Who exactly planned this assassination? Who is involved? How on earth was Empress Mingcheng assassinated? Many details about the "Yiwei Incident" remain a mystery to this day. But no one will deny that it is an unprecedented tragedy that a princess was killed by a foreigner who broke into the palace.
Recently, a letter written by a Japanese diplomat in North Korea 126 years ago was exposed by Japanese media, causing an uproar in South Korean public opinion.
The diplomat's name was Kumichi Horiguchi. He revealed to friends that he had been involved in the assassination of Empress Myeongsung of Joseon (namely, Concubine Min, the concubine of King Gojong of Joseon). The Korean academic community believes that this is a new clue that Japanese high-level officials are involved in the "Otomi Incident", especially the content in the letter that "(assassination) is simpler than imagined", which stings the hearts of many Korean people. South Korean public opinion said that this incident has always been a wound that has not been healed for the people of the peninsula, but Japan regards it as "history that never happened".
Assassination of the princess "simpler than expected"
"We killed the princess" "Invasion of the palace is our task. Over the wall (we) barely entered the Ou Palace (the palace of the princess) and killed the princess" "(Assassination) than imagined It is very simple in the middle, but it is very surprising"... This is the relevant content disclosed in the report of Japan's "Asahi Shimbun".
According to reports, Horiguchi Kuman (1865-1945), who was a consular assistant at the embassy in North Korea, wrote a letter to a friend in Niigata Prefecture the day after Concubine Min was killed (October 9, 1895), detailing the killing of Min. Empress's journey. At the time, he was part of an assassination squad made up of Japanese diplomats, police and civilians.
In the early morning of October 8 that year, the assassination team assassinated Concubine Min and burned her body. At that time, North Korea had no jurisdiction because of the extraterritorial clauses in the unequal treaty signed with Japan. The 48-person assassination team was sent back to Japan, and the Hiroshima court finally released all of them on the grounds of "insufficient evidence".
It is reported that this time, a total of 8 letters left by Horiguchi Kyuichi were discovered. The Asahi Shimbun stated that, considering the contents, postmark, and sealing method recorded in the letter, it should be the handwritten letter of Horiguchi Kyuichi. Kim Moon-ja, a South Korean historian in Japan who has authored the book "The Murder of a North Korean Princess and the Japanese," said it was shocking that diplomats were directly involved in the killing of a princess in the host country.
Women who left and right in North Korea
In South Korea, historians have mixed praise and criticism of Concubine Min, but no one will deny that it was an unprecedented tragedy that a concubine was killed by a foreigner who broke into the palace.
Min was born in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province on November 17, 1851. The Lixingmin clan she belongs to became a prominent family in the Goryeo Dynasty, and it rose and fell several times in the Joseon Dynasty. In 1858, Concubine Min's father died, and the Min family fell into a downfall. In 1864, Zhezong died without an heir, and Li Xi, a 12-year-old side branch of the clan, was established as Emperor Gaozong. Two years later, Min was selected as Gaozong's concubine.
Li Shiying (Li Xi's father), who served as the regent, considered that his wife and mother were both from Lixing Min's family, and that Min's father died early and the family was weak, so he supported his son to marry him. At that time, North Korea was suffering from internal and external troubles. After Japan's Meiji Restoration, it pressured North Korea to open its ports, but it failed due to Li Shi's policy of closing the country. In 1873, Concubine Min launched a coup on the grounds that "the king is in charge of the government", and Li Shiying was forced to step down. The foreign relative group with the Min family as the core ruled North Korea and advertised its opening to the outside world.
In 1875, the Japanese warship "Unyang" invaded the area around Ganghwa Island and exchanged fire with the Korean army. The Japanese army captured Yeongjong Town and forced North Korea to sign the unequal "Ganghua Treaty", opening the door to North Korea. Since then, anti-Japanese sentiment among North Koreans has continued to rise.
In 1882, the old-style army of North Korea launched an uprising because of the long-term lack of pay and the new-style army that was disgusted with the training of the Japanese. The people joined them, burned the Japanese embassy, overthrew the rule of the Min Fei clique, and re-elected Li Shiying to come to power. This event was called the "Renwu Mutiny". More than a month later, the Min Fei Group returned to power. Since then, Japan has forced North Korea to sign an unequal treaty, allowing it to station its troops in North Korea.
In 1894, a peasant uprising broke out in North Korea, led by the leader of Donghak-do, Chun Yunjun, and the Joseon Dynasty begged for aid from the Qing Dynasty. After the Qing army landed in Asan, South Chungcheong Province in preparation for suppressing the uprising, a large number of Japanese troops landed in Inchon under the pretext of protecting the embassy and nationals. Taking into account the complicated situation at home and abroad, Quan Yunzhun agreed to negotiate with the imperial court, and finally disbanded the rebel army. The Qing army did not make contact with the insurgent army, and the uprising died down.
The Korean government and the Qing government suggested that China and Japan withdraw their troops at the same time. Japan not only did not agree, but also increased troops in North Korea, attacked Gyeongbokgung Palace, placed Emperor Gaozong under house arrest, disbanded the government controlled by the Min Fei group, and supported the pro-Japanese regime headed by Li Shiying. On July 25, Japan provoked the Sino-Japanese War. Following the defeat of the Qing army, the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed between China and Japan, giving Japan complete control of Korea.
Japan's expansion in North Korea and northeastern China displeased Russia. Russia intensified its penetration into North Korea through its minister to North Korea, Weber, and the confrontation between Japan and Russia in North Korea gradually intensified. Concubine Min, who lost power, turned to Russia, relied on Russian forces to contain Japan, and regained power again. However, the fierce internal struggle of the ruling class in North Korea is only the front stage of Japan and Russia competing for North Korea. The real situation on the peninsula can be described as undercurrent and unprecedentedly complicated. In the early morning of October 8, 1895, the Japanese assassination team rushed into Gyeongbokgung Palace, took control of Gojong, and brutally killed Concubine Min and burned her body.
In 1897, Emperor Gojong changed the country's name to "Daehan Empire", proclaimed himself emperor, and posthumously named Concubine Min "Mingcheng Empress".
Let the historical tragedy not repeat
itself Who is planning this assassination? Who is involved? How on earth was Empress Mingcheng assassinated? Many details about the "Yiwei Incident" remain a mystery to this day.
Koreans generally believe that the "Otomi Incident" was done by Japan. The Korean high school history textbook explained the incident as follows: "Empress Myongseong was considered to be a figure who hindered Japan's invasion of Korea, so the Japanese envoy mobilized the Japanese army and Japanese villains to invade the palace and committed the brutal act of killing Queen Myongseong." The view is basically the same as that of South Korea. Japan avoided this issue for a long time, and did not talk about how to meddle in the internal struggle of the Joseon Dynasty and then launch an assassination.
With the disclosure of Horiguchi's handwritten letter, people used this as a clue to try again to open the door of historical truth. Lee Tae-jin, a professor at Seoul National University who once served as the chairman of the Korean National History Compilation Committee, said that the Japanese government had always emphasized that the "Otomi Incident" should be led by Lee, and the Japanese ronin and others only played an auxiliary role. However, the contents of the letters discovered this time show that the then Japanese diplomat in the DPRK was at the scene and recorded the incident in detail, which is enough to prove that this is a criminal act at the Japanese national level.
Some media pointed out that even if it was a world where the weak eat the strong at that time, it was an anti-civilization and barbaric act to break into his palace to brutally kill the princess. The war of aggression launched by Japan has brought indelible pain to Asia and is an intolerable criminal act.
Some netizens said: "Japanese diplomats actually kill other countries' mothers like thieves. Japan must reflect and reflect again... Whether it is in the past or now, only a country can get rid of humiliation when it becomes prosperous and strong, and it must use this history to educate its children and grandchildren. future generations." Today, people recall history in various ways, no matter how they view Empress Mingcheng in their hearts, so that the tragedy of history will not repeat itself is what people look forward to in their hearts.
