The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1894-05-28
INTO A DEATH TRAP.
FATEe or A KOREAN WHO OoDoEp
A1sA5GfNS FOR TEN YEARS.

Gaboriaa never wrote detective nov
el thrt h@d in it o more startling story
OF criminal revenge than has the follow
ingtruo story from China The assas-
FiAation at Shanghai Of Kim Ok Kim,
tho Korean conspirator, was the climax
OF 10 years of sleppless pursuit of this
refugee ~ elniesarics Of tho Korean gov
eminent.
II seems that Kim, who was the lead
CT III tho Seoul palace plot of 1884 and
fed to Japan to avoid death, recently
rccciyod lcttczs from al old Korean exile
in Shanghai Offering to pay him large
sum that had been due many years if
he would 30 to Shanghai. About the
salno tiIno Kim received an invitation
10 go to Shanghai from Lord Iii, former
~ Chinese minister to Japan, specially
instructed by Viccroy Lii Hune Chang.
This step was taken by the viceroy, it
is assumed, owing to the increasing in
Huonco Of Russia il Korean affairs, and
he telt tho necessity Of en- alliance with
japan rs y setoif against the encroach-
r.cEta Of Russia. For this reason the
attitude Of China toward Japan in con-
noction with Korean matters has become
much n.iltler Of late, as may DO in
r!ailcotl IL the appointment Of much
more easy going minister in tho place
or Yuan, tho lase representative Of
China III japan. With this change Of
rciicy tho support given by China to
Tie. Ming family has sonsibly declined,
AID their influence has in consequence
wsncl. Lord 81 intardcd to have held
conference with kin, with the idea
OF drawing M programme of progress
iyo patty politics which IL was proposed
TO introduce again into Korea.
Kim saw the means of gaining a
small fortune and OF increasing his pres
tigo with China and Japan. He saw
that tho latter might lead to bis return
to power SO he ignored the danger and
started for Shanghai. Whether the as
sassin accompanied him is not known,
but tho day after he reached Shanghai
Kim was killed in a foreign hotel.
The assassin, Kwo Sho, was caught
and held for trial. lie belongs to fam
lily said to have held an official position
for generations in the peninsular king
dom. Ho came to Japan in 1888, al
Most rcsourcolcss, and earned difficult
livelihood by various devices. Never
theless III 1890 he managed to procure
money for trip to Europe, where he
spent three years, often encountering
great hardship but always finding
means to live without recourse to char
ity Returning to Japan, he showed q
keen interest i'll politics. Those who
know him best declare he is an adven-
tuer who would undertake any crime
for sufficient reward
On tho same day that Kim was killed
plan was devised for numbering Boku
Ei 10, alether Korean who had solicit
ed funds for school in Tokyo for train
ing Korean youth. One OF the students,
Tai Gen, told his fellows that he had
been ordered by Lii Itsu SholKu, a Ko-
rem, who claimed to havo instructions
from the king at Seoul, to murder b.
ku. The lad hesitated because the VIC
tim had been good to him. Ii and the
students were arrested.
After Kim fed from Korea repeated
efforts were made by the Korean govern
mont to procure his extradition, but the
Japanese foreign office refused to enter
tain any such demand obviously op-
posed, rs it was, to the practice Of civil
lied nations. For time the refugee
WAS prudent enough to avoid any act
that might shake the Japanese govern
mcnt's decision or endanger his own
privilege OF asylum. But as time went
by he acquired assurance and began, or
was supposed to have begun, fresh de-
signs against the public peace of the
country, The Japanese authorities had
then to choose between running the risk
Of troublesome complications with
Korea, or ordering Kim to leave Japan,
or removing him to some place where
his Vaccinations would be practically
powerless. The first of these courses
would have been plainly unstatesman-
like, the second would have involved
Kim's death, and the third was open to
several objections. Nevertheless the
last course was chosen. Kim was sent
80 the BONN islands Here he lived a
comfortable and uneventful life for some
years.
Finally it was decided that the eli
mate of the Bonins did not agree with
Kim, and he went to Tokyo. An i'm
preston constantly prevailed among the
Japanese that Kim could never rest
without making some final attempt to
carry out the programme which failed
80 signally in 1884. 1t is said that in
his early days he three times dissipated
the whole of his resources in gambling,
and that his speculative tendency did
not disappear, but only took different
direction i'll later years.
In his own country and in China he
was always regarded as factor Of po-
tential magnitude in the oriental quss-
son. The anxiety Of his government
about him was shown by repeated at
tcmpts to got possession Of his person,
aud oven, it is rumored, by more than
one commission to assassinate him.
A man of considerable attachments
ana wide esudition, he possessed also
the gift Of winning not only confidence,
bat sympathy During his residence in
Japan--where he went by the name of
Iwata ShuhalIu, wore the Japanese cos
tune and spoke the Japanese language
ficeltly-he made tho acquaintance Of
many foreigners. New York Telegram
Sudden Reformation.
Chummy--So there has been no haz-
Ing IN Your college this year?