Yu Kil-chun
Born	(1856-11-21)November 21, 1856 Gye-dong, Bokcheon, Hanseong, Joseon
Died	September 30, 1914(1914-09-30) (aged 57) Gyeongsang, Japanese Korea
Resting place	San 1-16, Changu-dong, Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea[1]
Awards	Order of the Taegeuk, 1st class
Korean name
Hangul	유길준
Hanja	兪吉濬
Revised Romanization	Yu Gil-jun
McCune–Reischauer	Yu Kil-chun
Art name
Hangul	구당, 천민, 구일
Hanja	矩堂, 天民, 矩一
Revised Romanization	Gudang, Cheonmin, Guil
McCune–Reischauer	Kudang, Chŏnmin, Kuil
Courtesy name
Hangul	성무
Hanja	聖武
Revised Romanization	Seongmu
McCune–Reischauer	Sŏngmu

Yu Gil-chun (Korean: 유길준; November 21, 1856 – September 30, 1914) was a Korean chinilpa best known for his collaboration with Imperial Japan as a member of the Eulmi Four Traitors that assisted in the Assassination of Empress Myeongseong.

Yu lived during the last few decades of Joseon and the Korean Empire, before the occupation of the peninsula by Japan. As a young man, he studied the Chinese classics. Unusually for the time, he came to embrace foreign ideas and literature.

Yu achieved a number of notable firsts: in 1883, he was among the first Koreans to visit North America. He was also the first Korean to study abroad in Japan and the first in the United States. He also wrote some of the earliest books and translations on Western topics in contemporary Korean, which significantly impacted the reform movement in the Korean Empire. He is also remembered for his contributions to Korean linguistics.

Yu was among the earliest Korean independence activists and reformers. He proposed numerous changes to modernize the Korean government, including the establishment of a constitutional monarchy and increased popular participation in government. This brought him into conflict with the Korean monarchy, who forced him to flee to Japan. There, he orchestrated a coup against the Korean monarchy that failed. By the time he was eventually pardoned and allowed to return to the peninsula, it was already firmly under Japanese influence. He fell into a depression and died several years after the formal beginning of the occupation of Korea.

Early life and education

Yu was born on November 21, 1856, in Seoul, Joseon.^[1] He is of the Gigye Yu clan.^[2][1] He was born the second son of Yu Jin-su and his second wife, Lady Yi of the Chungju Yi clan.

At an early age, he learned the Chinese classics from his father and his maternal grandfather, Yi Gyeong-jik. In 1870, at age fourteen, Yu joined the circle of Park Gyu-su who was also a trusted friend of the late Crown Prince Hyomyeong, a leading scholar of Bukhak (북학; 北學; lit. northern studies), a school within the Silhak social reform movement.^[2][3] The movement advocated for learning from abroad in order to reform the country, which was an unconventional idea in Joseon at the time. He quickly adopted an interest in reading foreign books.^[3]

Studying abroad in Japan and America

In 1881, he was sent to Japan as an attendant of a Joseon foreign mission. While there, he was allowed to remain in Japan and study abroad for a year at the Keiō School (later "Keiō University").^[3][2] This made him the first Korean exchange student to Japan.^[2] When the Imo Incident occurred in 1882, Min Yeong-ik recommended that Yu return to Korea, which he did in January 1883.^[2]

Yu was among the first Koreans to ever set foot in North America.^[2] In July 1883,^[2] Yu traveled as an attendant to Min as part of the first Korean mission to the United States. While there, he again remained to study abroad. He stayed for around a year and a half thanks to the patronage of the American zoologist Edward S. Morse, whom he had previously met while in Japan.^[3][2] In Fall 1884,^[2] he enrolled in the Governor Dummer Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts.^[3][2] This also made him the first Korean to study abroad in the United States. However, his studies were once again halted due to another incident in his home country: the Gapsin Coup. He halted his studies in December 1884, and returned to Korea via Europe.^[2] He stopped by a number of major European countries along the way.^[2][3]

Return to Korea

However, upon his return to Korea, he was viewed with suspicion due to his association with members of the pro-reform Gaehwa Party. Yu was then arrested. With the assistance of Han Kyu-seol, Yu was eventually able to escape a verdict of capital punishment, and was allowed to serve his sentence at Han's house until 1892.^[2]

While in detention, Yu wrote a book on his experiences entitled Observations on Travels in the West (서유견문; 西遊見聞; Seoyu Gyeonmun) and published it in 1895. The book is nearly 600 pages long,^[4] and is written in a mix of hangul and hanja, and introduces Western civilization to Korean audiences. It advocates for a number of reforms, including the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, military reforms, international trade, and a modern currency and tax system. It also discussed ideas such as the social contract. These ideas later became a significant inspiration for the Gabo Reform.^[2][4]

At the end of the Donghak Peasant Revolution and the First Sino-Japanese War that followed, Yu worked in the government as part of a pro-Japanese faction.^[2] From 1894 to 1895, Yu worked for the government under Prime Minister Kim Hong-jip, who intended to modernize Korea. In 1895, he became Vice Minister of State for the Home Office.

In 1895, he published the first Korean dictionary and grammar book.^{[lower-alpha 1][1]}

In October 1895, he was labeled by King Gojong as one of the 'Eulmi Four Traitors' for collaborating with Imperial Japan leading up to the assassination of Empress Myeonseong. In the following the assassination of Empress Myeongseong, Yu contacted Inoue Kaoru, the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, to discuss the incident. In February 1896, during Gojong's internal exile to the Russian legation, the pro-Japanese faction collapsed, and Yu fled to Japan. Yu and a group of young Korean graduates of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy attempted to execute a coup d'état against the Korean government, but the attempt failed. This sparked a diplomatic row between the two countries, and Yu was subsequently imprisoned on the Ogasawara Islands. Yu was eventually allowed to return to Korea in 1907, when Gojong was dethroned. Yu then served as the vice chair of the Young Korean Academy.^[2][1]

In 1909, Yu wrote and published a book on Korean grammar.^{[2][lower-alpha 2]}

Later life and death

When Korea was annexed by Imperial Japan in 1910, Yu opposed the annexation. He declined the Danshaku title he was awarded by the Japanese government.^{[2][lower-alpha 3]} He then fell into a depression.^[2][1]

On September 30, 1914, he died from complications of a kidney disease.^[1]

Family

• Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
  • Yu Gwang-gi (유광기, 兪廣基)
• Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
  • Yu Eon-il (유언일, 兪彦鎰)
• Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
  • Yu Han-jun (유한준, 兪漢雋)
• Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
  • Yu Geon-ju (유건주, 兪建柱)
• Great-Grandfather
  • Yu In-hwan (유인환, 兪仁煥)
• Great-Grandmother
  • Lady Yun (윤씨)
• Grandfather
  • Yu Chi-hong (유치홍, 兪致弘) (1800 - ?)
• Grandmother
  • Lady Park (박씨); daughter of Park Jun-myeong (박준명, 朴俊命)
• Father
  • Yu Jin-su (유진수, 兪鎭壽) (1825 - 1898)
    • Uncle - Yu Jin-tae (유진태, 兪鎭泰); immigrated to Mexico
      • Cousin - Yu Pil-jun (유필준, 兪弼濬); known by his name Pedro Yu in Mexico
        • Unnamed cousin-in-law; from Korea
          • First cousin once removed - Yu William (윌리엄 유) (1921 - ?)^[5]
        • Unnamed cousin-in-law; from Mexico
          • First cousin once removed - Yu Enrique (엔리케 유)/Yu Yeong-geun (유영근) (1924 - ?)^[6]
          • First cousin once removed - Yu Yeong-yun (유영윤) (1933 - ?)^[7]
• Mother
  • Lady Yi of the Hansan Yi clan (정부인 한산 이씨, 韓山 李氏) (1824 - 1900)
    • Grandfather - Yi Gyeong-jik (이경직, 李耕稙)
• Sibling(s)
  • Older brother - Yu Hoe-jun (유회준, 兪會濬) (1847 - ?)
    • Nephew - Yu Ok-gyeom (유옥겸, 兪鈺兼) (1883 - 1922)
  • Younger brother - Yu Seong-jun (유성준, 兪星濬) (1859/1860 - 27 February 1934)
    • Niece - Yu Gak-gyeong (유각경, 兪珏卿) (1892 - 7 September 1966)
• Wives and their issues
  • Lady Kim of the Gyeongju Kim clan (경주 김씨, 慶州 金氏) (? - 1874) - No issue.
  • Lady Yi of the Chungju Yi clan (충주 이씨, 忠州 李氏);^[8] daughter of Yi Gyeong-jik (이경직, 李敬稙)
    • Son - Yu Man-gyeom (유만겸, 兪萬兼) (13 July 1889 - 13 December 1944)
      • Unnamed daughter-in-law^[9]
      • Daughter-in-law - Lady Yun of the Paepyeong Yun clan (파평 윤씨)
        • Unnamed grandson
        • Unnamed grandson
        • Unnamed grandson
        • Grandson - Yu Byeong-deok (유병덕, 兪炳德) (1932 - 20 June 2000)^[10]
          • Great-Grandson - Yu Seok-jae (유석재, 兪碩在)
          • Great-Grandson - Yu Jung-jae (유중재, 兪重在)
          • Great-Grandson - Yu Hang-jae (유항재, 兪恒在)
    • Son - Yu Eok-gyeom (유억겸, 兪億兼) (23 October 1896 - 8 November 1947)
      • Daughter-in-law - Yun Hui-seob (윤희섭, 尹喜燮), Lady Yun of the Haepyeong Yun clan (해평 윤씨) (6 November 1905 - ?); Empress Sunjeonghyo’s younger sister

Legacy and honors

In 1910, Yu received a Order of the Taegeuk, 1st class from the Korean Empire.^[2][1]

In 2003, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, had an exhibit dedicated to Yu installed.^[1]

Works

All five of Yu's books were republished in 1971.^[2][1]

• Seoyu gyeonmun (서유견문; 西遊見聞)

Yu also published a number of translations of foreign books, including histories of the Seven Years' War, the Crimean War, and the rise and fall of Poland.^[4]

Notes and references