KOORDS. See KURDS.

KOPOLNA, Battle of (1849). See HUNGARY: 1847-1849.

KORAES, Adamantios (1748-1833), Greek scholar and writer. See GREEK LITERATURE: Mod

ern.

KORAI. See KOREA: Early history.

KORAN, sacred book revealed by Mohammed, and accepted by the followers of Islam as a direct revelation from God. "The Koran, as Mr. Kingsley quaintly, but truly, says, 'after all is not a book, but an irregular collection of Mohammed's meditations and notes for sermons.' It is not a code, it is not a journal, it is a mere gathering together of irregular scraps, written on palm-leaves and bones of mutton, which Abu-Bekr [the bosom friend of Mahomet and the first of the Caliphs or successors of the Prophet] put together without the slightest regard to chronological order, only putting the long fragments at the beginning, and the short fragments at the end. But so far from having the Koran of Mahomet, we have not even the Koran of Abu-Bekr. Caliph Othman [the third Caliph], we know, gave enormous scandal by burning all the existing copies, which were extremely discordant, and putting forth his own version as the 'textus ab omnibus receptus.' How much, then, of the existing Koran is really Mahomet's; how much has been lost, added, transposed, or perverted; when, where, and why each fragment was delivered, it is often impossible even to conjecture. And yet these baskets of fragments are positively worshipped."-E. A. Freeman, History and conquests of the Saracens, lect. 2.-See also MOHAMMEDANISM; RELIGION: 622; TURKEY: 1498-1502; ABU-BEKR; ARABIC LITERATURE: Influence of the Koran.

ALSO IN: S. Lane-Poole, Studies in a mosque, ch. 4.-W. Muir, Coran.-T. Nöldeke, Sketches from Eastern history, ch. 2.-G. Sale, Koran.

KORANA, Hottentot tribe. See HOTTENTOTS. KORASMIAN EMPIRE. See KHUAREZM. KORDU. See CARDUCHI.

Practically all the Americans in the country are either missionaries or engaged in mining. The capital city is Seoul, with a population of close to three hundred thousand people."-C. W. Kendall, Truth about Korea, pp. 9-10.

Agriculture. "Opinions differ as to the value of Korea's resources. . . . Agriculturally, Korea has great possibilities. It is true that the numerous mountains exclude large areas from cultivation. . . The bottoms of the more fertile valleys are well occupied by rice-fields; but . . . tens of thousands of acres of . . . land [are] . . . either not cultivated at all or . . . [so] slightly tilled that ... [they yield] only a small proportion of what ... [they] might be made to produce. . . . Such intensive cultivation and terracing of hill-sides as one sees in Japan and Syria would enormously increase the agricultural output of Korea. Even under the crude... methods of the Koreans the land produces generous harvests of rice, beans, peas, barley, millet, cotton, tobacco, ginseng, and the castorbean. The first two, being the staple food of the people, are the chief crops. Large quantities of millet are also raised. . . . The ginseng is the best in the world. . . . Less than ten per cent of the area of the country, and less than half of its arable land were under cultivation when the Japanese annexed the peninsula."-A. J. Brown, Mastery of the Far East, pp. 9-10.

Early history.-"Like most regions of the extreme East, Korea is known to foreigners by a name which has little currency in the country itself. This term, belonging formerly to the petty state of Korié, has been extended by the Chinese and Japanese to the whole peninsula, under the forms of Kaokiuli, Korai, Kaoli. When all the principalities were fused into one monarchy, towards the close of the 14th century, the country, at that time subject to China, took the official title of Chaosien (Tsiosen)—that is, 'Serenity of the Morning'-in allusion to its geographical position east of the empire. . . . From its very position between China and Japan, Korea could not fail to have been a subject of contention for its powerful neighbours. Before its fusion in one state it comprised several distinct principalities, whose limits were subject to frequent changes. These were, in the north, Kaokiuli (Kaoli), or Korea proper; in the centre, Chaosien and the 78 so-called 'kingdoms' of Chinese foundation, usually known as the San Kan (San Han), or 'Three Han'; in the south, Petsi, or Hiaksaï (Kudara), the Sinlo of the Chinese, or Siragi of the Japanese; beside the petty state of Kara, Zinna, or Mimana, in the south-east, round about the Bay of Tsiosan. The northern regions naturally gravitated towards China, whose rulers repeatedly interfered in the internal affairs of the country. But the inhabitants of the south, known in history by the Japanese name of Kmaso, or 'Herd of Bears,' were long subject to Japan, while at other times they made frequent incursions into Kiu-siu and Hondo, and even formed settlements on those islands. JAPAN: 550-708.] The first conquest of the country was made by the forces of the Queen Regent Zingu in the 3d century. Towards the end of the 16th the celebrated Japanese dictator and usurper Taïkosama [Hideyoshi] having conceived the project of conquering China, began with ... Korea, under the pretext of old Japanese rights over the country of the Kmaso. After wasting the land he compelled the King to become his tributary, and left a permanent garrison in the peninsula. [See JAPAN: 1549-1605.] A fresh expedition, although interrupted by the death of Taïkosama, was equally successful. Tsu-sima remained in the

KOREA, or Chosen: Geography.-Industries. ― Resources. — Population. — "The country is somewhat the shape of Italy. It is a rich peninsula, extending out from the mainland of Asia, bounded on three sides by the sea and on the north by Manchuria and the Russian Maritime Province. [See CHINA: Map; JAPAN: Map.] Its 1,700-mile sea coast is rugged and dotted with many mountainous islands and good harbors. The largest port is Fusan, one hundred and sixty-three miles by water from Nagasaki, Japan, and a thriving commercial city with over a hundred thousand population. Korea is about twice the size of New York State. In climate and density of population it is closely akin to the eastern United States. The principal industries are mining, agriculture and the catching of sea foods. Much of the mining is in the hands of foreigners. Formerly large concessions were granted to Americans, but of late years, as the leases expire, they have gradually been taken over by Japanese. The country is rich in undeveloped natural resources. Rich, fertile river valleys, together with an abundance of saltwater fish, make Korea amply able to support its population of twenty million people. [According

to the census of 1920, the population aggregated 17,264,119.] The number of foreigners in the country is constantly on the increase. At the present time [written in 1919] there are over three hundred and fifty thousand Japanese. The other nationalities represented are, according to the census of 1914; 16,882 Chinese, 687 Americans, 230 English, 97 French, 53 Germans and 14 Russians.

[See

hands of the Japanese, and from that time till the middle of the . . . [nineteenth] century Korea continued in a state of vassalage, sending every year presents and tribute to Nippon. . . . Thanks to the aid sent by the Ming dynasty to Korea, in its victorious struggle with the other petty states of the peninsula, and in its resistance to Japan, its relations with China continued to be of the most friendly character. Admirers of Chinese culture, the native rulers felt honoured by the investiture granted them by the 'Son of Heaven.' But after the Manchu conquest of the Middle

KOREA

the doctrine preached by Roman missionaries in China began to filter across the frontier, and to provoke a fitful and uncertain intercourse between them and the few Coreans who had been attracted by the new religion. . . . Persecution . . . followed persecution; but from Jacques Velloz, the first missionary to cross the frontier, who suffered martyrdom in 1800, to Mgr. Ridel, who . . . returned to Europe with health shattered by the anxieties and hardships undergone during the latest outbreak, there have always been some priests alternately tolerated or hiding in the country, and

Kingdom, Korea remaining faithful to the cause of the Mings, the new masters of the empire invaded the peninsula, and in 1637 dictated a treaty, imposing on the Koreans a yearly tribute. . . . But although since that time the native ruler takes the title of 'Subject,' China exercises no real sovereign rights in Korea."-E. Reclus, Earth and its inhabitants: Asia, v. 2, ch. 6.-"Since the conclusion of that treaty [of 1637], Corea has been at peace with both her neighbours and able, till within . . . [comparatively recent] years, to maintain the seclusion she so much desired. [About] the beginning of the present [nineteenth] century...

the spark lighted by the young Corean attaché has never been quite extinguished. [See MISSIONS, CHRISTIAN: Korea.] . . . On July 7th, 1866, a Roman Catholic missionary arrived in a Corean boat at Chefoo, with a tale of dire persecution. Two bishops, nine priests, and a number of Christians of both sexes had been massacred, many of them after judicial tortures of atrocious cruelty. Three members of the mission only survived, and M. Ridel had been chosen to carry the news to China, and endeavour to procure assistance. It was to the French authorities, naturally, that he addressed himself; and both Admiral Roze, the Commandant

of the French fleet in Chinese waters, and M. de Bellonet, then chargé-d'affaires at Peking, lent a sympathetic ear to his protest. . . An expedition was accordingly resolved on. Admiral Roze started from Chefoo with the expeditionary force on October 11th, arrived off Kang-hwa on the 14th, and occupied it, after a merely nominal resistance, two days later. The Coreans were ap

IMAGE OF A WAR GOD

At the grave of the last empress of Korea at Seoul

parently taken by surprise, having perhaps thought that the danger had passed. . . . The forts along the banks of the river were found ungarrisoned, and Kang-hwa itself, a considerable fortress containing large stores of munitions of war, was practically undefended. A letter was received, a few days later, inviting Admiral Roze to come or send delegates to Söul, to talk over matters in a friendly spirit but he replied that, if the Corean authorities

wished to treat, they had better come to Kanghwa. This attitude was meant, no doubt, to be impressive, but the event proved it to be slightly premature. So far all had gone well; but the expedition was about to collapse with a suddenness contrasting remarkably with the expectations raised by M. de Bellonet's denunciations and Admiral Roze's hauteur. . . . The disastrous termination of . . . two movements appears to have persuaded Admiral Roze that the force at his disposal was insufficient to prosecute the enterprise to a successful issue, in the face of Corean hostility. It was no longer a question whether he should go to Söul or the Coreans come to him: the expedition was at a deadlock. He had rejected the first overtures, and was not strong enough to impose terms. A retreat was accordingly decided on. The city of Kang-hwa was burned, with its public offices and royal palace."-R. S. Gundry, China and her neighbours, ch. 9.

1866-1894.-Strained relations with Japan.Treaty of 1876.-Convention of Tientsien.Japanese occupation.-In 1866, when the French threatened Korea, the latter sought help from Japan and received none. Two years later, after the Japanese revolution which restored the mikado to his full sovereignty, the Koreans declined to acknowledge his suzerainty, and bitterly hostile feelings grew up between the two peoples. The Japanese were restrained from war with difficulty by their more conservative statesmen. Without war, they obtained from Korea, in 1876, an important treaty, which contained in the first article "the remarkable statement that 'Chosen, being an independent State, enjoys the same sovereign rights as does Japan'-an admission which was foolishly winked at by China from the mistaken notion that, by disavowing her connection with Korea, she should escape the unpleasantness of being called to account for the delinquencies of her vassal. [See JAPAN: 1868-1894.] This preliminary advantage was more than doubled in value to Japan when, after the revolution in Söul in 1884, by which her diplomatic representative was compelled to flee for the second time from the Korean capital, she sent troops to avenge the insult and declined to remove them until China had made a similar concession with regard to the Chinese garrison, which had been maintained since the previous outbreak in 1882 in that city. By the Convention of Tientsin, which was negotiated in 1885 by Count Ito with the Viceroy Li Hung Chang, both parties agreed to withdraw their troops and not to send an armed force to Korea at any future date to suppress rebellion or disturbance without giving previous intimation to the other. This document was a second diplomatic triumph for Japan. . . . It is, in my judgment, greatly to be regretted that in the present summer [1894] her Government, anxious to escape from domestic tangles by a spirited foreign policy, has abandoned this statesmanlike attitude, and has embarked upon a headlong course of aggression in Korea, for which there appears to have been no sufficient provocation, and the ulterior consequences of which it is impossible to forecast. . . . Taking advantage of recent disturbances in the peninsula, which demonstrated with renewed clearness the impotence of the native Government to provide either a decent administration for its own subjects or adequate protection to the interests of foreigners, and ingeniously profiting by the loophole left for future interference in the Tientsin Agreement of 1885, Japan... (in July 1894) landed a large military force, estimated at 10,000 men, in Korea, and is in armed occupation of the capital. Li Hung

Chang... responded by the despatch of the Chinese fleet and of an expeditionary force, marching overland into the northern provinces."-G. N. Curzon, Problems of the Far East, ch. 7.

See

1894-1895.-War between China and Japan.Recognition of Korean independence. CHINA: 1894-1895; JAPAN: 1894-1895; SHIMONOSEKI, TREATY OF.

1895-1898.-Nominal independence of Korea. -Japanese influence supplanted by Russian.On January 7, 1895, the independence of Korea (see CHINA: 1894-1895) was formally proclaimed at Seoul. For a time, Japanese influence prevailed, and the party favorable to it controlled affairs. But Russian jealousy gave encouragement to the opposing faction, headed by the queen, and the latter succeeded at length in thwarting most of the aims of the Japanese. The result was a revolutionary conspiracy in October, carried out by a murderous band which broke into the palace and killed three women, one of whom was supposed to be the queen. The assassins were dressed in Japanese costume, and were said to belong to the "soshi," or hireling cutthroats, of that country; but the Japanese government indignantly repudiated the crime, recalled and arrested its minister, who was suspected of complicity, and forbade its subjects to enter Korea without special permission. Russian influence, nevertheless, became dominant soon after; the king yielded to it completely, and obtained riddance of opposing ministers with Russian support. In the end, Russia and Japan came to an agreement, nominally establishing a joint protectorate over Korea; but practically the Japanese seemed to be fairly shouldered out. In the latter part of 1897, the Russian minister to Korea brought about the dismissal of an English official, Mr. Brown, who had been the financial adviser of the Korean government and its commissioner of customs, putting a Russian in his place, and secured a written agreement that nore but Russians or Koreans should fill that important post in future. The vigorous remonstrance of the British government, however, caused this action to be reversed. Russia and Japan came to a new understanding in 1898, more favorable to the interests of the latter in Korea. This was embodied in a protocol, signed at Tokyo on April 25, 1898, in terms as follows: "I. That the Governments of Japan and Russia, recognizing the sovereignty and complete independence of Korea, shall in no way directly interfere with the domestic government of that country. II. That in order to avoid misunderstandings in the future, whenever either Japan or Russia is applied to by Korea for advice or assistance, neither contracting party shall take any steps toward the appointment of military instructors or financial advisers without previous consultation with the other. III. That Russia, recognizing the great progress made in commercial and industrial enterprises by Japan in Korea, and the great number of Japanese subjects residing in the settlements, will do nothing to injure the development of the commercial and industrial relations between Japan and Korea."United States Consular Reports, Aug., 1898, p. 591. -A reform party had begun to manifest influence at this time, even aspiring to representative institutions in the government. Various progressive measures were undertaken in 1898; the gold monetary standard was adopted; American engineers were engaged to plan roads, bridges, etc., and new ports were opened.

KOREA, 1903

By the beginning of the twentieth century the Japanese were firmly convinced that, when once Russia was firmly seated in Northern China, she must inevitably seek to absorb Korea. In any other hands but her own the Korean peninsula would always be a wedge inconveniently driven in between her older acquisitions on the Pacific seaboard and her more recent acquisitions in the Gulf of Chi-li, nor could she regard her strategical position in the Far East as thoroughly secured so long as she did not command one shore of the straits through which lies the natural waterway between her two naval bases at Vladivostok and at Port Arthur. Port Arthur is situated practically on an inland sea to which the approaches can be dominated, not only by positions such as Wei-hai-wei and Kiao-chau, but by the Korean peninsula and islands as well as by the Japanese archipelago, from Tsushima down to Formosa. "In March, 1900, occurred the first of the events that compelled Japan to issue her second challenge to Europe. It was announced that Russia had secured a concession for exclusive settlement at Masan-Pho, the finest harbor of Korea, and the promise of the Korean government not to cede the island of Koji, off Masan-Pho, to any foreign country; and the Petrograd government forthwith declared its intention to make Masan-Pho a winter harbor for warships. Had Masan-Pho become a naval base, Russia would have dominated the passage from the Japan Sea to the Yellow Sea. Japan sent an ultimatum to Korea, demanding that the concession be canceled, and after a year of bickering the matter was temporarily settled by a grant of concessions at Masan-Pho to both Russia and Japan. At the same time, a joint Korean-Japanese company secured a concession for a railroad from Seoul to the port of Fusan, which is near Masan-Pho, and which the Japanese knew they could develop in such a way as to control Masan-Pho."-H. A. Gibbons, Introduction to world politics, pp. 127-128.-See also JAPAN: 1895

1902.

1902. Agreement respecting Korea between Great Britain and Japan. See JAPAN: 1895-1902.

1903.-Second attempt of Russia to gain a footing in the empire.-Fatal weakness of the Korean government.-"The second attempt of Russia to enter Korea occurred in 1903. Inspired by the example of France in Siam, where a lumber concession in the Mekong Valley was being successfully followed up by administrative control of both banks of the river, Russia established a settlement at Phyong-an Do, on the Korean side of the Yalu River. The Koreans rejected this interpretation. There was nothing in the terms of the concession about a settlement. The Russian minister then tried to force Korea to sign supplementary clauses to the original concession, legalizing the occupation of land at Phyong-an Do. Seconded by Great Britain and the United States, Japan backed up the Korean protest. Here the fatal weakness of the Korean government became evident. It was the same kind of weakness that was leading to the partition of China. Afraid of provoking resentment, and unwilling to take either side, Korea sought a solution in inaction. She neither insisted upon the Russians leaving nor signed the supplementary clauses. To get even with Japan, Russia instigated the Korean government to protest against the issue of notes by the Japanese bank at Seoul, the first and only banking enterprise in Korea. The Japanese bank-notes were declared illegal. No steps were taken, however, to prevent their circulation. None could accuse the Koreans of partiality. Unable to de

1900.-Strategic importance of Korea to Russia and Japan.-Japanese jealousy of Russian encroachments in Manchuria and its grounds.

KOREA, 1904

fend their own interests, and unwilling to take sides, they simply put up their country as a prize to be fought for and won by the strongest."H. A. Gibbons, Introduction to world politics, p. 128.

1904 (February).—Japanese occupation. See JAPAN: 1902-1905.

1904-1905.-Conventions with Japan, creating protectorate relations with that empire and submitting financial and diplomatic affairs to Japanese control.-On February 25, 1904, the text of a protocol, concluded on the 23rd, between the governments of Japan and Korea, was communicated to the government of the United States (and, of course to others), by the government of Japan, with an accompanying explanation, as follows:

In the prosecution of the present war the use of some of the ports and some portions of the territory of Korea is found inevitable, and therefore, with a view to facilitate military operations and to show that such use of ports and territory is made with the full knowledge and consent of Korea, and not in disregard or violation of her independence or territorial integrity, and also in order to prevent future complications, the Japanese Government concluded with the Korean Government on the 23d instant the following protocol. . . .

Article 1. For the purpose of maintaining permanent and solid friendship between Japan and Korea and firmly establishing peace in the Far East, the Imperial Government of Korea shall place full confidence in the Imperial Government of Japan and adopt the advice of the latter with regard to improvements in administration.

Art. II. The Imperial Government of Japan shall, in a spirit of firm friendship, insure the safety and repose of the Imperial House of Korea.

Art. III. The Imperial Government of Japan definitively guarantee the independence and territorial integrity of the Korean Empire.

Art. IV. In case the welfare of the Imperial House of Korea or the territorial integrity of Korea is endangered by the aggression of a third power or internal disturbances, the Imperial Government of Japan shall immediately take such necessary measures as circumstances require, and in such case the Imperial Government of Korea shall give full facilities to promote the action of the Imperial Japanese Government. The Imperial Government of Japan may, for the attainment of the abovementioned object, occupy, when circumstances require it, such places as may be necessary from strategic points of view.

Art. v. The Government of the two countries shall not in future, without mutual consent, conclude with a third power such an arrangement as may be contrary to the principles of the present protocol.

Art. vi. Details in connection with the present protocol shall be arranged as the circumstances may require between the representative of Japan and the minister of state for foreign affairs of Korea.

On August 30, 1904, an additional agreement between the governments of Japan and Korea, signed in part on the 19th and in part on the 22d of that month, was communicated by the Japanese ambassador to the United States to the state department at Washington, with a note saying: "In communicating this agreement to the Government of the United States I am instructed to say that it is nothing more than the natural consequence or development of the protocol concluded between

KOREA, 1904-1905

the Japanese and Korean Governments on the 23rd of last February, which I had the honor to communicate at that time for the information of the Government of the United States. I am further directed to say that the agreement does not in anywise interfere with the full operation or validity of Korea's existing treaties; and that Article II thereof is not intended to place any impediment in the way of legitimate enterprise in Korea, but merely to check, as far as possible, the future conclusion of unwise and improvident engagements, which in the past have been fruitful sources of trouble and complication."

The agreement thus announced was in the following terms:

Article 1. The Korean Government shall engage a Japanese subject recommended by the Japanese Government as financial adviser to the Korean Government, and all matters concerning finance shall be dealt with after his counsel shall have been taken.

Art. II. The Korean Government shall engage a foreigner recommended by the Japanese Government as diplomatic adviser to the foreign office, and all important matters concerning foreign relations shall be dealt with after his counsel shall have been taken.

Art. III.

The Korean Government shall consult the Japanese Government before concluding treaties and conventions with foreign powers, and also in dealing with other important diplomatic affairs, such as grants of concessions to or contracts with foreigners.

Under a third agreement, signed April 1, 1905, Japan took over the control and operation of the post, telegraph, and telephone services of Korea, in order to "rearrange the system of communications in that country, and, by amalgamating it with that of Japan, to unite the two systems into one."

Finally, on November 17, 1905, a fourth agreement was signed, which definitely surrendered to Japan the "control and direction of the external relations and affairs of Korea," in the following stipulations:

Article 1. The Government of Japan, through the department of foreign affairs in Tokyo, will hereafter have control and direction of the external relations and affairs of Korea and the diplomatic and consular representatives of Japan will have the charge of the subjects and interests of Korea in foreign countries.

Art. II. The Government of Japan undertake to see to the execution of the treaties actually existing between Korea and other powers, and the Government of Korea engage not to conclude hereafter any act or engagement having an international character, except through the medium of the Government of Japan.

Art. III. The Government of Japan shall be represented at the court of His Majesty the Emperor of Korea by a resident general, who shall reside at Seoul primarily for the purpose of taking charge of and directing the matters relating to diplomatic affairs. He shall have the right of private and personal audience of His Majesty the Emperor of Korea. The Japanese Government shall have the right to station residents at the several open ports and such other places in Korea as they may deem necessary.

Such residents shall, under the direction of the resident general, exercise the powers and functions hitherto appertaining to Japanese consuls in Ko