Gapsin Coup
In Korea, the Prime Minister, Kim Hong-jip (, ) persuaded Seo to join the cabinet as the "Oemu hyeoppan" (외무협판, the modern equivalent to Minister of Foreign Affairs). However, Seo rejected the proposal, urging grassroots enlightenment to be a more urgent matter than his entry into the national cabinet. Seo viewed the absence of support from the populous as the primary cause of the Gapsin Coup failure. He also judged that the success of the Gabo reform (1894) was reliant solely on the support from the public. In order to achieve this support, it was most imperative to have a progressive newspaper as a vehicle of mass education.