The times., 1900-12-31
KOREA MAY INITIATE CHINA.
Some OminOus Indications of nm An
ti-Foreign Movement.

of the hated Christian religion and of al
those who favor enlightenment and prog
ress. But the Korean is not able to imi
tate the Chinese in duplicity. and it die
not take more than forty-eight hours tC
place the responsibility for the murder
Gus edict squarely upon the shoulders o
the Government The first intimation thai
trouble was brewing came from certain oi
the native Christians in the country II
appears from their evidence that an order
was secretly sent from the capital to sew
en- or eight points In the country where
| there are considerable communities of ma
tive Christians.
These orders we're addressed to the
heads of the Confucian schools or guar
dians of Confucian shrines. and they ex-
| horted all good Confucianists to congre-
gate at their respective Confueian centres
on the night of the 18th of the tenth
moon (Which corresponds to December ~
and proceed to extirpate the believers in
the hated religion and all others who de-
! sired or advocated the making of reforms
| in Korea. These dispatches could be
opened, according to law, only at the Con-
| fucian temples and in presence of two
I
but the witnesses in several instances
were either not bold enough or not foolish
enough to keep the secret, and forthwith
| informed the prominent native Christians,
| and these in turn informed the foreigners,
both in Seoul and in the country.
! The statement seemed incredible, but
when active measures were taken by the
foreign representatives at the capital they
were met by such contradictory and IL
ha ~ Af 10
! Government that it transpired that it
| was not mere canard, but that the Gov
ernment of Korea. or at least men hold
Ing the highest places in the gift OF the
Government, had actually used their au
thority to attempt to cause general
| massacre, not only of native Christians
in the country. but Of foreigners as well.
1t is not certain yet whether the opera
tion of the order was to have included
Seoul. but II 1t so appears after thorough
investigation it will prove very serious
affair
1t seems to be precise repetition OF
the inception of the China trouble, ex-
cepting that all the Confucianists were in
vited to take part, instead OF a single So
ciety, like the Boxers. Korea has been an
imitator of China for two thousand years
or more but It was extremely improbable
that she would carry her infatuation so
far as to attempt a thing in which China
had already failed, and in which the
chances of success were far less than they
were in China. But Korean. obtuseness
has no predieable limits. In 1855 she
boasted that although the French and
British troops could enter Pekin and burn
the famous Summer Palace" they could
not overcome the bold tiger hunters OF
Korea, and now it would seem that even
81, of INT he
has formed with these outside peoples
and the lesson of the Japan China war
have not been able to teach her that such
an attempt was not only foredoomed TO
failure, but was sure to entangle her in
difficulties from which she could scarcely
expect to emerge unscathed. II must De
Immediately apparent that 1t is impossible
for the great mass of the people of any
country to keep such a secret for fort
night without its becoming generally
known by natives and foreigners alike.
Telegraphic communication can be secured
along all the great thoroughfares of the
country, and the authorities must have
been worse ths,, blind not to see that the
plot must inevitably leak out.
In fact, 1t was not twenty-four hours af-
ter the communication had been read in
two of the provincial capitals before it
was known TO leading native Christians.
and before another twenty-sour hours the
thing was known al all the legations in
Seoul There is no such thing as political
secret in such a country. Every attempt
that has been made by Koreans Ia the last
twenty years TO force the Government to
reform has been wrecked on this one rock
the inability to keep a secret. So with
every scheme of the retrogressive party
the opposite side has always received
timely warning.
II seems impossible that Seoul should
have been included in this murderous plot,
and yet its success would have depended
upon making a clean sweep and driving
every foreign resident out Of the country.
It is we'll to ask what prospect there would
have been OF successful resistance in the
capital. Here again the childishness OF the
scheme Is uncovered, for there are more
than FIVE hundred trained Japanese troops
in the city. The Japanese quarter could
furnish another. 500 fighters, while the
European and American residents could
have furnished fifty or sixty more. These
would have been abundantly sufficient 10
deal with any body of rioters In the city.
If the Government troops sided with the
rioters the affair would be a more Sc
rious one, but it is extremely improbable
that the people of Seoul could be reused
to such suicidal course. and It is doubly
doubtful whether Korean soldiers would
follow their officers into any such enter
prise The whole thing would be an ex-
cellent Joke IL it were not for the ap-
parent sincerity of these advocates OF
wholesale murder. The utter inability of
the Korean army TO face even a good
handful of Japanese troops makes one
marvel at the faulty of these arch plot
ters. There are many people in Korea
who are fairly well informed, and who |
realize that such an attempt, even II only |
fairly started, would mean instant iuin |
to the integrity of the Koren Government, |
and even in the interior, where enlight |
ened ideas percolate only slowly. there |
are men intelligent enough to inform the !
foreigners Immediately, and so prevent |
the ruin OF their country. 1t is a sad !
pass TO which any government comes |
when It las TO rely for its very existence |
upon those who t-aitorously disclose its |
suicidal projects.
1t is said with some show of reason that |
this project has been formed in retalia- |
tion for a seditious expedition in the |
South a few weeks ago which was led |
by self-styled Christian reformers. They |
seem to have started out from Fusan
like Mohamet from Medina. to conquer
the land for Christianity. Their flag bore
the red cross on white field and they !
carried Bibles in one hand and the sword
in the other After rioting through sew
eral districts they met a band OF Korean
regulars and were summarily disposed
Of Ii is reported that ninety-six of them
were killed. We may believe that the /
Government looked upon this freebooting
band as the vanguard Of an army that
would sweep the country and overthrow
the ancient ConfuciRn cult and force re-
forms upon the rulers. This is a gauge
of the density of the ignorance that pre-