뉴스레터

Officers of the Palace Guard Regiment
of Foot

In 1907, the fate of the Korean Empire was like that of a candle in the wind, as the Imperial Japanese authorities, having concluded the Eulsa Treaty in 1905 and established the Residency-General in Korea after that, forced King Gojong to abdicate the throne for dispatching special envoys to the Hague, and sign the New Korea-Japan Agreement witch seven clauses that provided for giving up Korea's national sovereignty, such as legislative power, the power to appoint officials, and administrative power, to the Japanese Residency-General almost entirely.

As a follow-up to the New Korea-Japan Agreement concluded by force on July 24, 1907, an order to disband the army of the Korean Empire was issued. At 7 AM on August 1, the Korean Minister of War Lee Byungmu summoned the Commander of the Palace Guard Regiment Yang Seong-hwan and the regimental commanders and battalion commanders serving under him to the official residence of the Japanese Army Commander Hasakawa and announced the plan to disband the Korean army. The order to conduct a disbandment ceremony in the Army Training Center at 10 A.M. was issued at once.

This news was so outrageous and devastating that Major Park Seung-hwan, the Commander of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Place Guard Regiment of Foot at that time, lamented bitterly when he heard it and ended up taking his own life with his pistol. His suicide note found in his jacket expresses the sorrow and indignation he felt at that time.

"As a soldier who failed to defend his country,
And as a subject who failed to do his duty of faithful service,
I deserve to die ten thousand times over."
(軍不能守國 臣不能盡忠 萬死無惜)

At 8 AM, the news of his death prompted the men of his battalion to rise up in resistance; they broke into the armory and stole ammunition and weapons. Soon they were joined by the soldiers of the nearby 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment. A total of 700 Korean troops were engaged in firefights with the Japanese troops in the Seosomun and Sungnyemun areas of Seoul. But the resistance troops were not only outnumbered but also armed with insufficient ammunition and weapons. A majority of them were killed, or wounded and taken prisoner. after about two hours of the battles.

Stone sign of the site of the origin
of the 1907 Armed Uprising

Even though their battles on that day were not won, the soldiers of the Korean army were scattered all over the country once it was disbanded, joined the Righteous Army, and contributed to greatly enhancing its strength and improving its tactics in its armed struggle against Japan. What did homeland really mean to them who were determined to fight to death for his country even though they knew they stood no chance of winning? A stone sign commemorating the battles of that day is located behind the Korean Chamber of Commerce & Industry in front of Sungnyemun (a.k.a. Namdaemun, or the Great South Gate), Seoul.

Source of Reference: Ministry of Patriots & Veterans Affairs - Park Seung-hwan the Independence Activist of the Month
http://www.mpva.go.kr/narasarang/month_hero_view.asp?id=70&ipp=12&sType=name&sText=%uBC15%uC2B9%uD658
Culture Content Dot Com - The Site of the Origin of the 1907 Armed Uprising
http://www.culturecontent.com/content/contentView.do?
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