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Person1869 – 1907

Park Seung-hwan

Guards battalion commander whose suicide on the day of the army’s disbandment set off the fighting in Seoul

When Japan disbanded the Korean army on 1 August 1907, he killed himself, leaving a note lamenting that as a soldier he had failed to defend his country and as a subject had failed in loyalty. Hearing of his death, the palace guard troops broke open the armoury and fought Japanese forces around Namdaemun. Disbanded soldiers then joined the righteous armies, turning the Jeongmi uprisings into a full-scale war.

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1 related event

  1. 1
    1907Disbandment of the Korean Armyparticipant

    Japan forcibly disbanded the Korean army. When battalion commander Park Seung-hwan took his own life, the guards fought Japanese troops around Namdaemun, and disbanded soldiers joined the righteous armies.

Themes this person appears in

  • Military Systems Through the AgesAD 685 – 1907

    From the Nine Oath Banners to the Two Armies and Six Guards, the Five Commands and garrison system, the Five Army Camps and the Board of Marshals — armies rebuilt at every crisis