By Kim Ji-myung
If things had been normal, ex-president Park Geun-hye would have visited Washington D.C. in the spring of 2013 to open the Korean Legation Museum on Logan Circle on her first presidential visit to America.
The building was re-purchased by Korea in 2012, after more than a century when it was unjustly seized from Koreans. But this initial plan was not realized, as renovation work took much longer.
Yet, at last, on May 22, the Korean national flag again will be officially hoisted atop the three story Victorian-style brick Korean Legation building ― now a museum ― for the first time in 113 years.
The building symbolizes both the desire of Koreans to establish strong and positive diplomatic relations with the United States since the end of the 19th century.
The Korean Legation in Washington D.C. and the American Legation in Seoul were the first and only diplomatic buildings to be purchased overseas at that time. In May 1883, the American Legation was established in Jeong-dong, Seoul, and Lucius H. Foote was dispatched as the first U.S. Minister to Korea.
The establishment of the American Legation in Seoul was based on the Korea-U.S. Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation of 1882, which was the first treaty that Korea concluded with a Western country.
The first sentence of Article 1 states, "There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between the President of the United States and the King of Joseon and the citizens and subjects of their respective governments."
This is followed by the infamous phrase, "If other powers deal unjustly or oppressively with either government, the other will exert their good offices, on being informed of the case, to bring about an amicable arrangement, thus showing their friendly feelings."
The phrase "exert their good offices," would later go on to implant deep mistrust about America in the minds of the Koreans.
Less than a decade later, King Gojong, the last monarch of the waning Joseon Kingdom, sent funds to purchase the Korean Legation building out of his private royal bursary. His hope was to set up a center for Korea's diplomacy at the center of the global diplomatic community in the U.S. capital.
When Korea opened the Legation in Washington D.C., China strongly demanded that Korea not meet foreign diplomats nor make any agreements on its own. Korean diplomats defied such pressures, networking with the foreign community.
When young Korean activist Syngman Rhee, who would later go on to become South Korea's first president, rushed to deliver a clandestine letter by King Gojong to ask for help to save the country, President Roosevelt refused to accept the letter advising Rhee to submit the document via an official channel ― through the Korean Legation. Yet, as the legation was already staffed by many pro-Japan Korean officials, Rhee's efforts were fruitless.
Some think the United States betrayed this bi-lateral commitment to "exert their good offices" by taking action when they were informed of Japan's unjust and oppressive attack on Korea.
Others claim there is no specific and concrete expression of commitment on America's part, and Koreans had overly anticipated such a commitment out of a wishful interpretation.
The Korean Legation Museum is designed to "re-present" the old legation as it was when it was the property of the Korean Empire. And so, each space within the building was named exactly as it had been called between 1889-1905.
The rules of game among the big players seem to have not changed much. However, theoretically at least each country, regardless of their size or national capacity, enjoys an equal vote at the United Nations. And South Korea is one of the top dozen nations by many standards. A new player joining in the game now voicing loud is North Korea. We still don't know much about this young man sitting in Pyongyang.
History has taught us that national security requires making smart treaties with a realistic execution as well as the guts to take timely actions. May the re-opening of the Korean Legation Museum go down in history as a momentum of re-strengthened relations between South Korea and the U.S.
Kim Ji-myung (Heritagekorea21@gmail.com) is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage).
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The building was re-purchased by Korea in 2012, after more than a century when it was unjustly seized from Koreans. But this initial plan was not realized, as renovation work took much longer.
Yet, at last, on May 22, the Korean national flag again will be officially hoisted atop the three story Victorian-style brick Korean Legation building ― now a museum ― for the first time in 113 years.
The building symbolizes both the desire of Koreans to establish strong and positive diplomatic relations with the United States since the end of the 19th century.
The Korean Legation in Washington D.C. and the American Legation in Seoul were the first and only diplomatic buildings to be purchased overseas at that time. In May 1883, the American Legation was established in Jeong-dong, Seoul, and Lucius H. Foote was dispatched as the first U.S. Minister to Korea.
The establishment of the American Legation in Seoul was based on the Korea-U.S. Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation of 1882, which was the first treaty that Korea concluded with a Western country.
The first sentence of Article 1 states, "There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between the President of the United States and the King of Joseon and the citizens and subjects of their respective governments."
This is followed by the infamous phrase, "If other powers deal unjustly or oppressively with either government, the other will exert their good offices, on being informed of the case, to bring about an amicable arrangement, thus showing their friendly feelings."
The phrase "exert their good offices," would later go on to implant deep mistrust about America in the minds of the Koreans.
Less than a decade later, King Gojong, the last monarch of the waning Joseon Kingdom, sent funds to purchase the Korean Legation building out of his private royal bursary. His hope was to set up a center for Korea's diplomacy at the center of the global diplomatic community in the U.S. capital.
When Korea opened the Legation in Washington D.C., China strongly demanded that Korea not meet foreign diplomats nor make any agreements on its own. Korean diplomats defied such pressures, networking with the foreign community.
When young Korean activist Syngman Rhee, who would later go on to become South Korea's first president, rushed to deliver a clandestine letter by King Gojong to ask for help to save the country, President Roosevelt refused to accept the letter advising Rhee to submit the document via an official channel ― through the Korean Legation. Yet, as the legation was already staffed by many pro-Japan Korean officials, Rhee's efforts were fruitless.
Some think the United States betrayed this bi-lateral commitment to "exert their good offices" by taking action when they were informed of Japan's unjust and oppressive attack on Korea.
Others claim there is no specific and concrete expression of commitment on America's part, and Koreans had overly anticipated such a commitment out of a wishful interpretation.
The Korean Legation Museum is designed to "re-present" the old legation as it was when it was the property of the Korean Empire. And so, each space within the building was named exactly as it had been called between 1889-1905.
The rules of game among the big players seem to have not changed much. However, theoretically at least each country, regardless of their size or national capacity, enjoys an equal vote at the United Nations. And South Korea is one of the top dozen nations by many standards. A new player joining in the game now voicing loud is North Korea. We still don't know much about this young man sitting in Pyongyang.
History has taught us that national security requires making smart treaties with a realistic execution as well as the guts to take timely actions. May the re-opening of the Korean Legation Museum go down in history as a momentum of re-strengthened relations between South Korea and the U.S.
Kim Ji-myung (Heritagekorea21@gmail.com) is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage).
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