred to India in 1870, where he remained until his death in 1903. Although Feron appears to have been the instigator, his nefarious role has been largely ignored by history. Only Oppert’s name is associated with this early misguided effort to open Korea to the West.

Tomb well maintained, but information sign shows inaccuracies

The tomb, located in Yesan, South Chungcheong Province, is well maintained. Although the local government has done an admirable job in preserving the site, it has failed in regards to its English/Korean information sign.

The English description is poorly worded with misspelled words. More alarming, however, are the historical inaccuracies in both the Korean and English texts. Perhaps the most glaring is the date of the Oppert incident. The signboard claims it took place in 1866.

Getting to the tomb is no easy matter. Located well off the beaten path and deep in the mountains, non-Korean speakers will probably need to go there with a friend who possesses a car. There are signs that the Yesan government is trying to improve accessibility including the construction of a new bridge to help facilitate travel not only to the tomb but to the various mountain hiking trails.

The area around the tomb is beautiful. Fairly desolate and surrounded by tall mountains, it is easy to imagine oneself back a hundred fifty years ago just prior to Oppert’s failed attempt.