Henry Hulbert and Robert Oliver have traced the story of Korea from its beginnings until the recent past, between the two of them. This is what I gleaned from reading their works. We are now in the latter part of the 19th century.
The Japanese have made a power play and are slowly taking over the peninsula. Some Korean rule is in place, and a new cabinet that is formed begins to rescind some of the Japanese "reforms", while the old cabinet runs for its life.
The Korean people are increasingly against the intrusion. So the Japanese suggest that another king be put on the throne.
It is during this period that a political group known as the "Independence Club" is formed. What author Hulbert does not say is that he is the one who formed it!
Henry Hulbert's father is a Congregational Church minister. His mother is a daughter of missionaries to India. When King Sojong asks for volunteers to teach English, he steps up. For five years he is actually in the palace, a representative of Christ himself. Hulbert is not actually a missionary, but is dedicated to education for Koreans. He teaches, and writes about Korea in various settings. From 1905 (when this history was published) until his death in 1949, he is a one-man crusade trying to avert Korea's fall and make Korea known to the world.
The Independence Club that he forms promotes a constitutional monarchy and, of course, independence. The King is with them . For two years, the club exercises a dominant political force in Korea. Their theme, Korea for the Koreans. Great democratic ideas are promoted: The worth and power of the individual,inalienable rights.
Hulbert works with Philip Jaisohn, So Chae-Pil, a Korean patriot involved in a coup attempt. He flees to Japan, but his family's property is confiscated on the charge of treason, under the Confucian belief that families are responsible for whatever one or more of its members may do.
That has a familiar ring to it. Has Kim Jong-il of North Korea actually retained some Confucian ways after all?
After Jaisohn leaves for America, having failed, other more peaceable members of the Club emerge, being a little more careful to be pro Korea, without trying so much to westernize.
Now add to the mix one Yi Seungman, or as we know him in the West, Syngman Rhee, a man fairly low on the social scale. In1895 he is 20, living in Seoul, and hears of and joins the Independence Club. He also heads up a debating organization, and starts to be known as a passionate speaker for the cause of independence. He starts a daily newspaper, Korea's first.
Eventually the club loses favor, and 17 members are arrested. But Rhee leads a protest against it, and they are released. He is granted an audience with the King who says he will institute reforms.
Rhee becomes a member of the privy council. At the first meeting he wants pardon for all dissenters in Japan. At that point the council is abandoned, Independence Club members are arrested. Rhee himself is tortured, and prays for death. In the midst of it all he receives the peace of God from preaching he has heard. Christ has entered Korea.
He is slipped a revolver and told to flee, which he does. But then he is caught and given life imprisonment. Later the story of Christ is shared with Him more fully, he accepts it, and is baptized. While in jail he reads to others from the New Testament. As editorials are smuggled out, a school is started in the prison. The man is irrepressible!
It is the final decade of 19th century Korea, as we pick up the story as found, in part, in authors Hulbert and Oliver. With pressures to modernize the ancient nation, the King on Korea's throne, Kojong, initiates some reforms. There are to be no...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Syngman Rhee refused to sign. It was July 27, 1953, and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower went to Korea in hopes of ending this bloody and long-standing "conflict." Both sides of the Korean peninsula had tried everything imaginable to be the...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Welcome back to the relating of Korean history, using Henry Hulbert and Robert Oliver as a guide. It is late 19th century... In 1885 Protestant missionaries arrive. They are medical doctors, Presbyterians by and large. Evangelists and educators...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Thanks to Mr. Hulbert and Mr. Oliver, whose books we follow, for our ongoing study of Korean history. We are now in the latter part of the 19th century, when the United States is taking more and more a part in Korea's shaping. King Kojong sees his...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
In this installment of Korean history we are in the latter third of the 19th century. As before, we follow Christian historian Henry Hulbert now combined with Robert Oliver. In 1871 the United States tries to open trade with Korea once more. The...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
1860's Korea. The United States has sunk into a Civil War. In France, these are the days of Napoleon. In Korea, one series of wars and dictator-types and other crises that has not ended to this very day. We are following the history of Mr. Hulbert...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Let's talk today about the middle third of the 19th century, as we inch closer to some times that will be recognizable in this abbreviated account of the story of Korea, following Hulbert and Oliver. 1834 sees another untimely death of a Korean...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
How does the Confucian-based family fare in Kim Jong-il's version of Korea? Can we believe that his ripping apart of the social structure can leave a blank slate upon which Christ will be allowed to write?The following is from Seoul USA's 30 Day...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
As promised, here is the sequel to my last blog. How often God has used women in His program is beyond counting. I trust that no one who has ever read my literature on the subject of "women in ministry" has ever come away thinking anything else....[ abbreviated | read entire ]
