Spies amongst us

Japanese troops near Namdaemun in 1904 / Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

The traveler, dressed in Korean clothing, tried desperately to hide his nervousness, but with each passing minute, it became more and more obvious that the Russian patrol and their Korean interpreters were suspicious of him. First, they questioned him rapidly in Korean as to his identity and his business in this part of the country. Then they began to examine his baggage noting the amount of Japanese silver he had with him. When he was asked to take off his hat and the Russian officer began to examine his hair, he began to sweat profusely. Excitement and suspicions were in the air. The Korean traveler was visibly shaken when the officer commanded him to take off his footwear so that his feet could be examined. The examination lasted only a few minutes before the Russian officer declared the traveler a Japanese spy and summarily executed him with a bullet.

The above could have taken place anywhere in northeastern Korea in 1904-05. Spies were an important part in the Russo-Japanese War: they reported the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy, spread rumors and sedition amongst the Korean population and in some cases sabotaged or attacked important but poorly defended sites such as telegraph offices.

Russians on the Korean border prior to the start of the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War / Robert Neff Collection

For the Russians, spying in Korea was not easy. They were at a great disadvantage mainly because of their appearance and inability to blend in with the general population. It was next to impossible to mistake a tall, bearded Russian with red hair for a Korean, but the Japanese had few problems and blended in more easily with the Korean population.

Like the French nearly 100 years earlier, the Japanese spies at first wore the white sack-cloth clothing of the traditional Korean mourner. The Russian authorities soon became wise to this and began scrutinizing people in white mourning cloth more closely so the Japanese switched to the newer black hats and clothing. According to some missionaries in the Pyongyang area, the Koreans were more than aware the men were Japanese but did not inform the Russians because they preferred the Japanese to the Russians ― at least in that region.

Unfortunately for the Russians, some of their Korean interpreters were actually working for the Japanese, sowing dissent and spreading rumors amongst the Korean population for the same reason. One Korean spy was even transported by a Japanese warship to a coastal area behind the front lines so that he could report on Russian troop strength.

Thomas Cowen, an English newspaperman, described one Japanese spy as dressing up like "a Buddhist priest, collecting subscriptions for the repair of a shrine that never existed." What he was actually collecting was information on Russian troop movement in the northern part of the peninsula.

He also described a Japanese spy disguised as an itinerant peddler who wandered the countryside "selling cheap penknives and tiny mirrors, brass pipe-bowls and rubbishy cigarettes. Between sales, he made careful entries in his notebook; presumably, he was adding up his accounts. If he did not quite speak the (Pyongyang) dialect of Korean, it was because he came from (Jeolla) province; or if a (Jeolla-do) man found fault with his accent, it was because he had been so much in (Hamgyeong) province. Why tell the truth when lies pass so easily?"

A Japanese encampment outside of Seoul in early 1904 / Robert Neff Collection

Speaking of lying, Cowen ― whose sentiments were decidedly with the Japanese ― never missed an opportunity to denigrate his Korean hosts. He claimed the Russian-hired Koreans often failed in their missions due to their own innate ineptitude and came to much grief for their efforts.

"A Korean is a willing liar, but unskilled, and easily found out," Cowen claimed, offering as proof that when Korean spies from the northern provinces were asked for news of the war, they replied they had no idea as they had never been to the northern part of the peninsula. They answered in the Hamgyeong dialect: "To lie with diffidence is worse than to tell the truth."

Battle between junks on the Yalu River during the Russo-Japanese War / Robert Neff Collection

Cowen also provided this somewhat amusing anecdote. It should of course be taken with a grain of salt but it is entirely possible:

"There was one Korean with a bullock-load of charcoal, which he seemed to be trying to sell, but he never could get a purchaser to pay his price. As he wandered from village to village there was a blind Korean beggar who was keeping an eye on him, being not quite so blind as the charcoal hawker. And, by a strange chance, the blind beggar wandered from village to village just wherever the bullock and his owner went. The reason was that the man with the animal had been sent out by the Russians from Wiju (a Korean city near the Chinese border on the Yalu River) to see all he could about the Japanese, and the beggar was a Japanese, who had been in Wiju and tracked the other from the start. At length, they came to Seoul, and quite accidentally, the blind beggar collided with a Japanese gendarme. Both apologized, and a word or two of Japanese came from the supposed Korean beggar; the people passing by in the street did not notice, but the gendarme at once wanted to buy charcoal. The last of that Russian spy was that he went into a barrack yard to sell his goods and look round."

It should be pointed out that many of the Russian spies were actually naturalized Russians ― Koreans who had immigrated to Vladivostok and the Korean-Russian border area. They seem to have been especially effective in the northeastern provinces and in Seoul.

Execution of suspected Japanese spies by the Russian military during the Russo-Japanese War / Robert Neff Collection

While most of the Korean Peninsula was relatively safe for Japanese spies, the northeastern provinces ― where many Koreans favored the Russians ― were very dangerous. Bounties were offered for information leading to apprehension of them and their Korean supporters. Travelers ― especially those who elicited suspicion ― were subject to "spy examinations" by the Russian authorities. The traveler was questioned about his business and destination ― the whole time his intonation and grammar were carefully checked to determine if he was a native speaker, and, if so, from which province.

Of course, the baggage was carefully checked and all scraps of paper were scrutinized to determine their purpose and noted along with the amount and type of money that he carried. Japanese money was used throughout the peninsula whereas Russian money was found mainly in the northeastern provinces and the open ports. In the Russian-controlled zones of the country, Russian soldiers often tried to pay for their goods with rubles but the Korean merchants refused to accept the currency ― and, for good reason. If Japanese soldiers discovered the rubles they might mistake the innocent merchant for a Russian spy and execute him. This was one of the reasons why Russian soldiers resorted to plundering supplies ― their money was no good in the Korean market.

Sometimes they not only plundered, they also made an example out of a magistrate to compel Korean businessmen to be more willing to cooperate.

Korean coolies (laborers) working for the Japanese army during the Russo-Japanese War. Some were recruited with high pay while others were forced with violence. Robert Neff Collection

According to the Korea Review in April 1904, a Korean prefect was killed by the Russians when he refused to supply them with provisions. A Korean official was sent to recover the body and found that the prefect had been decapitated, his limbs severed from his body and his torso "frightfully mutilated." Homer Hulbert, the editor, added, "We cannot assert that the Russians mutilated the body but there is no doubt that they killed the prefect."

Sometimes the traveler's hair was examined. If the hair was soft and fine, there was a good possibility that the person was actually Korean, but, if the hair was thick and coarse, the person was probably Japanese or a Japanese sympathizer. Japanese usually kept their hair short ― in the style of the West ― and many believed that hair grew thicker and coarser with each cut; a large majority of Koreans kept their hair in the traditional manner.

At the beginning of the war, when the Russians occupied the Wiju area, they disarmed the Korean army stationed there and encouraged their soldiers to leave as soon as possible as their short hair might cause them to be mistaken for Japanese spies. Those who did not leave fast enough were eventually accused of being spies ― what happened to them is unclear.

The final and most crucial test was the feet. Koreans wore sandals that were held in place by a strap that ran over the top of the foot but Japanese sandals had a thick cord that ran between the big toe and the rest of the toes. If there was a wide space between the toes or calluses ― the traveler probably wore Japanese sandals and hence was a Japanese spy.

When either side discovered a spy, he was often dealt with quickly and permanently. Generally, he was hanged or shot on the spot, but there were a few cases where the Japanese showed mercy and merely beat the suspected spy. This brutal mercy was generally an exception and not the rule.

A postcard of a fallen Japanese officer during the Russo-Japanese War / Robert Neff Collection

Sometimes Koreans were used to help elicit aid from Westerners ― including the missionaries. The Western community was divided. Many of the missionaries sided with the Japanese in hopes Korea would become more Westernized and developed. They viewed Russia as barbaric and socially backward ― drunken heathens. But the Russians had their supporters in Seoul ― even amongst diplomats and Korean advisers.

An Italian working in the Korean Imperial Customs in Busan wrote in his (reputed) autobiography, that while he was on leave in Japan, just prior to the Tsushima Naval Battle, he was approached by a Russian spy. A Korean working for the Russians and disguised as a Japanese curio dealer went to the customs agent's hotel and attempted to recruit him. He first tried to use their friendship and then offered a large bribe and the promise of better employment if the Italian would disclose the Japanese fleet's location. The Italian refused and had the Korean thrown out.

Some of the diplomats in Seoul were convinced the Russo-Japanese War was due to the incompetence of the Russian representative to Korea, Aleksandr Ivanovich Pavlov. Perhaps too much of Pavlov's attention was captivated by his young wife and the need to protect her from the attention of other members of the diplomatic community.

In a report to the State Department, Horace N. Allen, the American minister to Korea, wrote:

"I find that I am not alone among my colleagues in thinking that had Russia continued to be represented by a man as Mr. C. Waeber, who was Russian representative here from 1885 to 1897, the present war might have been averted."

Who was C. Waeber? We will examine him in the next article.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.