Yu Kil-chun (1856–1914) was an intellectual, writer, politician and independence activist of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic of ...

's late

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

. He was also the first modern

Hangeul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

researcher and the author of a book of travel impressions: ''Seoyu gyeonmun'' (서유견문, ) ("Observations on Travels in the West"). This work included the important philosophical essay, "Levels of Enlightenment." He was cherished as the "ideal Korean patriot" by the independence activist

Ahn Chang-ho Ahn Changho, sometimes An Chang-ho (; , November 9, 1878 – March 10, 1938) was a Korean independence activist and one of the early leaders of the Korean-American immigrant community in the United States. He is also referred to by his pen na ...

.계몽주의자, 군국주의자!:박노자
- 한겨레 21(제502호) 2004.04.01일자

Life

Yu was born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, in modern-day

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...

. In his early years, he studied under Park Kyu-su and Oh Kyung-suk. In 1881 he went to Meiji

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

to matriculate at

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

for a year, studying modernization from

Fukuzawa Yukichi was a Japanese educator, philosopher, writer, entrepreneur and samurai who founded Keio University, the newspaper '' Jiji-Shinpō'', and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. Fukuzawa was an early advocate for reform in Japan. His ...

. In 1884, he traveled to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

as part of the first official Korean delegation to observe American industry and government and studied at the

Governor Dummer Academy The Governor's Academy is an independent school north of Boston located on in the village of Byfield, Massachusetts, United States (town of Newbury), north of Boston. The Academy enrolls approximately 412 students in grades nine through twelve ...

. Having travelled to several European countries, he was accused of supporting the ''Gaehwadang'' ( 개화당, , ‘enlightenment party'). In detention, he wrote a book on his experiences entitled ''Seoyu Gyeonmun'' (서유견문, ) ("Observations on Travels in the West"); in this book he used

Korean mixed script Korean mixed script () is a form of writing the Korean language that uses a mixture of the Korean alphabet or ''hangul'' () and ''hanja'' (, ), the Korean name for Chinese characters. The distribution on how to write words usually follows th ...

as opposed to

Literary Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

, which was written using exclusively

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...

, and was the normal writing method of period literati-officialdom. From 1894 to 1895, Yu worked for the government under Prime Minister

Kim Hong-jip Kim Hong-jip (1842–1896) was a Korean politician best known for his role as prime minister during the Gabo Reform period from 1895–1896. His name was originally Kim Goeng-jip () which he later changed to Kim Hong-jip. His father, Kim ...

, who intended to modernize Korea. In 1895, he became Vice Minister of State for the Home Office. In October 1895, during the so-called Eulmi Sabyeon (을미사변, 乙未事變), the murder of Queen Min by Japanese soldiers, he was accused of co-operating with Japanese killers by Korea's King Gojong. Yu had previously written a letter describing Queen Min as ‘evil’; worse than

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

of England and

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child and ...

of France. When Kim was killed and his cabinet disbanded in 1895, Yu fled the country for exile in Japan, returning to Korea only in 1907 after he was pardoned by Korea's Emperor

Sunjong Sunjong, the Emperor Yunghui (; 25 March 1874 – 24 April 1926), was the second and the last Emperor of Korea, of the Yi dynasty, ruling from 1907 until 1910. Biography Crown Prince of Korea Sunjong was the second son of Emperor Gojong a ...

. Yu wrote his "Levels of Enlightenment" after studying in both Japan and the U.S. In the book, he laid out what he believed to be an optimal track towards modernization and enlightened thought; one that dispelled class systems and championed a meritocracy based on the tireless individual pursuit of knowledge.Ch'oe Yongcho, et al. "Sources of Korean Tradition, Volume Two: From the 16th Century to the 20th Centuries." Columbia University Press, New York. 2001. In 1910, when Korea was annexed by Imperial Japan, Yu started a movement against the annexation. Yu declined the '' Danshaku'' title he was awarded by the

Government of Japan The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...

; the title being created by the government as part of its new Korean peerage system and designed after its own

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-modeled

Kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...

system.

Works

* ''Seoyu gyeonmun'' (서유견문; 西遊見聞)

Bibliography

*De Ceuster, Koen. “The World in a Book: Yu Kilchun’s Soyu kyonmun.” In Remco E. Breuker, ed. ''Korea in the Middle: Korean Studies and Area Studies: Essays in Honour of Boudewijn Walraven''. Leiden: CNWS Publications, 2008.

References

External links

Yu Kil-chun: 2003년 12월의 문화 인물
– Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Yu Kil-chun
– daum.net
Yu Kil-chun
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Kil-chun Korean politicians Japan–Korea relations 1856 births 1914 deaths 19th-century Korean people The Governor's Academy alumni Korean independence activists Officials of the Korean Empire Politicians of the Korean Empire People from Seoul