Battle of Ugeumchi

Risen again to drive out Japan, the combined Southern and Northern Donghak armies were crushed by government and Japanese troops at Ugeumchi near Gongju; Jeon Bong-jun was captured at Sunchang.

When Japan seized Gyeongbokgung and meddled in the government, the peasants rose again at Samnye in the 9th month (the second uprising). Jeon Bong-jun’s Southern Assembly and the Northern Assembly of Choe Si-hyeong and Son Byong-hi joined at Nonsan and marched on the capital. If the first uprising was against the feudal order, the second was above all against foreign domination.

At Ugeumchi the peasants charged dozens of times over several days against government and Japanese troops with modern rifles, and were destroyed. Jeon was captured at Sunchang in the 12th month and executed the next year. Some of the peasants’ demands found their way into the Gabo Reform, and survivors later joined the righteous armies.