Christian Missionaries and Korean Politics, 1895–1910

 The Foreign Destruction of Korean Independence; cropped. Carole Cameron Shaw. Seoul National University Press, 2007.04.25.

Carole Cameron Shaw, Author of The Foreign Destruction of Korean Independence (Seoul: SNUP, 2007)

Thursday, May 28, 2015
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

10383 Bunche Hall
UCLA

From 1883 to 1905, Korea maintained full diplomatic relations with the Unites States through five American presidents. Protestant missionaries were welcomed into the Chosŏn Kingdom by 1886 with full privileges of establishing schools, hospitals, printing press facilities and the right to purchase private property. Missionary endeavors thrived during this period although Japan made her first bid to seize Korea after the Sino-Japanese War in 1895. Queen Min of Korea, an ardent opponent of Japanese aggression, was brutally murdered in October 1895 by Japanese hands. A group of missionaries in Seoul put themselves in harm’s way and sat with the King for days,as he found himself in a dangerously unstable political arena. Their motive was to lend symbolic support for the Korean crown and they were successful, although reprimanded by the American Ambassador Sill.American President Cleveland used his good offices to lend continued support for Korean sovereignty and the Japanese had to take their army home.

The political landscape changed in Washington with the unexpected coming of young and militant Theodore Roosevelt to the White House. By 1904,the Japanese had built a powerful navy with foreign ships and western banks in America, London and Berlin financed the Japanese attack on the Russian Navy in Feb. 1904. With the tacit backing of Theodore Roosevelt,the Japanese seized Korean sovereignty in 1905, through a ruse and forced Emperor Kojong’s abdication in July of 1907. The majority of western missionaries withdrew from political involvement during this period and remained silent on the Japanese takeover of Korea, even as they continued to promote the growth of the Christian church. Although they would begin to change their minds by 1912, as Japanese rule increased in brutality, the damage was done to the cause of an independent and sovereign Korea and a historical blackout remained on this brief period for almost a 100 years.This paper will explore why the missionaries reversed their support for the Korean Crown in 1904 and by what rationale were these decisions made.

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Cost : Free and open to the public