Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-06-19
Especial Correspondence.
On, lsO9.-.rhe situation hel


n Korea IS much the same as that
J Of the Philippines at the close OF
our WAR with Spain, 1t is even
worse on account OF the horde OF low
class Japanese who are overrunning the
country, ana ~ ..la.1y cases olt.asinS
the nativcs. Tho average Korean can
not believe that ,Tacan is anxious to &C.
velop this country for his good. and no
considers It u patriotic duty to drive
out the so-ca!tad INVADERS There are
organized pocieties nf insurBc:.ts VINO
have sworn TO kid a:i2 Japanese soldier
or citizen IL they each him FI3a:t from
his fellows Small ba:tdS OF these so
cieties AFRO SOW scattered all over
Korea They l,avo taitca into their
Ranks the diHaffected and r.rscaiiy CT
ncials who have lost their jobs By thc
Japanese taking hold of Tho govern
inent as well as idIofs uad ex-naldierk,
and even tho old bandit elo.nont which
has for generations preycd upon the
country.
In the meantime the Japanese army
is doing all il can to wipe out these
insurgents. Gen. fasega.aa, the conn
mander- in-chief. has something like
10000 men in the field THESE are scat
tered from one end OF Korea to tn"
other. and they shoot or hang the in
surgents on sight For 4 time the Mill
tai.y POLICY was to wire out every VIII
lage which was found to be haiboring
insurgents, and today all who feed or
conceal such men are shot without
mercy Within the past year IL IS est!-
mated that something like 1000 people
have been killed on the charge of being
insurgents. The chronicles OF the in
surrections and the numbers killed and
wounded are published from day to day
IN the Seoul Press, which is the organ
Of the government. and foreigners who
have kept count tell me that the deaths
are running very close TO LOCO per
month. This seems an enormous NUM-
Der, especially as tile authorities say
that the conditions are growing better
and better and that the rebels, with the
exception OF bandits and professional
have almost disappeared.
There is no doubt but that japan must
manage Korea with a strong hand II
She would bring about peace and order
but it is questionable whether her
methods arg. not oversevere.
BIBLES VS.. THE REVOLVER
And still the situation is serious.
There are, perhaps, 15,0O0000 people on
this peninsula, and il the rebellion is
to go on this guerrilla warfare
VIII be continued for years. The Ko-
reans are. to some extent. divided UP
into parties. There are a number of
pro-Japanese who are accepting the sit
uation, cutting off their. topknots and
taking advantage of the new civiliZa-
ton. The rebels consider these men
traitors to their country, and they
shoot them even. more readily than the
japanese themselves At the same time
the pro-Jnranese inform upon
&c
aid the soldiers In hunting them down.
Indeed it Is Important for Korean
now travelling over the country to, show
that he is not in favor of the Japanese
government. IL he wears foreign clothes
or has cut of his hair he is almost sure
to be potted by the rebels. sooner or
later, and he may be shot upon sight
+ A curious phase of this situation is
that the Korean Christians are sup
posed to be neutral or not in favor of
the japanese government. For this rea-
son III a Korean traveller is met by Il
band of insurgents he tries to convince
them tE,lt he belongs to our church.
The rebels make Him prove his faith 4
ana demand that he sing a hymn or
recite the Lords prayer. He is some
times asked to say the Ten Command
rnents as we'll. Indeed. an increased de-
lnand for hymn books and Bibles IN
INOitti' iltisS lpi duS5 ttPi .thN many WIZ
are not Christians buy these to carry
with thcm over the country. They are
better than revolvers and often save the
life of the. owner
: TIE EMP YUNG LEAGUE.
The largest association of these rebels
is known as the Emp Yung league. The
people here pronounce it Weep Yung.
1t means the ever righteous and patrl-
ntc army and its members are sworn
TO kill all Japanese. found alone, upon
sight. 1t was to this league that the
assassins who murdered Durham White
Stevens belonged. and it is said there
are branches OF it in the Hawaiian Is
lands, In the United States and else
where.
The Emp Yungs operate in small
bands. They have no organized forces
and they are merely guerrillas. At first
theN We're largely composed of patriots
who had sworn TO die for their country.