What Became of Korea's Royal Family?

Dear Korean,

I am British and although this hasn't been on the news much you may have heard we are about to celebrate a Royal Wedding. Although I suppose that you will probably find the whole thing ridiculous (It isn't, the kitsch provides excellent presents for American Friends and Relatives) I was wondering whether you could explain the current status of the Korean Monarchy (ie, what has happened to them since they were overthrown after Korea's independence from Japan) and the general attitude towards them.

Her Majesty's Subject.

It has been more than a week since the royal wedding, but the Korean still has not stopped crying...

NOT! Are you kidding? As a proud American, American media's dotage upon the royal wedding appalled the Korean. The Korean means no offense to Her Majesty's Subject, and he wishes the newly married couple well as he wishes for every newlyweds. But regardless, didn't Americans fight a war or something to get away from the British royal family and its shindigs? George Washington must have been spinning in his grave last weekend.

You are committing treason, OK! Magazine.

(Source)

But this is an interesting point, so let's dive in. As most people know, Imperial Japan annexed Korean Empire in 1910. In 1945, Korea re-emerged as two sovereign states, neither of which had a king. Then what happened with Korea's royal family? The fate that befell on his family was perhaps not as severe as those Koreans died in forced labor or were mobilized into forced prostitution, but it is a tremendously sad and tragic reflection of the decline and fall of Korea in the early 20th century. Let's travel back four generations.

First Generation: Emperor Gwangmu

We go back four generations because the demise of Korea's royal family arguably starts in 1907. While Korea officially disappeared in 1910, in practicality Korea lost is sovereignty in 1905, when the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 was entered into. Under the treaty, Korea became Japan's "protectorate," and lost the ability to conduct its own foreign affairs. A governor from Japan was sent to Korea to conduct Korea's foreign affairs instead. It goes without saying that the treaty was not entered into in a fair manner -- dozens of armed Japanese soldiers were staring down the emperor and the officials when the treaty was signed.

Emperor Gwangmu

(Source)

Emperor Gwangmu (also known as Gojong) of Korea could plainly see where this was going. Although the 1905 Treaty stripped his ability to conduct foreign affairs, the emperor sent secret envoys to 17 major powers, including United Kingdom, France and Germany, to protest the forcible signing of the 1905 Treaty. The highlight of this effort was in 1907, when three Korean envoys were sent to the Second International Peace Convention at the Hague. Although Japan froze out the envoys from attending the convention, Yi Wi-Jong, one of the three envoys, managed to give a speech imploring for help in a separate conference. (The speech fell on deaf ears.)

The three secret envoys to the Hague: 

Yi Sang-Seol, Yi Joon, Yi Wi-Jong

(Source)

Although the emperor's efforts did not create any result, Imperial Japan did not take kindly to Emperor Gwangmu's extracurricular activity, and demanded that he abdicate his throne. The emperor acquiesced, giving way to his son, Emperor Yunghui (also known as Soonjong) -- who would become the last emperor of Korean Empire.  Former Emperor Gwangmu died in 1919. Although this is not certain, there are ample indications that he was poisoned.

More after the jump.

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Second Generation:  Emperor Yunghui, King Euichin, King Yeongchin, Princess Deokhye

Emperor Gwangmu had 13 children, but only four survived into adulthood -- three sons and a daughter. And they were survivors in the truest sense. Even as the empire was in precipitous decline, the palace intrigue did not stop. Emperor Gwangmu's oldest son, born from his third wife, is rumored to have been poisoned by Empress Myeongseong, the emperor's main wife. The second son, born from Empress Myeongseong, died young. The Emperor's father may have poisoned him. The crown prince -- the third son who would become Emperor Yunghui-- was also poisoned in his youth, but barely survived. It was rumored that because of the lingering effects of the poisoning, the crown prince did not have full mental capacity.

The last royal family. From the left: King Euichin, Emperor Yunghui, 

King Yeongchin, Emperor Gwangmu, with Princess Deokhye in front

(Source)

In 1910, Emperor Yunghui signed over his empire to Imperial Japan, ending the 600-year dynasty headed by his family. Emperor Yunghui was demoted to a king, subordinate to the Japanese emperor. Korea's royal family as a whole became Japanese nobility. The policy of Imperial Japan toward Korea's royal family was clear: the royal family will be either assimilated or killed. The first to go was the Emperor Gwangmu, as described above. Emperor Yunghui did not last much longer -- he died in 1926, at age 53.

Perhaps the most interesting figure in this drama is Yi Gang (also known as King Euichin,) second surviving son of Gwangmu. Yi Gang studied in Roanoke College in Virginia and was an officer of Korean imperial military when his older brother signed over the empire. Yi Gang silently assisted Korea's independence movement, signing petitions and sending funds to support Korean independence fighters and schools. He attempted to flee Korea and join the provisional government in Shanghai, but was arrested in the process and lost his nobility status. Since then, he evaded Imperial Japan's surveillance by engaging in profuse boozing and whoring while continuing to support the independence movement. During the course of his independence movement, he expressed that he would abdicate his royal status and submit to the rule of the democratic government. He led a quiet life after the independence, and died in 1955 at age 79.

Emperor Yunghui died without a son, and King Euichin was not favored by the Japanese because of his involvement in Korea's independence movement. Therefore, Gwangmu's youngest surviving son, King Yeongchin, succeeded the throne. Yi Eun, also known as King Yeongchin, was born in 1897. At age ten, he was taken to Japan to "study" under the patronage of the Japanese governor of Korea -- essentially being held as a hostage. As the contemporary Japanese nobility did, Yi Eun was forced to attend the military academy. He became an officer of the Japanese military, and was forced to married Nashimotonomiya Masako, a member of the Japanese royal family. He became the king of Korea after his father died in 1926, but only visited Korea briefly to accept the crown. He became a general of the Japanese army in 1938. He would see the end of World War II in Japan.

Young Yi Eun with his Japanese "patron,"

Governor-General Ito Hirobumi

(Source)

After the war, Yi Eun lost his nobility status, which pushed his family into dire poverty. He would scrape by with the financial help from the very few remaining Korean royalists. His wife also had to work, notwithstanding her royal family status. He attempted to return to Korea, but was rebuffed -- that he served in the Japanese military and married a Japanese royal family did not play well with the newly established Korean government. He suffered a stroke in 1961 in Hawaii while visiting his son; he was allowed to return to Korea in 1963, and lived in the Changdeok Palace with his aunt. He passed away in 1970.

It is a cruel irony of history that the only person who came out of this drama with a shred of dignity was Yi Eun's wife, Masako. After returning to Korea in 1963, she changed her name to a Korean-style name Yi Bang-Ja and focused her energy on charity work, establishing schools for children with disabilities despite living off the meager government pension. She received numerous medals and awards for her volunteer work. She passed away in 1989.

Princess Deokhye, Gwangmu's youngest daughter who was born in 1912, is probably the most tragic figure. She was forcibly moved to Japan and attended a university, where she developed schizophrenia. In 1931, she married a Japanese nobleman in an arranged marriage, and had a daughter. She survived the war, but lost her only daughter in the process. She was abandoned by her husband in 1953 as her schizophrenia worsened. For the next nine years, she would go from mental hospital to mental hospital in Japan. Korean government heard about her in 1962. and President Park Chung-Hee passed the law providing for pension for the former royal family in response. Princess Deokhye returned to Korea, and lived in Changdeok Palace until 1989 when she passed away.

Third and Fourth Generations: Yi Gu and King Euichin's 21 Children

Yi Eun and Masako had two sons, but the older son died at less than one year old. The last official crown prince of Korean royal family is Yi Gu, born in 1931. He had spent his entire life in Japan, and he worked as a clerk for a company in Tokyo after World War II. In 1953, he moved abroad to study in MIT, and met his future wife -- a white American woman named Julia Murlock. Yi Gu married Murlock in 1959 in New York, and he worked for the architectural company of I.M. Pei.

He was also allowed to return to Korea in 1963, and lectured architecture in universities. But he could not adjust to the life in Korea. Although Korea was no longer a monarchy, the Jeonju Yi (Lee) lineage society took (and still takes) its royal family line very, very seriously. Yi Gu received pressure as a crown prince within his family, and that he married a white woman who could not get pregnant only intensified the pressure. Yi Gu separated from Murlock in 1977, and returned to Japan in 1979. He would visit Korea from time to time, but refused to settle down in Korea. He died alone in 2005 in a hotel in Tokyo; apparently Yi Gu favored the hotel because it overlooked his old birthplace. He was buried in a royal garb; his funeral was attended by the prime minister of Korea (equivalent to American vice president) and 1,000 people.

Yi Gu's funeral

(Source)

This means that the only surviving royal family in Korea are the descendants of King Euichin, the rebel prince. Remarkably, he had 12 sons and 9 daughters from 13 different women -- as far as we know. Fate was not kind to them either. For example, Yi Geon, the oldest son of King Euichin, became a naturalized Japanese citizen in 1947 and severed his ties with Korea completely. Reportedly, before he naturalized, he brought all of his (step-)brothers and sisters together and asked them all to forget about the fact that they belong to the royal family. He died in 1991. Yi Wu, the second son, died in Hiroshima as the officer of the Japanese military when the city was hit by the nuclear bomb. The rest scattered into Korea and America, and led more or less unremarkable lives. Out of the 21 children of King Euichin, ten (four sons, six daughters) are still alive. They live in Korea, New York, Los Angeles and San Jose. After Yi Gu passed away, the Jeonju Yi lineage society established the son of King Euichin's ninth son to be the crown prince -- a man named Yi Sang-Hyup, 50 years old.

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What do contemporary Koreans think about the royal family? Yi Gu's death in 2005 served as a reminder to Korean people that Korea in fact had a royal family. This acted as a catalyst for the royal family fad in Korea. In a survey conducted in 2006, 54.4% was in favor of "restoring the royal family," although no one in Korea is quite sure what that means. In a survey conducted in 2010, the number dropped significantly to 40.4% in favor, but still outpaced the 23.4% against. But it would be wise not to put too much stock in those numbers, because the restoration of the royal family is a pipe dream as of now. The numbers will likely change dramatically when people start thinking about the concrete details -- for example, will the royal family have any kind of political power? Will they take back any part of their formerly vast property around the nation?

So regardless of the surveys that essentially ask if one prefers the moon to be made of cheddar cheese or Swiss cheese, the Korean is pretty confident that the monarchy is not coming back to Korea any time soon. If that means one less royal wedding that assaults the supermarket newsstands around the world, all for the better.

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Ask a Korean! News: Crucified (!) Person Discovered in a Remote Quarry

This probably does not have much to do with Korea other than it happened in Korea -- crazy is crazy no matter what the location. But it is pretty crazy. Translation below.

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The police is investigating a case in which a man, in his 50s, was discovered dead crucified to a cross in a Biblical fashion. According to the Gyeongsangbuk-do Mun'gyeong-si Police Agency, Mr. Kim (58 years old, Gyeongsangnam-do Changwon-si Seongsan-gu), a taxi driver, was found dead in Mt. Doondeok in Gyeongsangbuk-do Mun'gyeong-si. The police said when Mr. Kim was found dead at 970 meters above sea level at Mt. Doondeok, he was reenacting the scene in which Jesus was crucified on the cross. Mr. Kim was found wearing a crown of thorns, and his feet were nailed together. Both of his hands were also nailed to the cross. Mr. Kim was wearing only white underwear; his legs and neck were tied to the cross with a rope. His right side had a wound created by a sharp weapon.

Wooden cross discovered at the site.

Also discovered on cite was the sketch to design and produce the cross, a whip that was apparently used to strike the body and cut pieces of wood. In front of the cross, there was a round mirror that reflected Mr. Kim on the cross. Inside Mr. Kim's car, discovered approximately 100 meters away from the scene, were a tent, a hammer, a drill, a knife and a memo pad that contained notes on how to be crucified. According to the medical examiner who checked the scene, the nail was directly inserted into the feet. However, there were signs that the holes were drilled into the hands first, then slid into the large nails already attached to the cross.

Sketches of cross design, discovered at the site.

The area is a quarry that had not been operational for a long time, and few ever visit the site. It is difficult to approach, as it is surrounded by large rocks. The police is weighing on the possibility that a religious fanatic or a psychopath who held a grudge against Mr. Kim committed the murder, but is not excluding the possibility that Mr. Kim killed himself with help from another. The police is particularly focusing on the fact that Mr. Kim was known to be a Christian, and the day when the body was discovered was May 1, the Easter weekend. The police instituted a multi-front investigation in order to discern the recent tracks of the dead and establish the precise cause of death. A representative from the Police Agency said, "We found that Mr. Kim was involved with a certain cult; we are trying to see if that fact is relevant here," and added, "We will find the precise cause of death after the autopsy."

가시관 쓰고 대못 박힌채… 50대男 ‘십자가 주검’ 미스터리 [Dong-A Ilbo]

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Ask a Korean! Wiki: Fashion in Korea?

Dear Korean,

I am an English teacher (surprise) in Seosan, Korea and I would like to know more about Korean fashion. Are there blogs by other weiguks like me on Korean fashion?

Nina teacher

An obvious nominee would be Feet Man Seoul. But other than that, here is when the weakness of the Korean's knowledge about Korea comes into play: the Korean almost never reads anything meaningful about Korea in English. As a native Korean speaker, there is no point reading anything in English, when sources in Korean language are obviously superior. There are a number of fashion websites and blogs in Korean, but that is probably not what Nina Teacher is looking for.

Fashionista readers, got anything?

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The upcoming movie Priest is based on a Korean cartoon series. This probably is the first case where a Hollywood movie is based on a Korean cartoon series. Here is the cover of the first issue of the comic book:

(Source)

The preview looks decent.

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Ask a Korean! News: More Foreigners in Korea Than Ever

2010 is a milestone of sorts for foreigners in Korea. An interesting article about foreigner demographic in Korea, translated below.

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Recently, the squid boats leaving from Ulleungdo often feature the bronze-tanned Southeast Asian laborers. Foreign laborers have reached Ulleungdo, an island with only around 10,000 residents. Ulleungdo hosts 96 foreigners: 50 Indonesians, 19 Korean-Chinese, 16 Chinese, three Japanese and two Americans. Among them, 64 came to Korea to earn money by working on fishing boards. There are also ten marriage-immigrants and two English teachers.

As the number of registered foreigners exceeded 900,000 last year, it was confirmed on the 14th that every one of 228 si, gun and gu has a foreign resident. According to the "2010 Survey of Registered Foreigners" by the Ministry of Justice, Ulleung-gun has the least number of foreigners. Ongjin-gun near Incheon and Yeongyang-gun in Gyeongsangbuk-do also have around 100 foreigners. Gyeonggi-do Ansan-si had the most number of foreigners, at 38,971.

The map shows the number of employment visa holders.

The four columns on the right say: marriage immigration, study abroad, 

specialty employment and entrepreneur/investor.

(Click to enlarge)

[TK: A quick explanation about how Korean administrative districts are organized. At the top level, there are do (province), teukbyeolsi (special city) and gwangyeoksi (regional city). Provinces are made up of either si (city) or gun (county). Special city (which is Seoul) and regional cities are made up of gu (district). In other words, si/gun/gu are intermediate unit of administrative district, similar to counties of the U.S.]

(More after the jump)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.




The number of registered foreigners as of the end of last year was 918,917, comprising 1.88 percent of the total population. Among them, the most numerous was those who came to Korea for employment, at 530,338. They are followed by: marriage immigrants (141,654); permanent residency (100,355); study abroad (87,486); specialty employment (38,715); entrepreneurs and investors (13,385). In other words, Korea is showing signs of a "developing nation-style" multicultural society in which the vast majority of foreigners are blue collar laborers, marriage immigrants and students with few high-qualification immigrants. More than half (65.1%) of foreigners live in Seoul metropolitan area, followed by the southeast (11.6%) [TK: includes Busan]; Chungcheong (8.9%) [TK: includes Daejeon]; Yeongnam (6.2%) [TK: includes Daegu]; Honam (6%) [TK: includes Jeonju and Gwangju]; and Gangwon/Jeju (2.1%).

As the number of foreign residents dramatically increased, their concentration depends on the purpose of entry. Employment visa holders are concentrated in Seoul metropolitan area (70.1%), and are also prevalent in the southeast (11.1%). Other areas have 4~7%. Dongducheon (648) and Pyeongtaek (524) of Gyeonggi-do had the most number of culture/artist visa holders.

Chungcheong region has the most number of foreign students (18.1%) after the Seoul Metro area (44.1%), as the region's colleges actively recruited students from China. 17.5% of foreign college professors live in Chungcheong, also second after the Seoul Metro area (50.4%). A representative of Gyeongsan-si said, "The twelve colleges around this area jumped into the recruitment of students from China, so we had a large increase of foreign students here."

Foreigners' entrepreneural/investment activity was active in the southeast. There were 4634 (34.6%) foreigners who lived in the southeast for entrepreneural/investment activities, trailing the Seoul Metro area (57.8%). Geoje-si, Gyeongsangnam-do had the most number of entrepreneur/investor visa holders, at 2239. An official from Geoje-si said, "The city has a lot of investors related to the shipbuilding business." Refugees and refugee status applicants, 1,398 in all, were concentrated in the Seoul Metro area. Bangladeshi refugees are mainly living in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, and refugees from Myanmar mostly live in Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do.

Bangga Bangga, a movie that opened last year, features a young Korean man who gets a job by fibbing that he was "the only Bhutanese in Korea." But there are actually five people from Bhutan in Korea. There are twelve people who are truly the only person from their countries. They are from Saint Kitts and Nevis, Kosovo, Eritrea, Niger, Burkina Faso, Maldives, Djibouti, Barbados, Solomon Islands, Lesotho, Swaziland and the Bahamas. Naim Hasoli, a 42-year-old researcher at Korea Institute of Energy Research, said, "Since I am the only one here, sometimes I forget the fact that I am a foreigner. If I met another Kosovar on the streets, I will probably be more surprised."

외국인 안 사는 시군구 한 군데도 없다 [Dong-A Ilbo]

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Is Pizza in Korea a Xenophobic Conspiracy?

Dear Korean,

My question is related to food. Don't remember where I saw once that it was said that koreans used to "bastardize" the world food. One classic example is pizza, where all kinds of ingredients are put together, with no particular reason or logic. So my question is: Do koreans simply change the international dishes to adapt them to the local taste or is there anything else going on there, e.g., "let's make sure we change it, so we show that we don't swallow what comes from overseas"? And, in the sequence, a more specific question would be: why they have sweet potato in the classy mozzarella pizza???

Thanks and looking forward to your comments on this. And, please, keep it up with the great blog.

Kung-Food Fighter

Dear Kung-Food Fighter,

You are thinking too hard. Not everything (and actually, only a few things) Koreans do is based on some inscrutable xenophobia. Koreans are changing non-Korean dishes to suit their taste, and that is all.

"Rich Gold Pizza" from Pizza Hut Korea, whose defining 

characteristic is a ring of sweet potatoes along the edge.

(Source)

The pizza in Korea is one of the most common complaints that the Korean sees from the expat community in Korea. In fact, there might be more revulsion toward pizza with sweet potatoes and corn than toward dog meat. The Korean is actually pretty understanding of that complaint. (The Korean is not a fan of those kinds of pizzas either. Why would anyone eat pizza in Korea at any rate?) If there is one food in America that unites the thoroughly diverse childhood memories of Americans, it is pizza. There is a great deal of emotional attachment to the dish, and it is pretty understandable for an American to fly off the handle a bit when it appears in an alien form. 

Actually, the Korean recently had an equivalent experience. Near the Korean's office, there is a "Korean" place that sells "bibimbap." The words are in quotes because the place is not really Korean nor does it really sell bibimbap. It instead has a bar reminiscent of that from a Subway sandwich store, and people can choose various different kinds of starch, veggies, meat and sauce. As long as you choose the right things, the end result is kindasorta like a bibimbap. But what if you chose all the wrong things? 

One day, there was a white dude standing in front of the Korean at that place. And the dude ordered for his bowl the following: brown rice, steamed broccoli, an ice cream scoop full of guacamole, topped with teriyaki chicken. Then the dude sat down, and proceeded to mix everything. And that sight seriously made the Korean close to vomiting. He is being absolutely serious; not one bit of exaggeration here. Just thinking about that sight is turning the Korean's stomach right now. The Korean had to get his food to-go; if he had stayed in the restaurant, he would have thrown down that bowl of abomination, grabbed the collars of the poor white dude (whose only crime was ordering what he liked) and screamed in his face: "What the hell is wrong with you? Have you given up trying to be a human? What you're eating is not human food!!!"

So here again, the lesson for the umpteenth time is: welcome to the life of living as a minority, Kung-Food Panda. When you are the minority, you are disenfranchised from protecting the food you love from the acts of horrible mutilation perpetrated by the mainstream. If the mainstream wants pizza with sweet potatoes and bibimbap with guacamole, the mainstream gets them -- and really, it is not like they are doing anything wrong. It sucks, I know, but you are better off getting used to it for the sake of your mental health. If he had his way, the Korean would have firebombed David Chang's Momofuckyou restaurants a hundred times over. But that's life as a minority.

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Ask a Korean! News: Impact of "Korean Wave" on North Koreans

Interesting report on how South Korea's soft culture is impacting North Koreans. Below is a translation.

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A new report investigates the contours of "Korean Wave" in North Korea through detailed interviews with North Korean defectors. Kang Dong-Wan, researcher for Korea Institute for National Unification and Park Jeong-Ran, researcher for Seoul National University Center for Unification and Peace, analyzed the North Korean distribution route of South Korean visual media and the attendant changes in North Korean people's mindset in their report, titled "Korean Wave Shakes North Korea."

The 33 interviewed defectors, selected with a consideration for regional balance, watched South Korean visual media "every day" (34%) or "once or twice a month" (41%). The most frequently watched include the movies "The General's Son" and "The Trap", and dramas "Autumn Tale" and "Stairway to Heaven". They watched through South Korean broadcast receivable near the border, or through smuggled DVDs and CDs.

The interviewees said they nurtured their admiration for South Korea as they watched a dining table with white rice with several side dishes, a house with separate rooms for parents, couples and children, the way people wear different clothes indoors, outdoors and going to sleep, and the way women drove cars. The interviewees said constant viewing of South Korean visual media gradually disarmed their ideological guard and lessened their fears of living in South Korea, serving as a catalyst for defection.

The researchers said, "We asked the participants whether the spread of South Korean visual media can change North Korea, and most replied that there would be a significant impact," and added, "we emphasize that the process of constant watching, listening and sharing would lead to the changes in thoughts and ideologies." But to the opinion expressed by some that South Korea should have a production with political propaganda in order to induce the political change in North Korea, the authors noted, "It may lead to unintended adverse consequences, like killing the goose laying golden eggs," and advised, "It may be necessary to develop the contents that promote the capitalistic and democratic spirit that are unintended and naturally seen in South Korean society."

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