Westerners Capture Early Modernization in Korea
KOREA TIMES
01-22-2010 16:37
 Cover of “Korea Through Western Eyes,” written by Robert D. Neff and Cheong Sung-hwa. (Seoul National University Press; 434 pp., 25,000 won). |
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Korea endured a long, self-imposed isolation from much of the world up until the 19th century. Once it opened its doors to the West, Korea went through major modernization ― from an agricultural society to a modern industrial one.
With modernization came an increased amount of incoming people from the West, who arrived here for various reasons. Whatever purposes they had, they had to adapt themselves to a new way of life.
“Korea Through Western Eyes,” written in English by Robert D. Neff and Cheong Sung-hwa, delves into the lives of Westerners in Korea and their struggles to live in Korean society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The book features impressive black-and-white photographs that capture a part of Korean society rarely seen in other historical records. Anecdotes reveal the unknown stories behind the modernization, and how Koreans and Westerners interacted with each other back then.
Diplomats, merchants and missionaries were among those that came from the West. Most settled down in Seoul, Jemulpo or Busan. For them, Korea was an untrodden path to explore.
The early modernization of Korea cannot be discussed without mentioning Paul Georg von Mollendorff, one of the most well-known Westerners here in the late 19th century. He was the first Westerner to hold a high advisory position in the Korean government, which allowed him to affect policy.
Mollendorff contributed to the early stages of modernization in the areas of customs, the provision of electricity, telegraph and postal services, and the development of the country’s natural resources, including gold, silk, timber and agriculture.
Many of the Westerners claimed to have been trusted by King Gojong but Mollendorff’s relationship with Gojong seemed different from others. He adapted himself completely into the local culture, learning to speak Korean (which many non-missionary Westerners did not do), dressing and acting much like a Korean, and even using a Korean name, Mok In-dok.
But despite his attempt to modernize Korea in various fields, he eventually made mistakes that led to his being removed from his position, his reputation tarnished.
Although Korea may have been one of the last countries in the East to open to the West, Korea was able to build an electrical power plant before China or Japan. Electricity was a symbol of modernization and power. It was a means by which King Gojong could demonstrate to his own court that China was not as advanced as the West.
But the Korean ruler was often the object of disdain from Westerners for their beliefs and superstitions. Thomas W. Power, an electrical engineer who helped construct an electrical power plant at Changdeok Palace, used King Gojong’s alleged fear of the darkness to force the Korean government to pay his back wages.
The introduction of electricity sent mixed signals ― to some Koreans, it was the introduction of progress and modernization, but to others, it was the introduction of Western ideas that simply clashed with their own beliefs and compromised their traditional way of life.
It was also used as a tool used by both Westerners and Koreans to exploit the superstitious. But electricity was eventually accepted and illuminated not only the palaces, homes and the streets of Seoul, but also the minds of the Korea people to modernization.
Misconceptions about technology and foreigners continued to grip Koreans. One of the examples was the “Baby Riots” during the summer of 1888 when some Koreans took to the streets after the discovery of mutilated children who they believed had been maimed by Westerners and their modern technology.
After the signing and ratification of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Korea and the United States in 1882, a few Western diplomats and employees of the Korean government began living in Korea. But by 1885, missionaries and businessmen began coming to Korea in large numbers.
Many of them had difficulty obtaining necessities such as food and shelter. The Westerners, including the diplomats and advisors, often lived at homes that were vacated after the noblemen who lived in them were killed in action.
The book is written from these early Westerners’ point of view, using foreign records such as government archive material from the United States and Europe, autobiographies, books, newspapers, and interviews with people who lived in Korea and their descendants scattered around the world.
Their accounts are filled with anecdotes and opinions that cannot be found in official records, and are presented alongside personal photographs that vividly capture the era.
