The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1894-06-15
INTO A DEATH TRAP.
FATE or A KOREAN WHO DoDGED
AssAsslNs FOR TEN YEARS.

A ConspIrator Lured From His Place Of
Comparative Security by the Promise Of
Money and Political PoweF--A Tras Stnry
as Startling AZ One of GahoTiau's.
Gaboriau never wrote q detective noV-
81 that had In 1t o more startling story
of criminal revenge than has the follow
ing true story from China. The assas.
sination at Shanghai Of Kim Ok Kim,
the Korean eonspirator, was the climax
of 10 years of sleepless pursuit of this
refugee by emissaries of the Korean gov
ernment.
1t seems that Kim, who was the lead
er in the Seoul palace plot of 1884 and
fed to Japan to avoid death, recently
received letters from an old Korean exile
In Shanghai offering to pay him large
SUM that had been duo many years If
he would go to Shanghai About the
same time kim received an invitation
TO 20 to Shanghai from Lord Ii, former
ly Chinese minister TO Japan, specially
instructed by Viceroy Ii Hung Chang.
This step was taken by the yiceroy it
is assumed, owing to the increasing in
huenco Of Russia in Korean affairs, and
he felt the necessity of an alliance with
Japan as a setOtf against the encrOach-
nlents of Russia. For this reason the
| attitude Of China toward Japan in CON
ueetiOn with Korean matters has become
much milder Of late, as may be in
| stanGed in the appointment of a much
more easy going minister IN the place
Of Yuan, the late representative Of
China in Japan With this change Of
policy the support given by China to
! the Ming family has sensibly declined,
aud their influence has in consequence
waued. Lord Ii intended to have held
conference with Kim, with the idea
Of drawing up programme Of progress
i've party politics which it was proposed
to introduce again into Korea.
Kim saw the means Of gaining q
small fortune aud of increasing his pres,
tige with China and Japan. He saw
that the latter might lead to his return
to power So he ignored the danger and
started for Shanghai Whether the as
sassin accompanied him is not known,
but the day after he reached Shanghai
Kim was killed in foreign hotel
The assassin, Kwo Sho, was caugh
aad held f9r trial, lie belongs to Il fam
lily said to have hold an official position
for generations in the peUiusular king
dom. He came to japan ia 1883. al
most resOurceless, and earned Il Difficult
livelihood by various devices. Never
theless in 1890 he managed to procur'
money for trip to Europe, where b
spent three years, often encounterinl
great hardship, but always hndiDl
means to live without recourse TO ehaf
ity. Returning to Japan, he showed
keen interest IN politics Those VIII
know him best declare he " aH adyep
turer who would undertake any Crtnl
for sufficient reward.
On the same day that kim was kille
q plan was devised for numbering Bein
FL 10, another Korean who had solicit
cd funds for school inRokyo for train
ing Korean youth. Opeaf the students
Tai Gen, told his fellows that he bQ
beeu ordered by Ii Itsu shokp, ~
rean, who claimed to have instruction
= from the king at Seoul, to murder 81
ku. The lad hesitated because tho VIZ
tim had been good to him. Ii and til
students were arrested ..
4 After kim hed from Korea Eepeate
. efforts were made by the Korean govern
meat to pRoepre his extFadiqon, but tl
Japanese foreign office refused to epte.
tain any such demand, obviously q
Z posed, as it was, to the practice Of civ
" ltzed nations For o time the Eefngt
was prudent enough Ia avoid amy a
that might shake she Japanese govern
naeut's decision or epdapger his ow
p privilege Of asylum. But as time wel
by he acquired assurance a}ad began, 4
was supposed 10 have begun, fresh d
signs against the pHblic peace Of u
country. The Japanese authorities ha
then to choose between running the ri
OF troublesome complications Wi
Korea, or ordering Kim to Leave Japal
or removing him to some place whe
his uaacbinations would be practical
4 powerless. The FIRST Of these ceurs
y would have been plaiHly pnstatesma,
like, the second would haye inyolyt
kim death, and the third was open
T.. severed objections Nevertheless p
last course was chosen, kim was SO
ID to the BONN islands. Here he lived
- comfortable and pneyeptful life for soI
years
Finally il was decided that the &
2p mate Of the Bopins did not agree WI
Kim, and he went to Tokyo. An y
preston constantly prevailed among Z
Japanese that Kim could never ~
without making some dnal attempt
carry out the programme which fail
SO signally II 1854. II is said that
lis early days he three times dlsslpat
the whole 81 his resources IN gaplbliI
D and that his speculative tendency {
n not disappear, but Gully took y aii1ers
direction in Later years
IN bis own country and ~ China
Tor was always regarded as . factor 0f
tential magnitude u the oriental an
: tor. Tie auxiety 9f bis goyerIiins
about him was shown by repeated
/ tempts 10 get possessiol of his pers'
y. aud even, II is Eqnoreq Ry more ~
N one commission to assassinate hipa
A man of considerable attaanpael
and wide eruditiQp, no possessed 2
she Rift of winning not only eoptiaen
but gympatby. Dpgiag ll1s residence
Japan--where he went by the name
Iwata shukql1q, wose the japanese z
: tune and spoke the Japanese Aangai
auently--he nsde the acquaintance
many Foreigners ew York \ eAeGiEq
iab