KoreaTimes - Blogs

The Korea Times

Entertainment & Arts

SCMP
Asia

The Korea Times

Entertainment & Arts

SCMP
Asia

The Korea Times

Opinion

Blogs

Wed, February 8, 2023 | 21:54

Police brutality in 19th-century Joseon (II)

Police brutality in 19th-century Joseon (II)

On Oct. 27, 1884, three policemen accused of badly beating a British citizen were put on trial in Incheon. This may have been the first mixed court in Korea involving a British citizen. Although he had insisted that he would attend, W.G. Aston, the British Consul-General, decided not to (possibly because the Korean governor was not presiding over the trial) and instead sent h...

2021-09-05 08:39

Police brutality in 19th-century Joseon (I)

Police brutality in 19th-century Joseon (I)

Police brutality in 19th-century Joseon (I)

In the summer of 1884, the streets of the fledgling port of Jemulpo (part of modern Incheon) were awash with violence. British Vice-Consul William Richard Carles reported that clashes between knife-wielding Japanese residents and Koreans were an “almost daily occurrence and on every occasion hundreds of Japanese have hurried to the spot ready to take the part of their country...

2021-09-04 09:29

Police brutality in 19th-century Joseon (II)

Charlotte Christine: shipwrecked on Ulleung Island in 1873

Charlotte Christine: shipwrecked on Ulleung Island in 1873

On Aug. 27, 1873, the Charlotte Christine, a German barque, departed Vladivostok bound for Chefoo (modern Yantai), China. We don't know much about the ship save that it was relatively small (286 tons) and apparently arrived in the Far East the previous year or so, mainly transporting goods, including cotton, along the Chinese coast.

2021-08-29 09:10

The difficult choice

The difficult choice

Photographs of Korea in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are often graced with the images of children. In many pictures, the children are accessories - used as a scale to indicate the size of the object or to breathe life into a rather dull image of a building or artifact.

2021-08-28 09:49

The Argonaut's arrival in Korea in 1791

The Argonaut's arrival in Korea in 1791

One of the earliest Western attempts to establish trade with Korea took place in the summer of 1791 by the English-flagged Argonaut, commanded by Captain James Colnett. The 400-ton ship had a crew of 19 men (excluding the captain) as well as Thomas Beal, a Prussian and the younger brother of one of the ship's owners, and a Chinese man, “smuggled on board who pretended to be a...

2021-08-22 09:10

Diplomat on the run

Diplomat on the run

In 1888, the vice consul in Shanghai for the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway was an Austrian businessman named S. Krips. In the past, countries that did not have diplomats in a distant port would sometimes assign consular positions to citizens of their own country or to trusted people of foreign nationality, usually businesspeople.

2021-08-21 09:15

Yanks welcomed on their arrival in newly liberated Korea

Yanks welcomed on their arrival in newly liberated Korea

On Sept. 8, 1945, American soldiers began arriving in Incheon. Everett Shipley informed his parents in a letter home that his unit arrived in the port at about 3 p.m. and were greeted by the Japanese who provided them with trucks and other logistical support to off-load their equipment.

2021-08-15 08:26

An emperor delivers 'a Great Declaration' of Aug. 15, 1945

An emperor delivers 'a Great Declaration' of Aug. 15, 1945

On Aug. 14, 1945, Koreans and Japanese on the Korean Peninsula were surprised by notices in the newspaper and radio broadcasts that on the following day, at noon, there would be “a great declaration.”

2021-08-14 09:53

A tale of two ships at Gunsan in 1847: Gloire and Victorieuse

A tale of two ships at Gunsan in 1847: Gloire and Victorieuse

Often when we think of early Western-Korean interactions we think of Seoul, Jemulpo or Busan, but an early - and potentially violent - encounter took place near Gunsan City in 1847.

2021-08-08 08:23

The dangers of making money

The dangers of making money

On July 10, 1883, Korean authorities arrested an international ring of counterfeiters on a small island off the coast of Jemulpo (the former name of today's Incheon). The seven men were found with several thousand units of counterfeit money (in Korean coins) and the tools of their nefarious trade.

2021-08-07 08:17

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Top 10 Stories

1	Coupang reveals Asia's largest fulfillment center in Daegu

2	'Celebrity forests' emerge as new K-pop trend in Seoul

3	Tiger endures 3 years of solitary confinement in closed zoo

4	Seoul city zeroes in on foreign residents' unpaid taxes

5	Ex-justice minister, daughter blamed for unrepentant attitude over academic fraud

6	INTERVIEW'Korea, US can create synergy in space industry': NASA ambassador

7	Seoul narrows in on new slogan

8	Korea to allow currency trading by offshore firms, extend market hours

9	Chainsaw Fest set to rip apart Club SHARP

10	Korea could resume issuing short-term visas to Chinese visitors soon

DARKROOM