Book Shows Foreign Plot to Rule Korea

A Russian publication suggests that foreign powers, including Russia, Japan and the Qing Dynasty of China sent spies to Korea to preoccupy the country in the final years of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty.

The publication also suggests that they engaged in fierce propaganda wars to direct international opinion into their favor.

○ Fierce competition to collect information

The Research Group for Global Korean Business and Culture at Chunnam National University released yesterday a Russian-Korean dictionary designed to give diverse information to Russian spies working in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05.

The research group recently obtained from Russia the dictionary, which was designed to provide diverse information to Russian spies, who were active in Joseon in that era.

The dictionary explains in Russian how to pronounce “Give me meal” in the dialects used in the Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces of Korea. It also contains weapons systems, arrangements of barracks, and the deployment of the Japanese military as well as diverse military information.

Published by the Russian general chiefs of staff in 1904, the dictionary is a portable booklet 40 pages long. It shows that Russia made through preparation to go to war to colonize Korea.

○ Imperialist race to colonize Korea

The research group also released a Russian newspaper from 116 years ago that told of the unilateral logic of imperialist countries aiming to colonize Korea in a war between Japan and the Qing Dynasty of China.

The article, titled, “Korea’s War (referring to the Qing-Russia War),” introduces the logic Japan and Qing used to take over Korea.

Japan claimed to other countries, “Japan advanced into Joseon in the 4th century (Imna Japan theory), and occupied Joseon territory 17 days after an attack in the Imjin Waeran (Joseon-Japan War, 1592-1598), and thus it must rule Joseon.”

Qing claimed, “Joseon was our territory in the 13th century (referring to Mongolian rule of the Goryeo Dynasty), and Chinese generals participated in battles in Imjin Waeran. Joseon was a Chinese colony that paid tributes every year, and had to win China’s approval for the inauguration of its kings.”

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