사람人物

Not everyone remains a historical figure. Announcing a figure who lived through the demise of a civilization that had lasted for thousands of years since the 19th century is like counting grains of sand from the deep sea. To introduce the feeling of becoming Archimedes' sand counter (Psammites), it is the pain of realizing the truth that as many Joseon people as there are grains of sand filling the universe gave their lives to restore their country's sovereignty and territory. Pain turns into loneliness, and loneliness turns into anger again. The feeling of experiencing the psychological change of anger turning into futility is painful. Therefore, the work of counting the sand to fill the universe is a thought that makes us unable to help but think about the past, about what philosophy of the human abyss was filled with in that era.

With territory and people existing, but without sovereignty, today's Koreans cannot understand the distortion of the fact that their ancestors, who were numerous enough to fill the universe, threw away their only lives for something. Today, when no one cares about patriotism due to abstract nationalism, is this country really of the same lineage as them? That ever-changing era of war was terrifying. Faced with all sorts of thoughts that stimulate HSP, one cannot help but feel guilty about choosing a specific person. What right do I have to select them?

Gushim (求心) Jo Yong-ha (趙鏞夏) is the eldest son of Jo Jeong-gyu (趙禎奎), the 16th generation descendant of Eo Gye (漁溪) Jo Ryeo (趙旅), one of the six living saints who criticized Sejo for seizing his nephew's throne, protested against serving two lords (不事二君), and maintained his integrity, and is the brother of Soang (素昻) Jo Yong-eun (趙鏞殷). It is a prestigious family with a tradition of nearly 500 years, originating from Icheon-gun, Gyeonggi-do, or Yangju-gun. In 1901, he was a councilor or secretary at the Korean Empire's legation in Germany (駐獨) and France (駐佛), and at that time, he provided his younger brother, Soang, who was five years younger, with information on the international situation, helping to expand his worldview. There are articles that express that Jo Yong-ha was studying in Berlin, and his name is not listed in the Veritable Records, but there are generally many more descriptions that he was in public office, so it can be seen that he was a person who took office at a very early age compared to his age. But how could the older brother, who was stationed in Germany, have informed his younger brother, who was learning Korean studies in Yangju, Gyeonggi-do, about the world situation?

First of all, the government-run French school that Jo Yong-ha attended was an institution for training French interpreters, established in May 1895 with the promulgation of the "Regulations for Foreign Language Schools." Two months earlier, in March, the "Regulations for the Training Institute for Judges" were issued to recruit students who could learn at an accelerated pace. Although the establishment of foreign language schools and training institutes for judges was by royal decree of King Gojong, the frequent promulgation of laws, which seemed almost like forming a new government, took place during the Gabo Reform. The series of events from 1882 to 1895, the four major tragedies of the modern era - the "Imo Incident - Gapsin Coup - Eulmi Incident - Russian Legation Affair" - were important events that decorated the end of the dynasty's history, but the press coverage at the time did not accurately report the facts, so the detailed facts are unknown. This part, riddled with the most difficult events of the late Joseon Dynasty, must be examined from various angles, but the tone of historical disparagement, like a play on words, continues in later generations, and the inertia of a self-deprecating view of history remains.

Perhaps the emphasis on the revolutionary image of the Gabo Reform, which seemed to make everything new, led to a habit of not distinguishing between image politics and image historiography, whether it was real or fake. Even today's events and accidents are reported in completely opposite articles by the press and media depending on the interests of political parties and individuals, so there is nothing more to say about what happened over a hundred years ago. The amount of information received would have differed depending on one's status, and if there was no way to know what was happening above from below, it can be said that the truth was already buried at that time. How can we understand the state of the country at the time, when information was being transmitted to Germany and Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, the circumstances in which the country had no talent to entrust foreign life to someone at a young age, and the part recording officials during this period does not appear in the Gukjobogam, which records the appointees who took office?

More importantly, there is the problem of the strange direction of historical description, in which the fact that the 'Donghak Revolution' and the 'Sino-Japanese War' are sandwiched between these four tragedies of the late Joseon Dynasty is reduced to individual incidents and described as a civil revolt, as if the territory was given over to a foreign war. It is an unbalanced story to portray Donghak as a conflict of social classes or dissatisfaction with the government, and to create a third-rate historical novel in which a corrupt royal family that has lost control over the people borrows foreign troops to deal with the rebellion and gets caught up in an international war. The historical background is lengthy, but the space where the events occurred is narrow. Even though so many events took place on this small Korean peninsula, there are so many history books analyzing this period that it is excessive. If only the expansiveness of the places where these two events occurred is secured, it is easy to realize that there is a problem with the historical knowledge of Koreans who have been educated about this situation as simple individual events.

The appointment of young Jo Yong-ha was before the proclamation of the Korean Empire, making it an ambiguous time to consider it a driving force for new reforms. The Gabo Reform, which involved selecting and educating new-style officials, could be seen as meaning that Joseon had already collapsed, and even that all the experienced and loyal Joseon officials had been executed. If intellectuals who resisted foreign invasion had all died, making it easier to colonize, why would they bother to select new officials and go to the trouble of dispatching them to faraway Germany and France? Modern reform is a process of realizing that there is no space in Asia where it has been done voluntarily, so modernization should not be evaluated carelessly. However, these speculations are ignored. The public's attention will be drawn only to the dichotomous logic of pro-Japanese or not pro-Japanese, because Jo Yong-ha followed the Japanese academic system and appeared in Japanese publications. It is necessary to observe carefully which institution is leading the trend of thought.

Since Jo Yong-ha was born in 1882, he was at the German legation before he turned 20, and after returning to Korea in 1903, he was a county magistrate of the 8th grade of high officials in Juksan, Majeon, and Icheon, Gyeonggi Province in his twenties. It can be seen that even local officials employed young new talents. He went into exile in Beijing due to the forced conclusion of the Eulsa Treaty on November 17, 1905, and in 1906 he met his younger brother who was returning to Japan due to the policy of urging him to return to university in Japan, but the location is unclear. At this time, it was the time when the Tonggam-bu was established, so he left his homeland in confusion and wandered around, and the next record that appears is when he participated in Gyeonghaksa (耕學社) and devoted himself to full-scale anti-Japanese activities. It is unclear where he was for about 6 years until 1911, when Gyeonghaksa was created. Gyeonghaksa is a fraternity organization in Yuha County, Manchuria, Seogando, created by Lee Hoe-yeong and his brothers Lee Si-yeong, Lee Dong-nyeong, and Lee Sang-ryong. Of course, it is an anti-Japanese autonomous organization. As the country disappeared and the people were at a disadvantage, these intellectuals fled in all directions and engaged in mass enlightenment education and military education, and as the capital of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches came into these groups, they became involved in the 'Independence Army and Christianity' frame.

If a dynasty is corrupt and the nobles are the first to betray the nation, it deserves to be destroyed, and no one would be sad even if it were absorbed and unified by another ethnic group. But why did they embark on such a difficult evacuation route, and why did Western religion and capital join in to help with independence? Judging from the fact that even Do-ma Ahn Jung-geun has traces of being gaslighted or influenced by French missionaries, it seems that there was a historical demand for Joseon to be destroyed, and independence was essential.

In 1913, while in Hawaii, Jo Yong-ha organized the 'Korean Independence Corps' and 'Korean Association' in Hawaii with Park Yong-man, Ahn Chang-ho, and others. In July 1920, after being elected as the head of the Hawaii Regional General Assembly, he published the Korean newspaper 'The Korean Pacific Times'. He maintained close contact with his younger brother, Jo So-ang, who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government, and made constant efforts in diplomatic activities. He tried to use his background to inform the world about the anti-Japanese movement. It is said that he lived a frugal, single life during those lonely 20 years, owning only one necktie.

In April 1932, he received the task of delivering the declaration and membership application for the 'Sino-Korean Alliance' organization from his younger brother Jo So-ang, and encouraged and enrolled Koreans living in Hawaii, maintained ties with the Provisional Government, and devoted himself to the independence movement. In October of the same year, while traveling to Shanghai on an American steamship, he was arrested by Japanese police who obtained this information due to someone's betrayal after stopping at Kobe. How many ships stop at Kobe on the way from Hawaii to Shanghai these days? If you read the logbook of the ship at that time, you might suspect that a completely different history was deceiving mankind. In January 1933, Jo Yong-ha underwent the cumbersome procedure of being sent to Gyeongseong-bu, and on April 1, 1933, he was sentenced to two years and six months in prison at the Gyeongseong District Court on charges of violating the Public Security Maintenance Law and served his sentence. At this time, half of Jo Yong-ha's face is blackened in the mugshot on the prison card taken at this time. It is said that he painted his face with ink because he was ashamed of standing in front of Japanese people as a Korean. He was released on bail due to illness during his imprisonment, but died of exhaustion on March 3, 1937, at the age of 55.

Did Cho Jung-kyu's sons know the feeling of having to wear an upside-down prison uniform in front of the sinful Japanese and the reason why no country in the world would help even if they appealed for anti-Japanese sentiment around the world? Did they really not know the meaning of the scheduled destruction of Joseon and the scheduled independence? I can't help but feel deeply grateful once again for their determination not to die dirty, even though they would die anyway.