Corcan's Opinion of Russian and Jap
By Archer Hntlcr Hulbert, Formerly Editor of the Corean Independent
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A CDHKAS NOI'.UOMAN'S SADDLE IIORSH AND'ATfENDANTi
T1!R CORF.AN ARMY. WllinT TS MAPR
AND IS SAiD TO HIDE WITH JAl'AN.
(Copyright. 1!0I, l.y A. U. Hulbert.)
i (lit I'KX'IT RIF.S Corea huN been
I ovciruu by Hit; contending armies
I of J:min and China: nml whilo
(he national dies in L'ori'.i Is
I'lire wlilt.-, only (lie chililrcli
Wi arlnK of.lorf, ufirorilliiK to Atni'iican
I .inliirilH, It hIiiiuIiI tx' nioui tiliiK tilac k.
Nor have the pnrmlrn o: futea lived only
i. Km eiint ami went mUIw; the Manehu
iqueroiH, who i'rind iutl mid eaxt to
co.niuer China hi d Kinsia, overran I'urea
uni Pturved one of lis old-tlnie klniis out
Of hlB fortllled eapllal, Nnm-liou.
oreii ts onre tialu In the Irmk of rou
te. iiliiiK imnlifi; once aualn It" rlc-e hclds
are to he ravaged, nH ltl. di'Milid and
llH M'ople drlv.n to the MtterfKt of ex
treuiitliH. I.lttle do the ivintrndl-iB iirniles
care what the Core, ins think; hut the world
naturally akH, Whom do the Cure'.ins fear,
bin) what do they desire?
In the tlrxt plaee. lh iK-c.i.le, an u people,
don't know itny more ubout the burning
qumllon of far enxtern politiiH limn thd
dray hore In New York know whether
Tammany hall, or their political opK
lientH, rulo (he elty. Ho far uh their prac
tical knowledge of the. Kltuation goH, they
are without coiimcIouhiickh; und, once Kiven
their choice between HummIuii rulo und
Japancxe domination lUid total annihilation,
the nation, iin it nation, would choiwe an
tilhllution Hlmply iH-cause they did not know
what It meant; wherean, they hnve luid
everul tiiHtrH nf Japanese rule, und 0:10
good htronK done of ItuHtiian domination,
ami ure nure (hut they never want either
of thiHH iiKuln.
Jupunexe Bovercltnty In Corea has been
ptuuiiodlcuUly exerclHi! throuflKut (lie
Centuries of the Chrlxdan fra; for many
years a long, bloody rontlict went on be
tween Japan and China, and Corea was
the mutual buttlegrouud; jut us in eurly
American history, Kentucky was the bat
tle around between the IrlipioUi Indian na
tions of the north und the Cherokee und
Creeks of the south. And, us Kentucky
was known as the "llloody Ground," even
before tho white man's day, so Corea has
lieen the "ISloody Ground" of Asia for five
centuries.
China claimed Corea. and hu been, for
the greater part of the time, its nominal
niuxler. From China Corea has received
Its literature und oillil.il hmKuiiKe, most
of its rustonm, lis court and otllclal mcth
(hIs, much of Its an hllccture. its niilitary
Ptundards und a tlious.ind odd customs
which will hound it tor us many ears to
eonie. Yet the Corea lis are not in any
licnse Chinese, any more than (hey ire
Japanese. The difference between the
Corea ilk and lis two iicIkI 'i.'rn is -m i;re:it
that it may In' staled with certainty that
the people came orlKu illy from the Malay
peninsula, hy way of the islands u'oiitc
I'hiuese coast, until lin y 11 1 . n J the penin
sula on which they are today.
This is to he rcnicmhcrt d us a point In
the t'lin', that the Corcans lainiwt and do
not favor one of these nations hi'cause of
It 11 y rut ial counet tion ; there is iiom-. Nor
Is there any racial connection or sympathy
iMlwetn the Coreans a'ul the peoples (,i tlie
north, the Manchtis, with whom H issl in
Statists have Ion;; altlrini d that .Itusia will
assimllati'. Iiecaiise I lie ancient .Manch'.ii -lans
under (IheiiRts Khan o'..mivd l'.uii
eun liussin. The Manchus ate distinct
from even Ihe C'lnli'S. proM-r; they are a
astorul people und seak an aKKlutinativo
lanKuaue (containliiK declensions and eo'i
JilKutionsi which far removes them, mi far
as basic trails can di so, from Ihe 1v.1l
Chinese. The Corea ns arc not of Mam liu
stock and have no i'lniiattun with it. In
fuel, (IhenKis Khan, who broke down the
grtit wail and stretched his conquests to
111 mil imi iiilii IUSJ..IHMI !" mw.m 1 11 us iiiisinii ii k , i,i i n 1 1 it, aaniJi mmm, im" i -- - T" , M
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RtTl'ItUfKNTATl VK CORKAN NOItraM F.H. WHO II ATT JAPAN BI5CA11SB FTIB
1NTKKKEKED WITH THB1H OKAf T MliTHODB.
the Atlantic, never subdued central and
southern Corea,
Thus, the Corean people are as Strang,
concurred Mstorically, us is their position
politically. They have fought Chinese.
Japanese rind Manehu ns far back as their
hoary records go. And now, p::ssinfr down
Into modern il iy?, there has bei n no as
similation und no change in the depth of
their hatred und dhtriiot of the people who
Mi.Touiul them. Japan, ulvus Jealous of
China's claim as suzerain over Corel,
Jumped at the chance in lVA to free Corel.
Internal trouhle in Con a nave her an op
portunity to throw hi-r troops Into that
lan l. i recipltathis war with Chiu;;. Corea
did not resent Chines- suzerainty, for it
was only nominal, und hdie did not ask or
want Japan to free leT from China. And
this is a reinarkahh' fact (hit cmnot be
fergotteu today throughout tin- Japan
China war. in which Japan freed Corea
f r n China the sympathy of the entire
Hiiti.-'i populace of the far im was with
the Clrucuo and not with the Japanese.
In that war J.iium's . rmits swept up the
Coicu) peninsula to Ihe Yahl und drove
the weak Chlni se hoitli s Imck to the l.lao
tung penln. ula; theie. en ihe tip of the
Tiger's Tail, they captured I'ort Arthur,
the Gibraltar of Ihe Yellow Sea and not th
em China. The cry then was "On to
IVkli'gV At this point Hnssla and Ger
many step el in und h ide Japan pause.
Not only that; they demanded that Japan
.ive up every foot of soil that her armies
hnd omiucrcd Manchuria und Corea. Th
reason was that the possession of theas
regions would ever be a menace to the
Integrity or China.
Jupuu ueceded und received an In
demnity ntij the Island of Formosa and
the "fredoiii" of Coreu. The Corcans ha'.ad
their liberator:'--from a yoke they never
really felt- with a perfect hatre.l. Rvery
Ihirig Japan died honestly but shcrt
vlghtedly to do for Corel made (he
Corcans hate her worse. It instituted a
refoim cabinet ubout the ("or e in c.npeior;
these ami arious other well meant efT irts
ut reformation were not well received by
the wholly toriupl band of phiaderlug
Corean statesmen -or official hl iodsucV ers,
to rIu1 lliem a more luting name--ani
what happened'.' The Kmpress Min was
roon susp-cted of neutralizing all the
Japuniso e-irpet-haggiiiK plan of recon
struction in Corea; a band of Infit'latcd
Japanese iicspi adoes broke Into tho
palace on the night of October j. Ik91, and
inuri'eieU the ffeiisive euipri-ss. Tho net
reii i. ed .; ' s"ii it i otnienmation olllci.iliy
and ru'ill. I in Japan a-- in the oiUilde
world, hut from thai morning Jjpine.o
Ir.i'uenee va. i.il !n Covi-.i. and the cm
1 1 n r 'f Corel Hi d from lis pil.ii.. o
(!n !t'.!slaT lega'i)U.
ily Itb in.:ldiei!s policy of flattery Rus
tdud l.aJ. at t'i Hilly day, m.n'.e giM.d
fi lends with the Corea ns in northern
Corea. In coming uc-russ Asia It had had
a good deal of practice In ingi atL.tiug
ilseif with new pioplea; f ,r Instance,
It published Korans at its own expensa
for clr.-ulalion amons the Mohunimedins
el coutiui Asia at the same tlioe thai it
UP OF TIIH SCIM OF THE COUNTRT
was running to the ground and imprison
ing the followers of the prophet in Hu
ropoan Kuvhi; and one of its tricks with,
tile Chinese was to cast coins for gen
eral circulation with the Image of th'J
Chinese empd'er on one side and that
of the czar on the other. With tho
Coreiiis it Instituted trade ngulation.l
that were of liutlnct advantage to hotii
parlies. Its polity with Japan has been
of the same nature, and you will llnrt tho
mikado has received every liecoratiun mill
honor-save the high -st only which Ihe
czar of Russia can give.
Willi (heir emperor at the Russian lcga
(lon the Coreans did not know what to
make of the situation; anil slowly but
surely Kuesia began to make its possession
of his majesty fell in the peninsula. Mac
Jjouvy III own, commissioner of customs,
was soon lifter asked to step out by the
Corean government, and a Russian wus in
Ftallid in his place. A Russian was ap
pointed military supervisor of the Corean
army. A Russo-Coreun bunk wus eslan
lished, and Ihe funds of (he government
were moved (hither from the native batik.
In a short spice of time ufter the doors of
(he Russian legation closed upon the em
peror of Corea. Rusfia had practical control
cf the land.
This wus proven by the sudden activity
of the Independence club, uji organlzulion
of Corean patriots who hud bandtd to
gether for the unity and Integrity of Corea.
Ity backing u paper operated by Americans
tho (.'cl ean lndep ndent, which published
boih Knglish and nulive editions tri-weekly,
and by various public meetings, an in
tense sentiment against the pro-Russian
trend of affairs was aroused. This culmi
nated in the murder of the Corean interpre
ter to the Russian legation, who was be
lieved to be an important cog in the Rus
sian wheel.
At lust, in the. middle of March. 1W8, the
Russian minister submitted to the Corean
emperor a paper asking whether the Co
rean government wished Russia to recede
from the position it had taken. To the sur
prise of the world the emperor gave an af
firmative answer. Then "the mouse began
to gnaw the rope and the rope begun to
hung the butcher"; the Ruwian commis
sioner of customs graciously yielded up his
position to Mael.eavy Brown; the Russo
Corean bank closed its doors, the funds
going bnck to the Corean bank, and the
Russian officer in charge of the Corean
army went away.
As a result of the Corean people's ex
perience in those days, Russia had been
feared by. them as much as Japan had been
hated; and such has been the case ever
since.
The residents of Seoul know fully the
feeling of the Coreans to both Jaanese
and Russians. I huve seen Cossacks go
galloping down the wide avenues of Heoul
and burst suddenly upon a crowd of Co
reans without an Instant's warning, anil
never look behind to see what Injuries they
heedlessly caused. A rlo( In the Japanese
section of Seoul Is of common occurrence,
"though (he Japanese are very law-abiding;
one Corean, half full of aul, ran find all the
M?htlng ho wants, and find It quick. In tho
Japanese quarter. The Islanders have
flocked In large numbers to Seoul and
southern Corea. much to the delight of for
eigners, who find (hem obliging and effi
cient. Japan is building up a large trade
with Corea, but the Jealousy is deep-rooted
and It will take generations to wipe it out.
Hatred of Japan Is one nf the great ob
stacles to Corean prosperity; arid as the
tramp of armies shake the bare hills of
Corea, snd the roar of the guns of battle
bhlps echo along her desolate coasts, the
haired of Coreans for both the contestants
will lnci-fise with every ounce of pewder
that is spent
