Gapsin Coup (1884): Korea's Failed Three-Day Reform Coup

The Gapsin Coup was a failed attempt by a group of young Korean reformers to seize power in Seoul on 4-6 December 1884. Led by Kim Ok-gyun and supported by Japanese legation guards, they killed leading conservative officials and proclaimed a reform government, but Qing Chinese troops overthrew them within three days. The episode strengthened Chinese control over Korea and set Japan and China on a path towards war a decade later.

Background

Joseon Korea had long been a tributary state of China, while largely closing itself to other foreign contact. Japan forced it to open ports in the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876, and treaties with the United States and European powers followed in 1882-1884.

At court, the queen’s family, the Min clan, dominated government and increasingly relied on Qing China. In 1882 a soldiers’ mutiny, the Imo Incident, led China to station about 3,000 troops in Seoul and to tighten its supervision of Korean affairs. Among the Qing officers was the young Yuan Shikai.

A circle of young officials, known as the Enlightenment Party (Gaehwapa), admired Japan’s Meiji Restoration. Its leaders included Kim Ok-gyun, Pak Yeong-hyo, Hong Yeong-sik, Seo Gwang-beom and the young Seo Jae-pil. Several had visited Japan and believed Korea must reform quickly and free itself from Chinese dominance.

The coup

In 1884 China withdrew half of its garrison from Seoul to fight in the Sino-French War. The reformers saw an opportunity. The Japanese minister, Takezoe Shin’ichiro, promised the support of the legation guard, about 150 soldiers.

On the evening of 4 December 1884, a banquet was held to celebrate the opening of Korea’s new postal administration, the Ujeong Chongguk, headed by Hong Yeong-sik. The conspirators started a fire nearby. Min Yeong-ik, a leading member of the Min faction, was badly wounded with a sword; he survived after treatment by the American missionary doctor Horace Allen.

The plotters then went to King Gojong, told him that Chinese troops were causing disorder, and persuaded him to move to the smaller Gyeongu Palace, where Japanese troops stood guard. Over the night several senior conservative ministers, including Min Tae-ho, Min Yeong-mok and Jo Yeong-ha, were summoned and killed.

The reform programme

On 5 December the reformers announced a new government. According to Kim Ok-gyun’s later account, they issued a 14-point programme. It called for the return of the king’s father, the Heungseon Daewongun, who was being held in China, and the end of tributary ceremonies towards the Qing. It also proposed abolishing the privileges of the hereditary yangban aristocracy in favour of equal rights, reforming the land tax, punishing corrupt officials and reorganising government offices.

The programme was ambitious but had little support beyond a small group of officials. The reformers had few troops of their own and depended almost entirely on the Japanese guard.

Suppression

Queen Min’s supporters appealed to the Qing commanders. On 6 December about 1,500 Chinese troops, with Yuan Shikai prominent among their officers, attacked the palace where the king was then held, joined by Korean soldiers. The outnumbered Japanese guard withdrew, and the king was taken under Chinese protection.

Hong Yeong-sik was killed. Kim Ok-gyun, Pak Yeong-hyo, Seo Gwang-beom and Seo Jae-pil escaped with the Japanese to Incheon and then to Japan. The Japanese legation was burned and a number of Japanese residents were killed. Families of the conspirators who stayed behind were punished severely.

Key people

• Kim Ok-gyun (1851-1894), the leading planner of the coup, a scholar-official who had studied reforms in Japan.
• Pak Yeong-hyo (1861-1939), son-in-law of the late King Cheoljong and an envoy to Japan in 1882.
• Hong Yeong-sik (1855-1884), head of the new postal administration, killed when the coup collapsed.
• Seo Jae-pil (1864-1951), the youngest leader, later known in the United States as Philip Jaisohn.
• Yuan Shikai (1859-1916), Qing officer in Seoul, later China’s resident in Korea and, after 1912, president of the Republic of China.

Consequences

In January 1885 Korea and Japan signed the Treaty of Hanseong, in which Korea apologised and paid compensation. China and Japan then negotiated the Convention of Tianjin on 18 April 1885: both agreed to withdraw their troops from Korea and to inform each other before sending troops again.

Chinese influence in Korea reached its height over the following decade, with Yuan Shikai acting as China’s resident in Seoul. The reform movement was discredited by its association with Japan.

In 1894 Kim Ok-gyun was lured to Shanghai and assassinated by Hong Jong-u. In the same year, a peasant rising led both China and Japan to send troops under the terms of the Tianjin convention, which led directly to the First Sino-Japanese War. Pak Yeong-hyo returned to serve in the reform cabinets of 1894-1895. Seo Jae-pil, who had become an American citizen and physician as Philip Jaisohn, returned at the end of 1895 and in 1896 founded The Independent, Korea’s first privately run newspaper printed in the Korean script.

Timeline

• 1882, July: The Imo Incident leads to Qing troops being stationed in Seoul.
• 1884, 4 December: The coup begins at the postal administration banquet.
• 1884, 5 December: The reformers proclaim a new government.
• 1884, 6 December: Qing troops attack; the coup collapses.
• 1885, 9 January: Treaty of Hanseong between Korea and Japan.
• 1885, 18 April: Convention of Tianjin between China and Japan.
• 1894, 28 March: Kim Ok-gyun is assassinated in Shanghai.

Why it matters

The Gapsin Coup was Korea’s first attempt at radical modernisation from above. Its failure deepened Chinese control, discredited pro-Japanese reformers for a time and left a Sino-Japanese agreement that helped trigger the war of 1894-1895, a turning point in Korea’s path towards Japanese domination.