Politics30 November 1905

Suicide of Min Yeong-hwan

Having failed to get the treaty annulled, the senior court official Min Yeong-hwan took his own life, leaving farewell letters to the people and to the foreign ministers.

Funeral procession of Min Yeong-hwan, 1905
Funeral procession of Min Yeong-hwan, 1905

Unknown author · Public domain · Source

When the treaty was imposed, Min Yeong-hwan joined the elder statesman Jo Byeong-se in leading officials to petition the throne again and again, demanding that the treaty be annulled and the Five Eulsa Traitors punished. Dragged away by Japanese gendarmes and unable to prevail, he killed himself on 30 November.

He wrote: "I die, yet I shall not die, and I will surely help you from the other world. My brethren, strive ten million times harder and recover our freedom and independence." Jo Byeong-se, Hong Man-sik, Yi Sang-cheol and others followed his example.

The map in 1905

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States and rulers at the time
Korean Empire — Gojong

People

  • Min Yeong-hwan1861 – 1905

    participant · Senior court official who took his own life in protest against the 1905 treaty, leaving farewell letters

Before and after