뉴스레터

On August 29 and 30, for two days, an international conference commemorating the 100^th year of the Joseon minister Lee Beomjin's patriotic death was held at St. Petersburg State University in Russia. The conference was hosted by the NAHF and St. Petersburg State University and sponsored by the Korea Foundation. Lee Beomjin (1852~1911) was the first minister of the Greater Korean Empire to Russia, and the conference examined his life under the theme of "Russia and Korea: Looking for the Root of the Diplomatic Relations of the Two Countries."

On August 28, the day before the conference, conference participants visited his grave in the Northern Cemetery of Moscow, accompanied by his great-great grandson, Mr. Lee Won-gap (President of Lee Beomjin and Lee Wijong Foundation), and the great-great granddaughter of Lee Wijong, Ms. Yulia Piskulova. The Korean Consulate in St. Petersburg and the Korea Foundation prepared a small but official memorial service for Lee Beomjin, adding more meaning to our visit to his grave.

Lee Beomjin and Korea-Russia Relations during the Greater Korean Empire Period

This year's conference can be summarized into Lee Beomjin and Korea-Russia relations during the Greater Korean Empire Period. The first day focused on "Minister Lee Beomjin's Diplomatic Activities and Korea-Russia Relations" and the second day on "Korea-Russia Relations during the late 19^th to the early 20^th centuries." Before the main program started, the opening ceremony was held at Petrovsky Hall of the main building of St. Petersburg State University, officiated by Prof. Kurbanov, Director of the Korean Language and Culture Center of the university. Congratulatory addresses were given by Prof. Zelenev, Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies; Mr. Lee Yeonsu, Consul General of South Korea in St. Petersburg; Dr. Lim Chulwoo, Director of the Korea Foundation's Moscow Office; Dr. Kim Daeyoung, Director of the NAHF's Public Affairs and Education; and Mr. Lee Wongap, President of Lee Beomjin Foundation. The ceremony was closed with a dance performance "Flower Breeze [꽃바람]", an interpretive dance set created by Prof. Jeong Yangok.

During the Visit to Lee Beomjin's Grave in
the Northern Cemetery of Moscow

The morning session of the first day's conference started with Prof. Samoylov's introduction, and presentations were followed in the order of Dr. Bella Pak (Senior Research fellow of Oriental Studies at Russian Academy of Sciences), the daughter of the late Dr. Boris Dmitrievich Pak; Dr. Lee Minwon (Director of Donga History Institute), and Prof. Huh Donghyun (Kyunghee University). The afternoon session focused on the theme of the day, "Lee Beomjin and His Diplomatic Activities"; Dr. Lee Minwon moderated the session as Prof. Min Kyunghyun (Korea University), myself (Kim Wonsoo, Professor at Seoul National University of Education), Prof. Ban Byeongryul (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies) gave presentations. The general discussion on Lee Beomjin and Korea-Russia relations was followed and Dr. Kurbanov moderated the discussion.

The second day began its morning session on the theme of "Korea-Russia relations during the late 19^th to the early 20^th centuries." The session was moderated by Dr. Bella Pak and presentations were given by Prof. Michale Finch (Keimyung University), Dr. Choi Deokkyoo (NAHF), Dr. Samsonov (National Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences), and Prof. Samoylov. The research fellow of the NAHF, Dr. Choi Deokkyoo moderated the afternoon session, which concentrated on the theme of "The Relations History and Records on the Korea-Russia Relations during the Late 19th to the Early 20th Centuries." Dr. Bella Pak and Dr. Trotsevich (Research fellow of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts at the Russian Academy of Sciences) gave presentations. With the discussion session on "Research Tasks and Prospects of the Korea-Russia Relations during the Late 19th to the Early 20th Centuries," which was moderated by Dr. Kurbanov, the conference reached its finale.

An Occasion to Re-examine Gojong, Lee Beomjin, and Korea-Russia Relations

This fast-paced joint conference was particularly meaningful in that it reminded us of necessity to re-construct and re-examine the life of Lee Beomjin and the diplomatic relations between Korea and Russia during the Greater Korean Empire period. Lee Beomjin, a close aide of Emperor Gojong during the Greater Korean Empire period, lived in St. Petersburg for 11 years in the early 20^th century. He is regarded as the person who actually started the modern diplomatic relationship between Korea and Russia. According to the presentations at the conference, Gojong is believed to have taken Russia as a reformation model and changed Joseon to the Greater Korean Empire. He is also believed to have attempted to protect the country by allying with Russia. Through the series of events happened during that time, from Agwan Pacheon (Royal refuge at the Russian legation) to Russo-Japanese War, the Treaty of Portsmouth, the Hague Peace Conferences, Ahn Junggeun's assassination of Ito Hirobumi, and later to independence war against Japanese aggression, Gojong tried to have Russia involved in each matter to preserve the independence of the Korean Empire and maintain peace in the Korean peninsula using diplomatic means and foreign media outlets. In the middle of all these efforts was Minister Lee Beomjin. These historical facts suggest consistency and contiguity of the Korean Empire's diplomacy to Russia. This finding goes beyond the previous historical discourses, and its historical significance is worth to be re-examined.

The new facts and the reconstruction of known facts presented at the conference cast this finding in a clearer light. In particular, the desperate will Lee Beomjin left in English to Emperor Gojong, to Lee Kijong, and to Russian Emperor Nikolai II and the description about Lee Beomjin in The Shinhan Minbo [新韓民報], a newspaper published by the Korean National Association in San Francisco, US , make us rethink the previous, negative image of Lee Beomjin. In addition, the presenters' reconstruction of historical facts reveals us how the foreign policies that Russia pursued in the Far East region during the late 19^th to the early 20^th centuries, the Greater Korean Empire's northward diplomacy, and Lee Beomjin family's life were intricately interwoven together.

However, criticisms are still directed at the lack of understanding on the Korea-Russia relations history, descriptions too centered on Gojong and Lee Beomjin, and Agwan Pacheon (Royal refuge at the Russian legation). It is necessary to make a new evaluation and reconstruction of the facts, and this conference has allowed us to test this possibility. The light of hope was reignited at the Russian National History Archive which we visited just before leaving for Korea. The Archive, completed after 5 years of large-scale construction and 9 months and 1750 times of moving, was worth to be proud of. After the official visiting ceremony, we were introduced to documents related to the Greater Korean Empire for about 10 minutes, which grabbed the attention of this author, who co-authored 100 Years of Korea-Russia Relations History [한 • 러관계 100 년사] in 1984. I wished to dive in this vast sea of information but had to leave with regret. As stated in the chapter of Xian Wen [憲問] of The Lunyu [論語, The Analects of Confucius ], a new chapter of the Korea-Russia relations history will open to "the one who knows the impossibility of the matter and yet will be doing it [知其不可而爲之者]."