Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-22
ABOUT THE KOREAN.
Characteristics of Race Now Brought
Prominently Into View.

Correspondence London Standard.
OF the three races Chinese, Japanese and
Korean. the last is undoubtedly the finest
physically. The Korean is tall, thick-set
and in many cases good looking and al
though his surroundings are filthy and
noisome in the extreme, in his person he is
not uncleanly 1t may be that this is due
to the national habit of dressing in white,
which necessitates continual washing and
scrubbing and to see him in the street you
would not think it possible that he could
tolerate such filthy and insanitay surround
ings The Korean, even If he can afford it,
knows better than to build himself a decent
and habitable dwelling, for let the unfortu-
nate tradesman show the least sign of
wealth. and the governor Of his province,
or the ever-ready tax collector, will pounce
down upon him and take the profits of
years in the form of a loan. which will
never be repaid. The result of this system
of wholesale pillage and eXtortion is to
crush all life and enterprise out Of the peo-
pie and to cause the wealthy and the poor
man to live side by side in the same man
ner. in the same red clay nut, In the same
muddy street and using the same insanitary
well, into which, as rule the refuse of
the town finds its way; all this simply
through fear of the eXtortion Of the central
government at Seul. Inc Korean loves
peace and hates war..Ufie was not always
so peacefully inclined, but centuries of OPP
preston have rendered him unfit for strife,
although in the past he has fought bravely
enough, QeIeatinS botH eBt JdpaHeSe dHu
Chinese on frequent occasions. There is a
good reason to believe that If he were given
a sound military and physical training he
would become efficient. and quite brave
enough to take his place alongside Of the
troops of other nations. At present he Is
in the same position az the Sudanese were
after years of Dervish oppression. 1t Is not
ito be supposed that every Korean is 'indif-
ferent to the fate Of his country. Among
the middle classes there has been for some
time a growing discomfort and keen de-
comprising the merchant and small traders,
are brought more IN contact with outside
influences. 1t is they who feel most severe
ly the eyer-increasing japanese competition,
which is driving them from their former
occupat lions and bringing fresh poverty into
their already Impoverished homes. This
feeling of repulsion toward the Japanese is
spreading rapidly all over Korea, but it is
among the Christian converts that the signs
of reaction are most plainly to be seen.
In no other quarter of the globe has mission
ary endeayor met with greater success or
fallen upon more fruitful soil than among
the Koreans. There are said to be no
fewer than 10000 converts to the Methodist
Church in the north of Korea, and this
humber Is increasing 90 fast that a mission
ary at Ping-yang told me they were unable
to give to all such a complete education as
they would have desired-purely on account
of the large numbers At Ping-yang. the
center of the northern mission, there are
over LOCO converts. A church has been
built in the shape of capital l., capable of
accommodating 1900 worshipers the men
being placed in one wing and the women in
the other, entirely separated and invisible
20 one another.