Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1904-03-24
KILLING OF A REGICIDE.
One of the Assassins of the Late
Queen of COrea Was in Turn
Murdered.

Corea, who fled the country and has
been living in Japan, has fallen vic
tim to her avengers. Two men were
sent to kill him, and they have fulfilled
their mission, says the New York Sun.
The matter has been kept quiet be-
cause Japan cannot surrender the muir
derers or condemn and execute them
without giving grave offense to one OF
the political parties of Corea. The facts,
however, were published in that coun-
try recently.
After Japan's triumph over China, the
dominating influence in Corea was Jap
anese. The king and queen soon found
introduced by Japan had stripped them
Of most of their power. The strong
minded queen was beside herself with
rage, and, rightly or wrongly, she was
accused of plotting to assassinate the
new cabinet installed under japanese in
t1uence.
Native friends of the Japanese decided
to kill her, and one night party Of
armed men burst into the palace and
stabbed her to death. None of them
was caught, and all got safely out of the
country. Prominent among them was
man named U-Pomsun, who fled to
Japan.
Most Coreans were tired of the jap
anese regime, whose reforms were lit
tie too rapid for their conservatism.
They were Mortified, also, at the murder
of the queen, and when it became Ger
tain that U-Pom-sun was refugee In
Japan, there were loud demands that he
be sent home for punishment; but Jap
an refused to surrender him, asserting
that his crime was political and he was
not extraditable.
A band of Coreans took vow that they
would never rest until U-Pom-sun had
paid for the tragic death of the queen
with his life. But the man whom they
sent to Japan to kill the regicide could
not find him.
He was living in retirement and un-
der an alias. 1t was not till October last
that his out-of-the-way place of conceal
ment was discovered.
One day two men came to the hamlet
where U-Pom-s sun made his home. They
did not deny that they were Coreans:
They were travelling through Japan
studying the country and havinga good
lime.
Their intended victim had no suspi-
cion as to their read character. He had
never seen them before. They drank
and played cards with him, and the three
became quite friendly. Strangely
enough, they lived in the same house
with him for three or four days, and
he was not at all disturbed by their pres
ence.
On the evening of October rs the three
men were drinking together, when one
of them pretended to take offense at
some remark made by U-Pom-sun and
suddenly whipped out knife and stabbed
him. At nearly the same instant the
other man struck the victim on the head
with a piece of iron, fracturing the
skull
His death was almost instantaneous.
The name of the man who stabbed him
was Ko Yung-geun; the other assailant
was No Wun-mynug.
The men were at once arrested as
common murderers. Each of them drew
from his pocket paper declaring that
they had been deputed to 60 to Japan to
avenge the death of the late queen.
At last accounts the murderers were
still in Jail. It is not believed in COrea
that Japan will inflict severer punish
ment for their crime.