Volta
PoliticsJune 1907

Secret Emissaries to The Hague

Gojong sent Yi Sang-seol, Yi Jun and Yi Wi-jong to the Second Hague Peace Conference to declare the 1905 treaty void; Japanese obstruction and the indifference of the powers kept them out of the hall.

The Korean envoys to The Hague — Yi Jun, Yi Sang-seol and Yi Wi-jong, 1907
The Korean envoys to The Hague — Yi Jun, Yi Sang-seol and Yi Wi-jong, 1907

Unknown author · Public domain · Source

The envoys reached The Hague in June 1907 but were refused admission on the ground that Korea had no diplomatic rights. Yi Wi-jong spoke to the international press in "A Plea for Korea", exposing Japan’s aggression. Yi Jun died at The Hague in July.

Japan used the mission as a pretext to force Gojong off the throne.

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States and rulers at the time
Korean Empire — Gojong
Places
The Hague

People

  • Yi Sang-seol1870 – 1917

    diplomat · Chief envoy to The Hague who founded the Seojeon Seosuk school in Jiandao and led independence groups in the Russian Far East

  • Yi Jun1859 – 1907

    diplomat · Envoy to The Hague who died there after being refused a seat at the conference

  • Yi Wi-jong1887

    diplomat · Envoy to The Hague who, fluent in foreign languages, gave the speech "A Plea for Korea" outside the conference

  • Gojong1852 – 1919

    monarch · Twenty-sixth king of Joseon and first emperor of the Korean Empire

  • Homer B. Hulbert1863 – 1949

    related figure · American teacher at Yugyeong Gongwon who wrote the Hangeul geography "Samin pilji" and, as Gojong’s secret envoy, protested the Eulsa Treaty and aided the Hague emissaries

Before and after

Earlier
1907 Sinminhoe (New People’s Association)
Later
1907 Forced Abdication of Gojong