Chapter 42 - Frank Jacob

Queen Min, Foreign Policy, and the Role of Female Leadership in Late Nineteenth-Century Korea

Empress Myeongseong or Queen Min, was probably the most influential Korean woman in the modern history of the country. As first empress of the Korean Empire, she established her influence on politics early and was a decisive force trying to check Japan’s imperial ambitions on the Korean Peninsula. She also stimulated social changes in the country by supporting educational and other reforms The chapter will highlight Empress Myeongseong’s role in the development of a strong anti-Japanese foreign policy at the Korean court that led to her assassination by Japanese agents in 1895. A special focus will therefore be placed on her path to power, internal Korean conflicts, as well as the Min clan and its role during Myeongseong’s rule. Her leadership has then to be examined in more detail to show how women in influential positions were able to dominate the politics of an Asian country as well. She presented a form of indirect rule, due to which a woman eventually was able to take over state business. It is therefore not only important to highlight the political interconnection between Japan and Korea in the last third of the 19th century, but Empress Myeongseong’s role with regard to this particular history. The chapter will emphasize her particular role in Korea’s ability to resist the Japanese expansive ambitions, at least until her assassination in 1895.

By Frank Jacob

Frank Jacob

Frank Jacob received his PhD in Japanese Studies from the University of Erlangen, Germany. He is currently Professor of Global History at Nord University, Norway. His main research focuses on modern East Asian History, especially Japan and Korea and the history of transnational anarchism.

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Annotated bibliography

  • Choi, H. (2009) Gender and Mission Encounters in Korea: New Women, Old Ways, Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press.
    • This book provides an insight into Korea during its modernization and the role of missionaries for the change of gender roles within the country.
  • Gen’yōsha (ed.) (1917) Gen'yōsha shashi, Tokyo: Gen'yōsha Shashi Hensankai.
    • The volume was published by the Black Ocean Society and contains a history of activities of the society. It has to be read critically, because the members of the Gen’yōsha retrospectively overemphasized their own role for Japan’s foreign policy in the late 19th and early 20th century.
  • Kim, Y.-S. (2008) ‘Two Perspectives on the 1895 Assassination of Queen Min’, Korea Journal 48, 2: 160-185.
    • This article provides some basic considerations with regard to the assassination of the Korean empress.
  • Larsen, K. W. (2011) Tradition, Treaties, and Trade: Qing Imperialism and Choson Korea, 1850-1910, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    • The book is highly recommended to understand the Chinese interest in late 19th century Korea.
  • Simbirtseva, T. M. (1996) ‘Queen Min of Korea: Coming to Power’, Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society-Korea Branch 71, 4: 41-53.
    • The articles provides a very helpful description of Queen Min’s rise to power.

Keywords

Isabella Bird Bishop; Black Ocean Society; Empress Myeongseong; Daewongun; Donghak Rebellion; Hong Yŏngsik; Inoue Kaoru; Itō Hirobumi; Kaspin Coup; Kim Hong-jip; Kim Ok-kyun; King Cheoljong; King Kojong; King Sunjo; Korean Peninsula; Li Hung-chang; Miura Gorō; Pak Yŏnghyo; Queen Dowager Cho; Sino-Japanese War; So Chaep-il; Sŏ Kwangbŏm; Sugimura Fukashi; Lillian H. Underwood; Yuan Shikai; Yi Cun-yong; Yi Dynasty; Yu Kil-chun

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