Gojong (8 September 1852-21 January 1919), also known as Emperor Gwangmu, was King of Joseon from 13 December 1863 to 13 October 1897 (succeeding Cheoljong) and Emperor of the Korean Empire from 13 October 1897 to 19 July 1907 (preceding Sunjong).
Biography[]
Gojong in 1871
Gojong was born in Unhyeon Palace, Hanseong, Joseon (present-day Seoul, South Korea) in 1852, the son of Heungseon Daewongun. After the death of the childless King Cheoljong of Joseon in 1863, the Andong Kim clan nominated Gojong to succeed him, with the now-ennobled Heungseon serving as the young King's regent. Gojong's personal rule started in 1866, and he continued his father's policies of isolationism and anti-Christian persecutions, resulting in French and American expeditions to Korea in 1866 and 1871. In 1873, Gojong's father retired from court life, and Gojong's wife, Empress Myeongseong, came to dominate the court and empower her relatives. In 1876, Gojong signed the Treaty of Ganghwa with Japan after Japan threatened to follow France and America in launching a naval expedition against Korea, ending Joseon's status as a tributary of Qing China, opening Korea to foreign trade, and granting Japanese expatriates the right of extraterritoriality.
At the same time, the Gaehwa Party convinced Gojong to create a modernized, Japanese-trained Korean army in 1882. Unpaid soldiers from the traditional army mutinied against the modernized army in the "Imo Incident" of 23 July 1882, and Gojong's father briefly seized power before the Empress convinced China to send 3,000 troops to suppress the mutiny and kidnap Heungseon. On 4 December 1884, a pro-Japanese coup against the Qing occupiers of Korea, the Gapsin Coup, was suppressed, leading to a deterioration of relations with Japan. In 1894, the Empress' imposition of a new tax system, as well as widespread poverty and xenophobia, led to the outbreak of the Donghak Peasant Revolution, and Gojong imported both Chinese and Japanese troops to crush the uprising. The Empress' increasingly pro-Chinese views led to Japanese agents assassinating her in 1895, and Japan also drove the Chinese out of Korea in the First Sino-Japanese War. Gojong, who had lost both his wife and his autonomy to the Japanese, proceeded to send emissaries to the Russian Empire, seeking help against the Japanese. On 11 February 1896, Gojong fled to the Russian legation in Seoul, going into internal exile with his son and importing Russian military advisors who were able to train guards and enable Gojong to return to his palace in February 1897 without fear of assassination by the Japanese. On 13 October 1897, Gojong formally broke with Qing China by proclaiming the Korean Empire, while he also cracked down on the Independence Club due to its allegedly republican goals.
Gojong was forced to vacillate between siding with Japan and Russia, sending cadets to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy whilst also pursuing close ties with Russia in the event of a Japanese attempted takeover of Korea. Gojong survived several assassination attempts by Korean nationalists, and, after Japan defeated the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Gojong's minister Yi Han-eung failed to win British support for Korean independence, as Britain backed Japan's imperial aims. Yi committed suicide in protest, and, upon hearing of Yi's attempts to undermine their influence, the Japanese deposed Gojong in 1907 and had his son Sunjong succeed him. He was confined to the Deoksu Palace, and he was recognized as a member of Japan's imperial family after the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910. He died suddenly in 1919 at the age of 66, with Japanese poisoning being a widely rumored cause of death.