New-York tribune., 1910-02-16
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
HOW A coREAN FEELS ABOUT IT.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: The writer of this little note, one of
the Corean readers Of your valuable paper,
beg to inform you that we are Thoroughly
surprised to read in your to-day's issue an
article under the topic OF "Corean Con-
spiracies." We often find articles of SINH
lar nature in American yellow" journals,
appearing as general correspondence. but
we never expected TO find one in your edi-
torial column. We fail to appreciate the
injustice done to the Coreans, whom you
have terribly misunderstood and cruelty mis-
represented.
Referring to the anti-Japanese outbreaks
in Corea. you said: 1T serves merely
as reminder that the nature OF many
Coreans IS essentially, if not incorrigioly.
savage" To employ the mildest language
possible, this is positively a wrong judg-
ment, or at least a very i'll expressed state
ment. This is a most wild remark ever
made on Coreans in any civilized news
paper we ever found.
You say the Core;ns 'furiously resent
every attempt at the introduction of hu-
name civilization" If you care TO kno"
what kind Of civilization your Japanese
civiizers are introducing into Corea take
liberty to advise you to consult HUBERT
Passing of Corea" and Mckenzie
'"rragedy of Corea," the former autnor be-
ing an American and the latter an Eng
lsh. You will find In them some pictures
of Japanese soldiers shooting at poor
wretched Coreans as human targets. Ah
sorts of dreadful tortures are freely innict-
ed upon the flesh and bone of the CoreanS'
who find no Justice to appeal to.
In this golden age of liberty and equality
Coreans do not know even the name of free
speech and free press Thousands OF pow
erty.stricken, coolie class japanese are
focking into that peninsular Kingdom ddy
after day. freely spreading themselves dii
over the land and turning the helpless
Coreans out Of their homes and occupa-
tions Do you call these humane CIVIL
zation"? How would you like to nave tills
kind of civilization imposed upon your
country by the force Of Japanese army
and navy?
What? .9rhe savage murders of Prince
1+o and Mr. vi we're characteristic samples
oF their work. executed with the thorough
yess and disregard of consequences which
are so often to be observed in the East
DO YOU mean to say that all the people IN
the Fast are murderous because there are
sonoe murder cases In the East? Ii you
give any consideration to the tact thaL
Corean nation is treacherously murdered
hy the hands of her hostile neighbor, or III
other words. the national life of Corean
Is forcibly taken by Japanese, the pioooy
crimes committed by the desperate. fanatic
Coreans upon the lives of their nationai
enemies may not appear quite as sudhs0
IN: you as the murders of the American
l l i'''>'oi''0 - Y'' sYNGMAN RHEE.
Princeton, y J., Feb. II, 1910
-FOUR correspondent betrays singular
mtsapprehension of what We assumed TO
he the obvious meaning of our words
When we said that .'the nature of many
Coreans is essentially If not incorrigfbly
savage" we certainly did not say and did
not mean that the nature OF all or them
or Of most of them is savage. If some
one should say that the nature OF many
Americans was savage, we should not
gard that as an indictment or this whoie
nation. or as "the most wild remark
sver made" Again, in saying that the
two murders in question were "charac-
.o-,stio sar,nles executed with
the thoroughness and disregard OF con-
senuences which are SO often to be o.
served in the East we certainly dld
not iupute rnurderous practices to ali
Or,entaIs. but merely recalled the fact
that those Orientals who do commit muir
der generally do so with a fatalsuc dis
regard OF their personal safety such as
we do not often see in western crlTnl-
Std