¡°I would rather be buried in Korea than in Westminster Abbey.¡± - Homer B. Hulbert (1863 - 1949)

1) My Encounter with Homer Hulbert

How often have you shed tears for the people of another nation? Although I myself have lived half a century, and my tear ducts have yet to dry up, I must say I have not yet had that experience. Then a few years ago I happened to pick up a book entitled ¡°Impressions of America¡±. I was startled and moved by what I read therein. The author of the book was one Kim Dong-seong who served as the first Minister of the Office of Information of the Republic of Korea. He wrote the book back in 1948 in praise of a remarkable American. I shook my head in amazement as I read this passage describing how an American shed tears for the Korean people.

¡°If we wanted to find a foreigner who was a true patriot in the cause of Korea, there is no one on a par with Dr. Homer Hulbert. After Japan took over Korea and reduced it to a protectorate, Dr. Hulbert was expelled from the country and forced to return to the United States. He devoted his time in America to finding opportunities to introduce Korea and its culture to Americans.

¡°Although there are limits to one man¡¯s strength, he moved his audiences with his passion and his sincerity. Every time he gave a lecture on the topic of Korea tears rolled down his cheeks as he decried the terrible sufferings of Korea and the Korean people. Hulbert devoted his life to the liberation of Korea.¡±

Who exactly was this Homer Hulbert? Why did he feel so strongly about a country far from the shores of his own land that he shed tears?

2) Homer Hulbert¡¯s Background

Homer Hulbert was born on January 26, 1863 in Middlebury, Vermont. His father was a minister who had served as the Chancellor of Middlebury College and his mother was born to a renowned American family. His mother¡¯s great grandfather founded Dartmouth College and her father had served as a missionary in India.

Hulbert graduated from Dartmouth College and entered Union Theological Seminary in 1884. At the time, the American government had plans to establish an Academy for Academic Excellence in Korea. The government sent out a request for those interested in being sent to this school in Korea as teachers. The Director of the Educational Program for the Department of State John Eaton asked Homer Hulbert¡¯s father, who had been his classmate at Dartmouth, whether he would consider sending one of his sons to Korea to serve. The father inquired of his two sons, then studying together at Union Theological Seminary. The younger, and more assertive, Homer was selected to serve in that far-away land.

3) Hulbert¡¯s First Interactions with Korea

Homer Hulbert first stepped on Korean soil with two other visiting instructors D.A. Bunker and G.W. Gilmore. Their first assignment was developing the regulations for the new Academy for Academic Excellence after it was opened on September 23 of that year. Hulbert took responsibility for developing rules and regulations regarding Western-style administration of the academy, curriculum, and instructional approaches. The school introduced Western fields of learning in its instruction such as English language, history, natural sciences, geography and mathematics. The students were the children of current government officials and talented scholars from traditional Korea.

Hulbert discovered that his Korean students has a particular interest in world geography and in 1891 he published a in Korean script a book entitled ¡°A Political Geography in the (En mun) Character and Especially Designed for the Use of Korean Students¡± which served as a primer for geography and astronomy. After 1892 ¡°Essentials A Political Geography¡± became the standard textbook for not only Christian schools, but in fact all schools in Korea.

Hulbert encountered considerable trouble at the Academy for Academic Excellence. The Korean government reduced the allocation for the academy with the result that instructors were unable to receive sufficient salaries. Hulbert was forced to give up his teaching position and return to the United States in December of 1891. Nevertheless, Hulbert was ordained as a minister and returned soon after to Korea as a Methodist missionary. Hulbert had already devoted much effort to the translation into Korean of the Bible and other religious texts from his time at the Academy for Academic Excellence. But this time he came as a proper missionary and took over administrative responsibility for the publishing house of the American Methodist Mission and oversaw the production and distribution of over a million proselytism texts for a Korean readership. The remarkable degree to which Hulbert made in a short time the Methodist publishing house entirely self-sufficient indicates the degree of his passionate devotion to missionary activities.

4) Hulbert¡¯s Contribution to Korean Studies

Hulbert¡¯s efforts were not limited to proselytizing to Koreans by any means. His great contribution was the breadth and depth of his research on Korean history and culture. He accumulated a remarkable knowledge of Korean language, customs, culture, and scholarship through his exchanges with the Koreans he encountered. That knowledge became the foundations for a remarkable body of scholarly work. He started a scholarly journal on Korean matters in 1892 titled ¡°The Korean Repository.¡± This English-language publication introduced the history, customs and language of Korea to Westerners in an accessible and methodical manner. The journal was the first to provide accurate information for the Western reader about Korea itself. The editor placed Hulbert¡¯s article ¡°The Korean Alphabet¡± at the front of the first issue of ¡°The Korean Repository.¡±

This thoughtful essay fully demonstrates the high academic standards that Hulbert brought to the nascent field of Korean studies. Hulbert continued on as a major contributor to ¡°The Korean Repository¡± thereafter. At the same time, he established an entirely new journal in January of 1901 entitled ¡°The Korea Review¡± for which he served as editor.¡± Hulbert went on to publish a remarkable number of insightful articles in ¡°The Korea Review¡± through December of 1906.

But the culmination of Hulbert¡¯s diverse scholarly activities in Korean studies is his two monuments of research. The first was the two-volume ¡°The History of Korea¡± (1905) and the other the massive compilation of material on Korean studies entitled ¡°The Passing of Korea¡± (1906).

If we look at the ¡°History of Korea¡± in the light of the extraordinary explosion of Korean studies that has taken place over the last twenty years, some parts of this history seem insufficient. Yet compared with the other attempts to introduce Korea produced at the time, this book was in a league by itself. By contrast, ¡°The Passing of Korea,¡± written one year after Japan¡¯s bid to end Korea¡¯s sovereignty, is a masterpiece of scholarly endeavor compiling the research Hulbert conducted over 20 years living in Korea. The book presents invaluable documentation necessary to understand the history of Korea, its efforts at industrialization, its cultural and artistic efforts, as well as social and political developments at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.

Hulbert considered the Koreans to be a people who were rational in their thinking but surrounded by an aura of mystery. Although Hulbert did not hesitate to point out the lack of sincerity and righteousness among some Koreans resulting from social inequities of the time, and frequently criticized the insufficiency of the concept of sanitation Koreans held, he also praised the Koreans as a people of extraordinary endurance and tenacity.

Hulbert took an interest in the Korean language and the Korean hangul script unrivaled by other foreigners living in Korea. He went as far as to make the following observation in his book ¡°The Passing of Korea,¡±

¡°Korean surpasses English as a medium of public speaking..¡± Hulbert goes on to explain that, ¡°It is for this reason that the present writer has urged that the Chinese people be invited to adopt the Korean alphabet, which is as simple in structure as any, and capable of the widest phonetic adaptation.¡± He did not hesitate to recognize the value of the Korean language and was not blinded by an Orientalist¡¯s bias.

5) Hulbert¡¯s Participation in Politics

Hulbert decided to turn his attention to the political realm a devote himself to Korea¡¯s cause when he saw his beloved Korea invaded and subject to colonial rule by neighboring Japan. In 1895 the Japanese brutally murdered the empress of Korea. The Korean Emperor Kojong sought the protection of the Western missionaries fearing that his own life was in danger. Hulbert quickly sought the aid of other important American missionaries such as G. H. Jones, J.S. Gale, H.G. Underwood and O. R. Avison in giving shelter and protection in succession to Emperor Kojong. Emperor Kojong put the greatest trust in Hulbert of all the foreigners in Korea at the time and felt a great affection for him. The reason for this attachment was simple: Hulbert was completely devoted to the modernization of Korea and displayed an affection and love for the Korean people that exceeded that of anyone else.

Hulbert had a deep understanding of the political issues troubled Korea at the time. He knew that would be difficult to entice young patriots from the upper classes of society to attend his church. He sought out different approaches for encouraging a forward-looking progressive attitude among them with regards to modernization. He found that potential in another institution rising in importance in Korea, the YMCA. Not only did Hulbert establish a branch of the YMCA in Korea, he utilized it as a means to open the minds of young Koreans to the challenges of the modern world and train them to be the future leaders of Korea. In Hulbert¡¯s hands the YMCA became a social movement lead by the progressive youth of Korea. In this critical respect, Hulbert¡¯s efforts diverged from those of other respected missionaries. Missionaries such as Underwood tried to establish the YMCA in Korea primarily as a purely religious movement aimed at youth. For this reason the YMCA movement in Korea was subject to great turmoil in its early years. But in the end, the YMCA movement evolved in Korea along the lines that Hulbert set forth. As the founder of the YMCA in Korea and a leading figure in its activities, Hulbert was naturally selected as its first national director in 1903.

6) Hulbert¡¯s Role as an Emissary for the Korean Government

The year 1905 was a tragic one for a Korea as it struggled to modernize rapidly. Then Secretary of War Howard Taft visited Japan in July and signed the Taft-Katsura Memorandum, a text that suggested the United States would not confront Japan over its efforts to extend influence in Korea. The Portsmouth Treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War, and the rise of an alliance between England and Japan, in August of that year assured that the Japanese annexation of Korea would proceed unimpeded. In a desperate attempt to escape Japan¡¯s imperial scheme the Korean government dispatched a trusted emissary to Washington to meet with the administration of Theodore Roosevelt. Emperor Kojong had no doubts as to who should serve as representative. He quickly appointed Hulbert. Shrouded in secrecy, Hulbert departed for Washington around the middle of October. He had in his hands a hand-written letter penned by Emperor Kojong himself to deliver to Roosevelt. That letter beseeched the aid of the United States in stopping the Japanese efforts to strip Korea of its diplomatic representation through the illegitimate use of force and coercion.

But despite Hulbert¡¯s valiant efforts, he was unable to recover Korea¡¯s sovereignty. When he arrived in Washington, the Japanese imperialists forged the "Ulsa five-point treaty" on November 17, 1905 which stripped Korea of its sovereign rights. Moreover, the Taft-Katsura Memorandum essentially asserted that the United States would look the other way as Japan consolidated its colonial control of the Korean Peninsula. Hulbert was denied a meeting with Roosevelt and his hard work came to nothing.

After his mission to Washington ended in failure, Hulbert returned to Korea in June of 1906 where he conveyed to Emperor Kojong and the members of the Korean YMCA news about the Hague Peace Conference of that year. The following March he went to the Hague with credentials of Emperor Kojong. So great was Emperor Kojong¡¯s trust in Hulbert that rather than send one of the Korean diplomats such as Lee Jun, he first dispatched Hulbert. Nevertheless, the tremendous efforts of Hulbert were unsuccessful in effecting the course of events and the other emissary Lee Jun gave his life.

7) Hulbert Expelled from Korea under Japanese Occupation

Hulbert¡¯s valiant political efforts on behalf of Korea were the source of much talk among the missionaries active in Korea. . His assertive efforts were a thorn in the side of Japanese officials busy consolidating control over the country. On May 8, 1907, Hulbert was compelled to return to the United States, leaving behind the nation he had adopted as his own. After leaving Korea, Hulbert devoted his prodigious skills to promoting the YMCA movement in France until the First World War. Thereafter, he retired to Springfield, Massachusetts where he continued to play an active role in the Korean struggle for independence. When a peaceful demonstration led by Koreans in Seoul in 1919 in opposition to the colonial rule of Japan was ruthlessly crushed, leaving many dead or injured, Japanese used a combination of torture and other acts of barbarous violence to discourage the Koreans. Hulbert responded by testifying to the United States congress about the barbarism of the Japanese. Hulbert also toured the United States lecturing on the terrible suffering of the Koreans. Those who could not speak for themselves found an articulate and solitary spokesman in Hulbert.

Hulbert adopted a new strategy for promoting Korea for a Western audience thereafter: literature. He compiled an anthology of Korean folk tales written in a vivid style, which he published in 1925. This delightful book with its adorable illustrations introduced the fascinating culture
of Korea for the average American. Her composed the novel ¡°The Face in the Mist¡±
the following year. The plot consists of the adventures of an American youth, a naval officer and a humorous Irish sailor as they seek a fabulous treasure in uncharted regions of the Orient. The three eventually set food on the southernmost island of Korea, Jaejudo. They discover a priceless necklace engraved with the words ¡°Mokwha¡± in Korean hangul script.

8) ¡°I would rather be buried in Korea than in Westminster Abbey¡±

Korea was at last liberated from the yoke of Japanese imperialism in 1945 and the Republic of Korea was formally established on July 29, 1948 after years of terrible struggle. Hulbert was at last able to tread on Korean soil again on July 29, 1949.The president of the Republic of Korea Syngman Rhee invited Hulbert to return to the country for which he had fought so long in appreciation of his tremendous contribution to the struggle for Korean independence, Tragically, the 86-year old Hulbert, who had, not through his own choice, not tread on Korean soil for years, fell ill after just one week and passed away. The Koreans lamented his passing in a day of mourning fit for a beloved ruler.

Homer Hulbert¡¯s tomb can be found in the Foreigners¡¯ Cemetery in Seoul. This striking phrase is inscribed on his tombstone: ¡°I would rather be buried in Korea than in Westminster Abbey.¡± That is what Hulbert said to a reporter as he left in 1949 to return to his adopted homeland. It was also what he was accustomed to tell his friends during the 42 years that he was forced to live far away from his beloved Korea.

Korea and the Korean people will always remember Hulbert and his motherland America.

I ask only that the reader look at the following quotes from Hulbert¡¯s book ¡°The Passing of Korea.¡± I am certain that you will see a striking difference between Hulbert¡¯s writing and the many writings about Korea filled with incomplete facts that circulate today. I ask of the numerous Korea specialists in the United States, ¡°Do you know who Hulbert was?¡±

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The Passing of Korea
Homer B. Hulbert (1863-1949)

¡°If there is any nation on earth that deserves the active and substantial aid of the American people that nation is Korea. We were the first Western power to conclude a treaty with her, and in making that treaty we guaranteed to keep a watchful eye upon her safety and interests.¡±

¡°But when the times of difficulty approached and America's disinterested friendship was to be called upon, we deserted her with such celerity, such cold-heartedness and such a refinement of contempt that the blood of every decent American citizen in Korea boiled with indignation.¡±

¡°While the most royal, cultured and patriotic Koreans were committing suicide one after the other because they would not survive the death of their country, the American Minister was toasting the perpetrators of the outrage in bumpers of champagne; utterly callous to the death throes of an empire which had treated American citizens with a courtesy and consideration they had enjoyed in no other Oriental country.¡±

¡°How can we, the American people, prove to the Koreans that we were not accessory to this act which was contradictory to the principles we have professed to hold?¡±

¡°There is only one way, by helping them to the one thing that will enable them to hold together as a nation, and give them time and opportunity to prove the falsity of the libelous statements that have been so freely circulated, and which have temporarily alienated the goodwill of so many of our people. That one thing is education.¡±

¡°Is there any man or body of men who will seize the opportunity to found in the city of Seoul an institution of learning which shall be the nucleus, the rallying-ground, of a great national movement? It is the opinion of those most conversant with the feeling of the Korean people that there is no other place in the world where money invested in education will bring larger, surer or more beneficent results.¡±



By Lee Hyeon-pyo

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