뉴스레터

Change the Regime from Heungseon Daewongun to Gojong through The United States-Korea War of 1871

Confucianism, which was the political ideology of Joseon, was a world view of the traditional era. It was an old doctrine to understand and interpret the international trade system of the Industrial Revolution era. Confucianism was far from the spirit of the times, but was good at transformation. The logic of the conservative force evolved into Wijeongcheoksa Movement*. They strengthened their presence by creating a fake enemy. The United States-Korea War of 1871 is the case that people who made up a fake enemy called 'Western savage' and made all kinds of efforts for policy of seclusion were on the test board. (*The movement to defend the order of Neo-Confucianism and to reject all religions and ideas except Neo-Confucianism)

The impact of the United States-Korea War of 1871 on the Joseon government was enormous. This was because it triggered the generation change of the ruling class of Joseon. S. Williams(Minister from the United States to Beijing) reported to the Hamilton Fish(Secretary of State): "With the change of political situation in Joseon that occurred at the end of 1873, Gojong became the center of a new ruling power." S. Williams predicted Gojong would start an open-door policy favoring foreigners and Christianity. His prospects were based on the message of the Roman Christian bishop, who was the one who had jurisdiction over the parishes of Manchuria and the border region of Korea. The main point of his message is that the United States-Korea War of 1871 has become a decisive opportunity for the decline of seclusionist(existing forces) in the political transition of Joseon.

What is the correlation between the United States-Korea War of 1871 and decline of seclusionists? At Fort McKee, the bombing of the US military resulted in catastrophic casualties. The lessons that this battle left in the Joseon political world were clear. The weapons and tactics of the Western powers are superior. The extreme conservatives that resisted them with Wijeongcheoksa as a cause were just helpless. In order for the privileged forces armed with Confucian ideology to maintain the regime, it had to prove that the policy of seclusion was the source of national safety and wealth. But the enormous military power of the US military has revealed the reality of Wijeongcheoksa. So, the generational change of the ruling class of the Joseon government was inevitable. That was why Williams reported that there was no bloodshed in the process of Gojong directly ruling the country. Therefore, the new government centered on Gojong had to lead the open-door policy in a more rational and practical way.

Another argument explaining the justification for the emergence of the new government is that there was a controversy over whether Joseon could be regarded as a winner in the United States-Korea War of 1871. This meant that the right to interpret the issue of privileged forces was being challenged. According to Williams' report, General Sherman Incident, the US Navy's navigation for exploration purposes, and the United States-Korea War of 1871 were considered to be the great victory that Daewongun saved Joseon from foreign invasions. Daewongun and its group set up Cheokhwabi(anti-foreign Stele) in urban areas across the country shortly after Shinmiyangyo; that is the representative example.

It was not the use of Cheokhwabi to distort facts by making up the legitimacy of policies that reject foreign cultures and ideas. Daewongun and its group divided the public opinion into two groups: the cheocksa group(斥邪-anti-evil) and the juhwa group(主和-pacifism). And they put the frame of quislingism on the latter to control thoughts. But the chucksarists argued that we did not make a covenant by succumbing to the gunboat diplomacy of the United States, so we saved Joseon from the conquest of the United States. Their false sophistication and thought control could not cover the truth. This is why Williams reported that 'the more sensitive part of the rulers' among the Joseon ruling class began to look at this problem from another angle. Gojong, who started to rule the country directly, did not regard the West as a 'fake enemy' made by the cheoksa group. Rather, the West had to be the subject of inquiry and trade for enhancing the health and military strength of joseon.

Why America became the first diplomatic partner with Korea among many powers

The geopolitics of the Korean peninsula is divided into before and after the era of King Gojong. The geopolitics of the Korean peninsula is divided into before and after the era of King Gojong. However, the traffic revolution triggered by the Industrial Revolution placed the geopolitics of the Korean peninsula at the center of the world stage. The Western powers were powered by the Industrial Revolution; they dispatched warships and laid railroads wherever they could increase their national interests. So the geopolitics of the Korean Peninsula has changed. The Korean Peninsula is located in the middle of Europe and the Americas because the straight line between Seoul and Paris(about 8,900km) is similar to that between Seoul and San Francisco(about 9,000km).

The Korean Peninsula was in the center of the Americas and Europe, but the United States had more access to Korea than Europe. The United States has geographical characteristics that are in contact with both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. The United States took advantage of the advantage in the Pacific, as it had to compete fiercely with the European powers in the Atlantic. That's why U.S. presidents have put the future of the United States on the Pacific. This is why the US challenge to secure hegemony in the Pacific Ocean has been launched with the opening of the transcontinental railroad(1869) connecting New York and San Francisco.

Transcontinental railroad wanted access to overseas markets. The railroad incorporated the divided United States after the Civil War to form a single domestic market, also driving post-war revivals and calling for a new market. The reason why the U.S. paid attention to Korea, a late industrial country, is clear. It was because Korea was not opened to the Western powers and did not fall into the exclusive market of a specific country. Therefore, the prerequisite for Korea and the United States to sign a trade treaty was to establish Korea's international status as an independent country. This was the basis for Korea to be a sovereign country that does not allow monopoly and privilege to certain countries, and to open up as a market where the principle of equal opportunity is worked.

Robert Wilson Shufeldt, Admiral of US Navy and Russia

R.W.Shufeldt is a US Navy that has been granted full authority over diplomatic relations between Korea and the United States. He was a military attaché who had been tasked with establishing diplomatic relations with the countries with no diplomatic relations. Shufeldt was the last admiral to perform such a mission in the US Navy. As we can see from the history of the Roman Empire and the British Empire, he had the belief that the prosperity of the state depends on the expansion of overseas trade. As a vanguard of American overseas expansion in the 19th century, Shufeldt pioneered a new market with M.C.Perry.

Schpelt tried twice for diplomatic relations between Korea and the U.S(1880, 1882). In his first attempt, he realized that China was the country that could truly help establish diplomatic relations between Korea and the U.S., not Japan. The Qing government recognized Joseon as the left shoulder of Qing. And Li Hongzhang of the Qing Dynasty supported diplomatic relations between the U.S. and South Korea. The reason was the war crisis between Russia and Qing caused by Yili in the Xinjiang region(1880). According to the contents of 『Joseon chaengnyak(朝鮮策略)』, Hwang Jun-heon proposed to the Gojong government that ‘for the purpose of defending Russia, diplomatic relations should be established with the United States’. Therefore, the diplomatic relations between Korea and the US were made in conjunction with the process of Russia appearing in the Maritime Province.

Schpelt was on his way home after receiving Li Hongzhang's promise of support for diplomatic relations between Korea and the U.S. He wrote the report, ‘Corea and American interests in the East, 1880.10.13.’. The point was that the biggest benefit of diplomatic relations between the two countries to Korea is security. Schpelt hoped that he would be given the opportunity to communicate with Gojong government. He was convinced that Joseon would understand the necessity of diplomatic relations between Korea and the United States as a means of protecting against the invasion of neighboring powers as well as expanding trade with the United States. Because Schpelt thought that Joseon was likely to become a 'Battle Ground' in the future wars of China, Russia and Japan.

Korea-U.S. Diplomatic Relations and Chinese Exclusion Act(1882)

In the process of the second negotiation for diplomatic relations between the United States and the Qing Dynasty, the United States and the Qing Dynasty had a unique Negotiation Style. This was because the United States and the Qing Dynasty agreed on the necessity of diplomatic relations between Korea and the United States for the security of Korea, but delayed the process of documenting it. The issue was whether to insert a clause in Article 1 of the Treaty that states that Joseon is a tributary state of China. This was a requirement that Li Hongzhang, who was entrusted with the full power of negotiations by the Gojong government, was necessarily going to carry out. But R.W.Shufeldt opposed the insertion of the above clause, arguing that it hinders South Korea and the United States from entering into a treaty in equal relations. In the end, the United States frustrated the Qing's intentions. Thus, 'Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation, United States–Korea Treaty of 1882' became the first international basis for Joseon to be recognized as an independent country, not a feudal vassal.

Schpelt tried to achieve diplomatic relations between Korea and the United States, which excluded the clause that Joseon is a tributary state of China. The card he pulled out to pressure the Qing Dynasty was 'Chinese Exclusion Act'. This was the first bill in the history of the United States Congress, with workers in certain countries broadly restricting immigration to the United States. This law was abolished in 1943 when China became an ally of the United States during World War II. However, this was a legal basis for banning Chinese immigration to the United States for about 80 years until 1965. The president who signed the bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on April 17, 1882, is Chester A. Arthur. He was the one who welcomed Bobingsa from Korea in 1883. (*diplomatic missions sent to the West for the first time in Joseon)

While the diplomatic negotiations between Schpelt and Li Hongzhang were held in Tianjin, a bill was passed in Washington to reject Chinese workers. Schpelt analyzed the causes of anti-American sentiment in Chinese bureaucrats as follows. "They were well aware that the introduction of American liberalism in the Qing Dynasty ended the bureaucracy that had been booming under autocracy as well as the heaven-born era." Therefore, Schpelt established diplomatic relations between Korea and the U.S. using Chinese Exclusion Act as a means of pressure on Li Hongzhang. Shortly after the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed, this was why Schpelt departed for Jemulpo to sign the Treaty(5.8.).