Eulmi Incident

The Eulmi Incident

File:Purported Photograph of Empress Myeong Seong (Not Verified).jpg

It is generally believed that no photographs of Empress Myeong Seong exist though there are some which are alleged to be of her. One widely circulated photograph is that of a seated woman (the above photograph). Although the woman is alleged to be Empress Myeong Seong, many people doubt the claim and believe the woman is merely a court lady.

The Eulmi Incident (을미사변; 乙未事變) is the term used for the assassination of Queen Min which occurred in the early hours of October 8, 1895 at Kyongbok Palace. It is accepted by both the Korean and Japanese governments that the incident involved the Japanese consul to Korea, Miura Gorō but some propose that the Japanese government was behind the assassination. After it had been verified that Queen Min was killed, the Japanese burned her body. It is also believed that Queen Min was raped before her murder.

Involved parties

Scholars generally agree that Miura Goro, the Japanese minister to Korea, commissioned assassins to murder the Empress in her residence in Gyeongbokgung on October 8, 1895. The Japanese government had viewed her as an obstacle. Japanese efforts to remove her from power failed due to Gojong's devotion to her.

The Japanese sent ambassadors to Korea's royal court in an unsuccessful attempt to have her removed. As a result, the Japanese minister to Korea, Miura Goro, faced with losing Korea to other foreign powers, hired Japanese men to invade the Korean imperial residence and assassinate the empress in 1895. They killed three women suspected of being Queen Min. After verifying the identity of the Queenn, they burned her body.

Recent documents discovered (2005) show that Japanese assassins actually dragged the Queen outdoors and publicly hacked to death with a sword. Sabatin, a Russian officer, and other foreign envoys witnessed the murder of Queen Min offering heavy protest. After the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, Miura received appointment to a seat at the "Sumitsuin," the advisory board to the Emperor.

56 people were charged with the assassination of Queen Min, but they were all acquitted by a Hiroshima court for lack of evidence. They included:

• Miura Gorō
• Kunitomo Shigeaki (國友 重章)
• Ieiri Kakitsu (家入 嘉吉)
• Kikuchi Kenjō (菊池 謙讓)

In May 2005, 84-year old Tatsumi Kawano (川野 龍巳), the grandson of Kunitomo Shigeaki, paid his respects to Empress Myeongseong at her tomb in Namyangju, Gyeonggi, South Korea. He apologized to Empress Myeongseong's tomb for his grandfather.

An eye-witness account

In 2005, professor Kim Rekho (김려춘; 金麗春) of the Russian Academy of Sciences came across a written account of the incident by a Russian civilian named Aleksey Seredin-Sabatin (Алексей Середин-Cабатин) in the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (Архив внешней политики Российской империи; AVPRI). Seredin-Sabatin was in the service of the Korean government, working under the American general William McEntyre Dye who was also under contract to the Korean government. In April, Kim made a request to the Myongji University (명지대학교; 明知大學校) Library LG Collection to make the document public. On May 11, 2005 the document was made public.

Almost five years prior to the document's release in South Korea, a translated copy was already in circulation in the United States, having been released by the Center for Korean Research of Columbia University on October 6, 1995 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Eulmi Incident.

In the account, Seredin-Sabatin recorded: "The courtyard where the queen's wing was located was filled with Japanese, perhaps as many as 20 or 25 men. They were dressed in peculiar gowns and were armed with sabres, some of which were openly visible. ... While some Japanese were rummaging around in every corner of the palace and in the various annexes, others burst into the queen's wing and threw themselves upon the women they found there. ... I ... continued to observe the Japanese turning things inside out in the queen's wing. Two Japanese grabbed one of the court ladies, pulled her out of the house, and ran down the stairs dragging her along behind them. ... Moreover one of the Japanese repeatedly asked me in English, "Where is the queen? Point the queen out to us!" ... While passing by the main Throne Hall, I noticed that it was surrounded shoulder to shoulder by a wall of Japanese soldiers and officers, and Korean mandarins, but what was happening there was unknown to me."

Photographs and illustrations

File:KBS-Myeongseong.png

Screen capture of KBS News showing the purported genuine photograph of Queen Min (Empress Myeongseong).

Japanese illustration of King Gojong and Queen Min receiving Inoue Kaoru.

The Ei-joh report ^{[citation needed]}, an official documentation of the assassination of the Empress, states that the assassins were given official photograph portraits of the Empress to find her^{[citation needed]}, in case she was hiding in non-Empress attire. Documents also note that she was in an official royal family photograph. A royal family photograph does exist, but it was taken after her death, consisting of Gojong, Sunjong, and the wife of Sunjong. It is believed that the Japanese^{[citation needed]} destroyed all photographs of her after her death. There is a rumor that a photograph of the Empress exists in the Japanese archives but the Japanese government has denied its existence ^{[citation needed]}.

Another photograph surfaces

There was a report by KBS News in 2003 that a photograph allegedly of the Empress had been disclosed to the public. The photograph was supposedly purchased for a large sum by the grandfather of Min Su-gyeong which was to be passed down as a family treasure. In the photo, the woman is accompanied by a retinue at her rear. Some experts have stated that the woman was clearly of high-rank and her clothing appears to be that which is only worn by the royal family. However, her outfit lacked the embroideries that decorates the apparel of the empress.

Japanese Illustration

On January 13, 2005, history professor Lee Tae-jin (이태진; 李泰鎭) of Seoul National University unveiled an illustration from an old Japanese magazine he had found at an antique bookstore in Tokyo. The 84th edition of the Japanese magazine Fūzokugahō (風俗畫報) published on January 25, 1895 has a Japanese illustration of King Gojong and Queen Min receiving Inoue Kaoru, the Japanese charge d'affaires. The illustration is marked December 24, 1894 and signed by the artist Ishizuka (石塚 ) with a legend "The [Korean] King and Queen, moved by our honest advice, realize the need for resolute reform for the first time." Lee said that the depiction of the clothes and background are very detailed and suggests that it was drawn at the scene as it happened. Both the King and Inoue are looking at the Queen as though the conversation is taking place between the Queen and Inoue with the King listening.

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