Yun Ch'iho (; January 23, 1865 – December 6, 1945) was a Korean politician. His name is sometimes spelled Yun Tchi-Ho, his

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...

was Chwaong (), and his

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

was Sŏnghŭm (). Yun was born a member of a prominent aristocratic (''

yangban The ''yangban'' () were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon period. The ''yangban'' were mainly composed of highly educated civil officials and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats wh ...

'') family."100 Koreans Freed; But Baron Yun Chi-ho and Other Prominent Men Are Found Guilty,"
''New York Times.'' March 21, 1913. He was the son of General Yun Ung-nyeol, who served as a minister in the

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

government."Changing Sides," ''National Geographic.'' July 2003. Yun's connections earned him the rare opportunity to study abroad, and he did so in China, Japan and the United States. In the United States, he attended both

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

and

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

.Loftus, Mary J.
"A Search for Truth; Yun Chi-Ho's Legacy is Rediscovered by his Great-granddaughter,"
''Emory Magazine,'' Vol 80, No. 1, Spring 2004. Yun was a prominent politician during the late

and

Korean Empire The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire lasted until the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910. Dur ...

periods. He was a member of a number of reformist organizations, including the

Independence Club The Independence Club (), alternate name Independence Association, was an organization that advocated for Korean independence. It operated between July 2, 1896 and December 25, 1898, and was founded and led by the prominent Korean independen ...

, the

People's Joint Association The People's Joint Association was a mass organization started in 1897 of Korean independence movement, Korean independence activists in the Korean Empire. It was done as part of Independence Club. The first People's Joint Association was a co ...

, and the

New People's Association The New People's Association () was a Korean independence movement, Korean independence activist organization established in April 1906 in the Korean Empire. The organization was formed by social activists such as Ahn Changho, Sin Chaeho, Park Eu ...

. He was a strong nationalist especially in his early years.Clark, Donald N. Yun Ch'i-ho (1864–1945): "Portrait of a Korean Intellectual in an Era of Transition". Source: Occasional Papers on Korea, No. 4 (September 1975), pp 37-42, 46-50, 54-56, 57, 58 He served in various government positions. He was also an ardent

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Christian,Chandra, Vipan. "Imperialism, Resistance, and Reform in Late Nineteenth-Century Korea: Enlightenment and the Independence Club". (1988) Regents of the University of California , pp 89-91, 137, 172 and an early leader of the Korean

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

. Although Yun was widely considered a nationalist for much of his early career, as Japan tightened its grip over Korea and eventually colonized it in 1910, Yun began to support the cause of the Japanese. He notably did not support many of the actions of the

Korean independence movement The Korean independence movement was a series of diplomatic and militant efforts to liberate Korea from Japanese rule. The movement began around the late 19th or early 20th century, and ended with the surrender of Japan in 1945. As independence a ...

, such as the

March First Movement The March First Movement was a series of protests against Korea under Japanese rule, Japanese colonial rule that was held throughout Korea and internationally by the Korean diaspora beginning on March 1, 1919. Protests were largely concentrated in ...

. As such, many recent Koreans remember him as a collaborator ("''

chinilpa From the late 19th century and until 1945, a number of ethnic Koreans worked with the Empire of Japan. Some of these figures contributed to or benefitted from Japan's colonization of Korea, and some actively worked to counter the Korean independe ...

''").Caprio, Mark (2007). "Loyal Patriot? Traitorous Collaborator? The Yun Ch'iho Diaries and the Question of National Loyalty." ''Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History'', Volume 7, Number 3.

Early life

Yun Ch'iho was born on December 26, 1864, in a small village in Dunpo-myeon,

Asan Asan (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It borders the Seoul Capital Area to the north. Asan has a population of approximately 400,000. Asan is known for its many hot springs an ...

Chungcheong Province Chungcheong Province (; ) was one of the Eight Provinces (Korea), eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Chungcheong was located in the southwest of Korea. The provincial capital was located at Gongju, which had been the capital o ...

. His father, Yun Ung-nyeol, was an official in the Joseon government and as a member of the

aristocracy saw that Ch'iho received a proper education. Yun Ch'iho excelled in his studies of the

Confucian classics The Chinese classics or canonical texts are the works of Chinese literature authored prior to the establishment of the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Prominent examples include the Four Books and Five Classics in the Neo-Confucian traditi ...

at the local seodang and even tried to apply to take the civil-service exams (

gwageo The () or ''kwagŏ'' were the national civil service examinations under the Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon (1392–1897) periods of Korea. Typically quite demanding, these tests measured candidates' ability of writing composition and knowledge ...

) at age twelve. From 1871 to 1878, Yun studied Confucianism at Chang's private village school.

Trip to Japan

Because of Yun Ung-yeol's position in the government, he was able to arrange for Yun Ch'iho's participation in a delegation of representatives from Korea to observe the process of modernization in Japan in 1881. Yun was only sixteen years old at the time, but this experience greatly influenced his thoughts on modernization and opened his eyes to world beyond the isolated "Hermit Kingdom" that Korea had become. He frequently compared the lack of progress in Joseon Korea to the rapid modernization of Japan and often lamented in his diaries that he wanted nothing more than for Korea to become the kind of advanced, modern nation that Japan had become.Yun, Chi-ho. "Yun Chi-Ho's Diaries". Vol I-X. 1975 National History Compilation Committee. Seoul, Korea

Studying in China

Yun would later travel to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1885 where he would attend the Anglo-Chinese College studying English and mathematics, among other things. While in Shanghai he also converted to Christianity, something that would play a major role throughout the rest of his life. Yun Ch'iho viewed Christianity as a strong progressive philosophy that could help Korea catch up with the advancements of Japan and the West.

Time in America

He eventually even studied in America, starting in 1888 at

and then

. He strongly admired many aspects of American culture, but was also frustrated with the racial prejudices he experienced while living in the South. In particular, he would identify tensions and contradictions between Christian universalism, and the belief that any individual could earn respect and equality as long as they were pious, and the arbitrary demonstrations of white supremacy that he routinely witnessed and experienced. One such instance was his election to a month-long term as President of the Few Society at Emory, an honorary position. Yun tried to deny accepting this position, in part because of the dissatisfaction of his election by several classmates due to their white supremacist beliefs. While in America he studied English, theology and speech and he gained a great deal of proficiency in the English language; writing most of his diaries in English. Yun Chiho Emory Univ 1892

Roles in government

Interpreter

Yun served in several important government positions throughout his life. He served as an interpreter for the first American Foreign Minister in Korea, Lucius Foote. Upon arriving in Korea Foote had inquired to the Japanese Foreign Minister

Inoue Kaoru Marquess Inoue Kaoru (井上馨, January 16, 1836 – September 1, 1915) was a Japanese politician and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy during the Meiji period of the Empire of Japan. As one of the senior statesmen ('' Genrō'') in ...

about finding someone to interpret for him while in Seoul, and Minister Inoue, who knew Yun Ch'iho from his days in Japan, recommended Yun to help serve Minister Foote. It was also Foote who helped Yun with arranging his studies in Shanghai.

Travel to Russia

Yun traveled to

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

to participate in coronation of

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

with some government officials including

Min Young-hwan Min Yeong-hwan (; 7 August 1861 – 30 November 1905) was a politician, diplomat, and general of the Korean Empire and known as a conservative proponent for reform. He was born in Seoul into the powerful Yeoheung Min clan which Heungseon Dae ...

. They fled to Europe from the fort of

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

Vice President of the Privy Council and banishment

Yun also served as the Vice President of the Privy Council of the Joseon Court from 1898 until he was banished in 1899 due to pressure from opposing factions in the government. While banished to the countryside, Yun served as magistrate for a town called Wonsan in Northern Korea. His banishment was not long lived and in 1903 he was called to serve as the Vice Foreign Minister.

Reform organizations

The Independence Club

When Yun arrived back in Korea from his studies abroad, there were small groups of scholars who were beginning to call for social and political reform in Korea. One such group was the Independence club, which Yun began to participate in. Among other things, the club promoted educating the Korean people on their unique history, promoted the use of Hangeul, the Korean vernacular alphabet, and pushed for government reform. While in the Independence Club Yun called for the government to be more representative of its people and even supported the elevation of King Kojong to the title of Gwangmu Emperor. Eventually the group was met with pressure from opposing factions in the government that believed the club was gaining too much influence and so in 1899, the club disbanded.

The Enlightenment Movement

As Japanese influence on the Korean peninsula began to tighten, Yun also began to support groups that were part of the Enlightenment movement. These groups, such as the Korean Self-Strengthening Society and the New People's Society, were picking up the pieces where the independence club had left off, and Yun Ch'iho helped them out by giving speeches and writing pamphlets for them. During his time of Banishment, these groups gave Yun something to work for in the hopes of creating a stronger Korean society. Yun signed the Japan–Korea Agreement as an acting Minister of Foreign Affair since Yi Ha-young was out of office that day. Yun was against the signing of Eulsa Treaty, which made Korea as a protectorate of Japan. He said to Durham Stevens who was in Korea that those who sign the treaty will be hated by Koreans like

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold (#Brandt, Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American-born British military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of ...

as a traitor. However when the treaty was actually signed, Yun was surprised. What baffled him the more was that

Pak Chesoon Pak Chesun (; 7 December 1858 – 20 June 1916) was a Korean politician and diplomat during the late Joseon period. His art name was P'yŏngjae ().Han Kyu-seol Han Kyu-seol (; 29 February 1848 – 22 September 1930) was a prime minister of Korean Empire when the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 was signed. Han opposed the treaty, but failed to prevent it from being signed. Biography Han was born on 29 Feb ...

, who was the only one against the signing of treaty until the end. When

committed suicide, Yun paid respects to his courage.

Japanese colonial period

From his early years, he was disappointed in the Joseon people for always having an emotional response and frustrated in their irrationality. In January 1910, he participated in the World Missionary Conference in America and that May, he attended the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In December 1910, he returned to his country. When the

was overrun by Japanese military forces in 1910 (see Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910), Yun Ch'iho joined with others in resisting Japanese occupation. He became an anti-Imperialist speaker and independence activist. In 1911, he was Judgment for alleged assassination of the Governor General of Korea. He suffered from malicious punishment and torture as a result of the

105-Man Incident The 105-Man Incident () or Sŏnch'ŏn Incident () was a 1911 incident in which 105 Koreans were sentenced to hard labor during the Japanese colonial period in Korea. In 1911, after several alleged Korean attempts in 1910 to assassinate the Gove ...

. In 1913, along with 104 others, he was charged with conspiracy against the Japanese Governor-General at the time,

Count Terauchi '' Gensui'' Count Terauchi Masatake (), GCB (5 February 1852 – 3 November 1919), was a Japanese military officer and politician. He was a '' Gensui'' (or Marshal) in the Imperial Japanese Army and the prime minister of Japan from 1916 to 1918 ...

. He was one of six who were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms. His experiences in prison tempered his willingness to express his nationalist ardor, but he was still considered active in the independence movement.

Conspiracy, trial, and imprisonment

In 1911 Yun was implicated in assisting with an assassination attempt on Japanese Governor-General, Terauchi Masatake. Sources from within some of the Enlightenment Movement groups that Yun had taken part in had informed Japanese officials that he had a hand in planning this attempted assassination. He was put on trial and given the maximum sentence. However, after a series of retrials his sentence was shortened and he eventually gained amnesty after only six years in jail. During this time, he didn't write down anything in his diaries, but his experience in the Japanese prison system seemed to have a significant effect on his actions after his release. In fact, his release can be seen as a turning point for Yun Ch'iho where he began to make many pro-Japanese statements and gives much less support to Korean nationalistic movements.

March First Movement

Inspired by Woodrow Wilson's idea of "self-determination" presented at the Paris Peace Conference the previous year, on March 1, 1919, many Koreans took to the streets in a peaceful protest to demonstrate that Korea was ready for independence from Japan. Yun knew that the European nations would not take this demonstration seriously. Yun said the following about the movement: "He who buys a field and keeps it from falling into irredeemable hands is a wiser patriot than he who sells his lands to finance the independent movement. He who sends a poor boy to school to become more intelligent than his fathers is doing a greater service than he who stirs up students for political agitations. He who leads an erring man into decent religious life is serving the Korean race better than he who sends ignorant folks to jail for yelling 'mansei'. Now is the time for Koreans to learn and wait."

Collaboration with the Japanese

Yun's reversal in opinion took an even larger turn from his previous nationalistic rhetoric when he began supporting the Japanese war effort during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He urged the young men of Korea to help the Japanese achieve victory by assisting in the war effort. He celebrated as the Japanese pushed Western imperialist powers out of Asia. According to Yun, the Korean people's part in the Japanese Empire offered them opportunity and access to education and resources they previously never had. Yun said, "The intellectuals of Korea today all realize that destiny of the Korean people can be promoted by becoming one with the Japanese people and that Manchuria and North China have opened up a field for the development of the Korean people never before dreamed of."

Asia-Pacific War time

The Incident (), an incident that arrested the members of the Suyang club (a Korean enlightenment movement organization) for propagating prints that were titled as "The role of christians to saving the nation that has fallen(to the japanese)", had occurred in 1936. Yun made a personal guarantee of the members that were related to the incident and all were released. At that time, he endeavored for Ahn Chang-ho's acquittal, and also filed a petition for Ahn Chang-ho. but was refused by the Japanese Government-General of Korea. In 1938, the Incident () occurred, and he similarly guaranteed the personality of all the members related to the incident with the promise of no future bad behavior and all of them are released. During the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese colonial era, he was strongly against Japanese rule of Korea, and he did not attend Japanese government and Governor-general related events. In 1940, he was brought to book for reason of being absent for the event from the Japanese Government-General of Korea. In 1939, Japanese Government-General of Korea ordered the implementation of the

Sōshi-kaimei was a policy of pressuring Koreans under Japanese rule to adopt Japanese names and identify as such. The primary reason for the policy was to forcibly assimilate Koreans, as was done with the Ainu and the Ryukyuans. The Sōshi-kaimei has been ...

policy, a policy that attempted to change Koreans' names into Japanese format. Yun was going to propose a postponement of the order, because of the national sentiment held by the Koreans. The proposal was considered acceptable by the Japanese Government-General of Korea, and the Japanese Government-General of Korea postponed the implementation of the policy to next year. In May 1940, his family was at the Japanese Government-General of Korea conference for the decision regarding his

. His family name was changed Ito () and thus

for him (that was done in a coercive fashion) was Ito Chikho. After the

Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, also known as the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, was made by representatives of the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire on 22 August 1910. In this treaty, Japan formally annexed Korea following the J ...

, he largely boycotted Japanese official events. In the 1940s, he was finally brought to book for Japanese Government-General of Korea. During this time he was under surveillance, and was internally investigated. In 1943, he was appointed to the position of advisor of Japanese Government-General of Koreas Privy Council (), as the Japanese enforced their demands.

Death

In 1945, he was elected to the Japanese House of Peers.Yun Ch'iho, Naver Encyclopedia
/ref> However, Korea achieved independence from Japanese occupation later that year with the

Surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

. In October 1945, he sent two copies of a letter titled "An Old Man's Ruminations" (), one to

John R. Hodge General John Reed Hodge (12 June 1893 – 12 November 1963) was an American military officer of the United States Army. Hodge commanded Operation Blacklist Forty in 1945. He served as the governor of the American military government in Korea fr ...

and the other to

Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee (; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965), also known by his art name Unam (), was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisiona ...

and

Kim Ku Kim Ku (; August 29, 1876 – June 26, 1949), also known by his art name Paekpŏm, was a Korean independence activist and statesman. He was a leader of the Korean independence movement against the Empire of Japan, head of the Provisional Gove ...

. He did not receive a response from either. In November 1945, he returned to Korea, and died in GoryeoJeong in

Kaesong Kaesong (, ; ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region cl ...

in December (some allege that he committed suicide, although there is no evidence to support this). He was 80 years old. Yun Ch'iho was the uncle of

Yun Bo-seon Yun Po-sun (, or ; August 26, 1897 – July 18, 1990) was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the president of South Korea from 1960 to 1962. He was the only president of the short-lived Second Republic of Korea, and served as ...

, who was

President of South Korea The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (), is the head of state and head of government of South Korea. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of South Korea, government and is ...

in 1960 and

Yun Il-seon Yun Il-seon (, October 5, 1896 – June 22, 1987) was a South Korean politician, pathologist, and anatomist. He was the 6th Chairman of University of Seoul

, the first

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n pathologist and anatomist.

References

Sources

*Caprio, Mark (2007). "Loyal Patriot? Traitorous Collaborator? The Yun Ch'iho Diaries and the Question of National Loyalty." ''Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History'', Volume 7, Number 3. *Chandra, Vipan. "Imperialism, Resistance, and Reform in Late Nineteenth-Century Korea: Enlightenment and the Independence Club". (1988) Regents of the University of California , pp 89–91, 137, 172 *Clark, Donald N. Yun Ch'i-ho (1864–1945): "Portrait of a Korean Intellectual in an Era of Transition". Source: Occasional Papers on Korea, No. 4 (September 1975), pp 37–42, 46–50, 54–56, 57, 58 *Kim, Hyung-chan. "Portrait of a Troubled Korean Patriot: Yun Ch'i-ho's Views of the March First Independence Movement and World War II". Korean Studies, Volume 13, 1989, pp. 76–91 (Article) Published by University of Hawai'i Press. DOI: 10.1353/ks.1989.0014 *Neff, Robert D. "Korea through Western Eyes". (2009) Seoul National University Press. pp 137 *Schmid, Andre. "Korea Between Empires". (2002) Columbia University Press pp. 47, 49, 76, 112 *Yun, Chi-ho. "Yun Chi-Ho's Diaries". Vol I-X. 1975 National History Compilation Committee. Seoul, Korea

External links

* *
Yun Chi-ho

Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University
Yun Ch'i-ho papers, 1883–1943
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yun, Ch'iho 1865 births 1945 deaths South Korean Christians People from Asan Politicians from South Chungcheong Province 19th-century Korean people 20th-century Korean politicians South Korean civil rights activists Korean collaborators with Imperial Japan Korean revolutionaries Korean educators Activists for Korean independence Korean religious leaders Emory University alumni Vanderbilt University alumni Korean anti-communists Interpreters 20th-century translators National anthem writers YMCA leaders Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Korean expatriates in China Korean expatriates in the United States Haepyeong Yun clan