Korea's Fight for Freedom Part 18

"A few miles from here, a band of soldiers entered a village and ordered the men to leave, the women to remain behind. But the men were afraid to leave their women, and sent the women away first.

For this the men were beaten.

"A short distance from this village, this band is reported to have met a Korean woman riding in a rickshaw. She was violated by four of the soldiers and left unconscious. A Korean reported the doings of this band of soldiers to the military commander of the district in which it occurred and the commander ordered him to be beaten for reporting it.

"Word comes to me to-day from another province of a woman who was stripped and strung up by the thumbs for six hours in an effort to get her to tell the whereabouts of her husband. She probably did not know.

"The woes of Belgium under German domination have filled our ears for the past four years, and rightly so. The Belgian Government has recently announced that during the more than four years that the Germans held the country, six thousand civilians were put to death by the Germans. Here in this land it is probably safe to say that two thousand men, women and children, empty handed and helpless, have been put to death in seven weeks. You may draw your own conclusions!

"As for the Koreans, they are a marvel to us all. Even those of us who have known them for many years, and have believed them to be capable of great things, were surprised. Their self-restraint, their fort.i.tude, their endurance and their heroism have seldom been surpa.s.sed. As an American I have been accustomed to hear, as a boy, of the 'spirit of 76,' but I have seen it out here, and it was under a yellow skin. More than one foreigner is saying, these days, 'I am proud of the Koreans.'"

There were exciting scenes in Sun-chon. This city is one of the great centres of Christianity in Korea, and its people, hardy and independent northerners, have for long been suspected by the j.a.panese. Large numbers of leaders of the church and students at the missionary academy had been arrested, confined for a very long period and ill-treated at the time of the Conspiracy trial. They were all found to be innocent later, on the retrial at the Appeal Court. This had not tended to promote harmonious relations between the two peoples.

Various notices and appeals were circulated among the people. Many of them, issued by the leaders, strongly urged the people to avoid insulting behaviour, insulting language or violence towards the j.a.panese.

"Pray morning, noon and night, and fast on Sundays" was the notice to the Christians. Other appeals ran:

"Think, dear Korean brothers!

"What place have we or our children? Where can we speak? What has become of our land?

"Fellow countrymen, we are of one blood. Can we be indifferent?

At this time, how can you j.a.panese show such ill feeling and such treachery? How can you injure us with guns and swords? How can your violence be so deep?

"Koreans, if in the past for small things we have suffered injuries, how much more shall we suffer to-day? Even though your flesh be torn from you, little by little, you can stand it! Think of the past. Think of the future! We stand together for those who are dying for Korea.

"We have been held in bondage. If we do not become free at this time, we shall never be able to gain freedom. Brethren, it can be done! It is possible! Do not be discouraged! Give up your business for the moment and shout for Korea. Injury to life and property are of consequence, but right and liberty are far more important. Until the news of the Peace Conference is received, do not cease. We are not wood and stones, but flesh and blood. Can we not speak out? Why go back and become discouraged? Do not fear death! Even though I die, my children and grandchildren shall enjoy the blessings of liberty. Mansei! Mansei! Mansei!"

Mr. D.V. Hudson, of the Southern Presbyterian University at Shanghai, brought the records of many outrages back with him on his return to America. From them I take the following:

"At Maingsang, South Pyeng-yang Province, the following incident took place on March 3rd. When the uprising first broke out there were no j.a.panese gendarmes in the village, but Koreans only. The people there were mostly Chun-do Kyo followers, so no Christians were involved in the trouble. These Chun-do Kyo people gathered on the appointed day for the Korean Independence celebration, and held the usual speeches and shouting of 'Mansei.' The Korean gendarmes did not want to or dared not interfere, so that day was spent by the people as they pleased.

"A few days later j.a.panese soldiers arrived to investigate and to put down the uprising. They found the people meeting again, ostensibly to honour one of their teachers. The soldiers immediately interfered, seized the leader of the meeting and led him away to the gendarme station. He was badly treated in the affray and the people were badly incensed. So they followed the soldiers to the station, hoping to effect the release of their leader. The soldiers tried to drive them away. Some left but others remained.

"The police station was surrounded by a stone wall, with but one gate to the enclosure. The soldiers permitted those who insisted on following to enter, and, when they had entered, closed the door; then the soldiers deliberately set to work, shooting them down in cold blood. Only three of the fifty-six escaped death."

Let me give one other statement by a newspaper man. I might go on with tale after tale of brutality and fill another volume. Mr. William R. Giles is a Far Eastern correspondent well known for the sanity of his views and his careful statements of facts. He represents the Chicago _Daily News_ at Peking. He visited Korea shortly after the uprising, specially to learn the truth. He remained there many weeks. Here is his deliberate verdict:

"Pekin, June 14th.--After nearly three months of travelling in Korea, in which time I journeyed from the north to the extreme south, I find that the charges of misgovernment, torture and useless slaughter by the j.a.panese to be substantially correct.

"In the country districts I heard stories of useless murder and crimes against women. A number of the latter cases were brought to my notice. One of the victims was a patient in a missionary hospital.

"In a valley about fifty miles from Fusan, the j.a.panese soldiery closed up a horseshoe-shaped valley surrounded by high hills, and then shot down the villagers who attempted to escape by climbing the steep slopes. I was informed that more than 100 persons were killed in this affray.

"In Taku, a large city midway between Seoul and Fusan, hundreds of cases of torture occurred, and many of the victims of ill-treatment were in the hospitals. In Seoul, the capital, strings of prisoners were seen daily being taken to jails which were already crowded.

"While I was in this city I spent some time in the Severance Hospital as a patient, and saw wounded men taken out by the police, one of them having been beaten to death. Two days later the hospital repeatedly was entered and the patients catechized, those in charge being unable to prevent it. Detectives even attempted in the night time secretly to enter my room while I was critically ill.

"In Seoul, Koreans were not allowed to be on the streets after dark and were not allowed to gather in groups larger than three.

All the prisoners were brutally and disgustingly treated.

Innocent persons were being continually arrested, kept in overcrowded prisons a month or more, and then, after being flogged, released without trial.

"Northern Korea suffered the most from the j.a.panese brutalities.

In the Pyeng-yang and Sensan districts whole villages were destroyed and churches burned, many of which I saw and photographed.

"In Pyeng-yang I interviewed the Governor and easily saw that he was powerless, everything being in the hands of the chief of the gendarmerie. At first I was not allowed to visit the prison, but the Governor-General of Korea telegraphed his permission. I found it clean and the prisoners were well fed, but the overcrowded condition of the cells caused untold suffering.

"In one room, ten feet by six, were more than thirty prisoners.

The prison governor admitted that the total normal capacity of the building was 800, but the occupants then numbered 2,100. He said he had requested the Government to enlarge the prison immediately, as otherwise epidemics would break out as soon as hot weather came.

"I visited an interior village to learn the truth in a report that the Christians had been driven from their homes. The local head official, not a Christian, admitted to me that the non-Christian villagers had driven the Christians into the mountains because the local military officials had warned him that their presence would result in the village being shot up. He said he had the most friendly feeling for the Christians but drove them out in self-protection.

"In other villages which I visited the building had been entirely destroyed and the places were destroyed. In some of the places I found only terrorized and tearful women who did not dare to speak to a foreigner because the local gendarmes would beat and torture them if they did so.

"The majority of the schools throughout the country are closed.

In most places the missionaries are not allowed to hold services.

Though innocent of any wrong-doing, they are under continual suspicion. It was impossible for them or others to use the telegraph and post-offices, the strictest censorship prevailing.

Undoubtedly an attempt is being made to undermine Christianity and make the position of missionaries so difficult that it will be impossible for them to carry on their work.

"In the course of my investigation I was deeply impressed with the pitiful condition of the Korean people. They are allowed only a limited education and attempts are being made to cause them to forget their national history and their language.

"There is no freedom of the press or of public meeting. The people are subject to the harshest regulations and punishments without any court of appeal. They are like sheep driven to a slaughter house. Only an independent investigation can make the world understand Korea's true position. At present the groanings and sufferings of 20,000,000 people are apparently falling on deaf ear."

As these tales, and many more like them, were spread abroad, the j.a.panese outside of Korea tried to find some excuse for their nationals. One of the most extraordinary of these excuses was a series of instructions, said to have been issued by General Utsonomiya, commander of the military forces in Korea, to the officers and men under him. Copies of these were privately circulated by certain pro-j.a.panese in America among their friends, as proof of the falsity of the charges of ill-treatment. Some extracts from them were published by Bishop Herbert Welsh, of the Methodist Church, in the _Christian Advocate_.

"Warm sympathy should be shown to the erring Koreans, who, in spite of their offence, should be treated as unfortunate fellow countrymen, needing love and guidance.

"Use of weapons should be abstained from till the last moment of absolute necessity. Where, for instance, the demonstration is confined merely to processions and the shouting of _banzai_ and no violence is done, efforts should be confined to the dispersal of crowds by peaceful persuasion.

"Even in case force is employed as the last resource, endeavour should be made to limit its use to the minimum extent.

"The moment the necessity therefor ceases the use of force should at once be stopped....

"Special care should be taken not to harm anybody not partic.i.p.ating in disturbances, especially aged people, children and women. With regard to the missionaries and other foreigners, except in case of the plainest evidence, as, for instance, where they are caught in the act, all forbearance and circ.u.mspection should be used.

"You are expected to see to it that the officers and men under you (especially those detailed in small parties) will lead a clean and decent life and be modest and polite, without abating their loyalty and courage, thus exemplifying in their conduct the n.o.ble traditions of our historic Bushido."...

If a final touch were wanted to the disgrace of the j.a.panese administration, here it was. Brutality, especially brutality against the unarmed and against women and children, is bad enough; but when to brutality we add nauseating hypocrisy, G.o.d help us!

One of the j.a.panese majors who returned from Korea to Tokyo to lecture was more straightforward. "We must beat and kill the Koreans," he said. And they did.

After a time the j.a.panese papers began to report the punishments inflicted on the arrested Koreans. Many were released after examination and beatings.

It was mentioned that up to April 13th, 2,400 of those arrested in Seoul alone had been released, "after severe admonition." The usual sentences were between six months' and four years' imprisonment.

Soon there came reports that prisoners were attempting to commit suicide in jail. Then came word that two of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence were dead in prison. Koreans everywhere mourned. For they could imagine how they had died.

During the summer the authorities published figures relating to the number of prisoners brought under the examination of Public Procurators between March 1st and June 18th, on account of the agitation. These figures do not include the large numbers released by the police after arrest, and after possibly summary punishment. Sixteen thousand one hundred and eighty-three men were brought up for examination. Of these, 8,351 were prosecuted and 5,858 set free after the Procurators' examination. One thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight were transferred from one law court to another for the purpose of thorough examination, while 178 had not yet been tried.