The herald., 1897-07-16
HE WEARS. CHAIN MAIL
YET LIVES IN DREAD OF SUDDEN
.4a DEATH g
The Crown Prince of Corea Followed
About the United States by
Hired Assassins-

| NEW YORK, July 15.-The Journa
heir apparent to the crown of Corea, Il
said to be in danger of losing his life
This young king arrived in America sew
eral months ago, ostensibly to complete
his education in an American college;
in reality he came to avoid hired assas-
sins who have followed him. Despite
the fact that the United States offers to
the Prince refuge far more secure than
his native country he is constantly dodg-
ing men who are hired by the Corean
progressive party, which is against the
present dynasty. to kill him. The Prince
is believed to be in Washington. The
members of his suite go armed to the
teeth. The secret service officers and the
police of San Francisco and Washington
and possibly New York, although it has
been denied at headquarters, have been
instructed to look out for his safety. The
Prince is the son of the King by a former
union. The Queen was assassinated, the
mother of the young man has been killed
and others interested in the royal fam
lily of Corea have gone to their last home
on account of this youth. A japanese
secret service officer at present in New
| York, who is perfectly familiar with the
affairs of Prince Euiewha, tells the fol-
| lowing story of the troubles of the young
man:
1.-THE young Prince" said this officer,
''is general favorite wherever he goes
and while in this city at the Waldorf
he made many friends. But he has a
marked popularity; he wears the look
of a haunted man. Since his birth in
| 1855, assassins have tried to take his
| life. The King, believing he would be
safer in the United States than in Corea,
sent him here, but he has been followed
| by two men, who have sworn to take his
| life, and if he goes back to Corea alive
| it will be because Corean assassins have
| lost their cunning.
THESE would-be assassins are believ-
| ed to be in San Francisco al present
| Both are Coreans, although they pass
! themselves as japanese. One of them is
a round-faced and heavily built man,
with kindly expression of countenance.
He is such a fluent Japanese scholar as
even to deceive the native Japanese, and
his mission here is not suspected save
by the detectives who have been inform
| ed of it. He was fellow conSpirator
of the unfortunate Jim o. Kyujn, who
was lured to Shanghai shortly before
the outbreak of the war between China
and Japan and there murdered by an
emissary of the Corean court named
Honga, who is now Colonel in the i'm
perial bodyguard and Westminster OF
Home Affairs. He has a double object
to revenge the death of his friend as
well as to put the Prince out of the way.
The other would-be assassin was at one
time a Cabinet Minister of the Corean
court. The Prince is in mortal dread
| of the Minister. He knows he is fol-
lowed, but he does not know who is fol-
lowing him. He never leaves off his coat
of mail, which is made of the very finest
steel, except while bathing. 1t will MOI
withstand the force of a bullet, but there
is no knife that can pierce it and it is
knife that the Prince is afraid Of The
cause of this desire to end the career of
the Prince lies in the idea of the pro-
gressve party in Corea that the King
and his son are too far behind the times
Undoubtedly the King will be assassi-
mated before long, and the design is to
have the young man out of the way when
| this comes to pass"