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Person1858 – 1926

Lee Wan-yong

One of the Five Eulsa Traitors; as prime minister he signed the 1907 treaty, the 1909 memorandum and the annexation treaty

He began as a pro-American official who had served at the legation in Washington, helped found the Independence Club and served as its president, but moved from the pro-Russian camp to collaboration with Japan. As education minister in 1905 he supported the Eulsa Treaty. As prime minister he used the Hague mission as a pretext to force Gojong's abdication in 1907, and concluded the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907 and the Giyu Memorandum. In 1909 he was badly wounded in a knife attack by Yi Jae-myeong. For signing the annexation treaty in 1910 he received a Japanese peerage.

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4 related events

  1. 1
    1905Eulsa Treatyrelated figure

    On 17 November 1905, with troops surrounding Gyeongungung, Itō Hirobumi forced a treaty stripping the Korean Empire of its diplomatic rights; a Japanese Residency-General was set up and soon meddled in domestic affairs too.

  2. 2
    1907Forced Abdication of Gojongleader

    Using the Hague mission as a pretext, Japan and pro-Japanese ministers forced Gojong to give up the throne to Sunjong, who took the era name Yunghui.

  3. 3
    1907Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907 (Jeongmi Treaty)diplomat

    Having removed Gojong, Japan forced a new treaty installing Japanese vice-ministers in every ministry ("government by vice-ministers"); a secret memorandum also disbanded the Korean army.

  4. 4
    1909Giyu Memorandumdiplomat

    By the Giyu memorandum Japan took over the Korean Empire’s judiciary and prisons; the next year it took the police and annexed the country.

Related works

  • TV episode: Naked Korean History Episode 22: How Did Lee Wan-yong Sell Out Joseon?TV episode · 2022 · Kim Hyun-chul · tvN STORY

People who appear alongside

  • Itō Hirobumi1841 – 1909

    First prime minister of Japan who forced the 1905 protectorate treaty and became the first Resident-General; shot by Ahn Jung-geun at Harbin

  • Gojong1852 – 1919

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

  • Sunjong1874 – 1926

    Second and last emperor of the Korean Empire (era Yunghui), enthroned after Gojong’s forced abdication

  • Hayashi Gonsuke1860 – 1939

    Japanese minister in Seoul who signed the 1904 protocol and agreements and the 1905 treaty

  • Park Je-sun1858 – 1916

    Foreign minister who signed the 1905 treaty, one of the Five Eulsa Traitors

  • Homer B. Hulbert1863 – 1949

    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

  • Na Cheol1863 – 1916

    Plotted with O Gi-ho to kill the five ministers who signed the Eulsa Treaty, and in 1909 founded Daejonggyo, a religion honouring Dangun

Themes this person appears in

  • Seoul18 BC – 1988

    From Hanseong Baekje to the June Democratic Struggle — the Han River land every kingdom fought for, and Joseon’s capital for five centuries