A Study on Yu Kilchun and His Network of Acquaintances (1881–1907)
Journal Title: International Journal of Korean History - Year 2016, Vol 21, Issue 2
Abstract
From the time of his studies in Japan until his return to Korea in 1907, Yu Kilchun’s acquaintances can be divided into three categories: people Yu met during his studies at Keio Gijuku, people Yu met to plan a coup during his exile, and people who participated in Tonga Ch’ŏngnyŏnhoe and Irhan Tongjihoe from 1906.Although his time at Keio Gijuku was not long, the people he met during his studies bonded strongly, and a network of academic contacts was formed through reunions. These connections played a crucial role when Yu was active in the political scene in 1894 during the Kabo Reform period. After Yu left Korea on an exile following Emperor Kojong’s flight to the Russian legation in February 1896, he established a new network of acquaintances. Specifically, his journals from 1901 revealed that Yu was searching for people in Shizuoka, Gifu, and Hokkaido, who would take part in his conspiracy. Since he came to Tokyo after serving his time at the Ogasawara Islands, he worked with Tonga Ch’ŏngnyŏnhoe and Irhan Tongjihoe. Additionally, this paper demonstrated that he had connections with the Tonghak Order, and that it was possible for Yu to express his opinions in the press through O Sech’ang and Yi Inchik, who were residing in Korea. Around the same time, he also traveled around Yamanashi, Nagano, Toyama, and Fukui, and made efforts to facilitate trade between Korea and Japan. Such efforts were feasible thanks to the network of collaborators in Korea.
Authors and Affiliations
Yuichi Masutani
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP26436
- DOI https://doi.org/10.22372/ijkh.2016.08.21.2.13
- Views 287
- Downloads 10
The Portrayal of Korea: A Critical Analysis of Korean History in American Secondary Schools
This paper attempts to review Korean history as depicted in world history textbooks for American secondary schools. Since Korean history presented within these textbooks will have a great influence on how students percei...
Korea and the Koreans in the Russian press of 1904-1905
The importance of Russian-Japanese war of 1904 – 1905 for the actualization of the image of Korea and the Koreans in Russian public thought is hard to overestimate. It was at that time, on the threshold of the fight f...
The Interchanges between Koguryŏ and Sun-Wu and “Under the Fruit Horse
The metallic buckle with a round front and square rear is a kind of belt accessories in the Han and Wei-Jin dynasties. They are not the same absolutely, but have some common features: a round front and square rear; arc p...
Establishing the Rules of Engagement : American Protestant Missionaries, the U.S. Legation, and the Chosŏn State, 1884-1900
This article revisits the issues of extraterritoriality and unequal treaties during the “open ports” period. These two concepts typically conjure images of coercion and of separation between the Chosŏn government and for...
The Church as a Public Space : Resources, Practices, and Communicative Culture in Korea
In the last decades of the nineteenth century, Korean society was unexpectedly thrown into waves of change through a widespread globalizing process. Some view this as marking the ultimate inroad of capitalism into pre...