Gapsin Coup

The Gapsin Coup (Korean:갑신정변, 甲申政變), also known as the Gapsin Revolution (갑신혁명, 甲申革命) and Kapsin Incident, was a failed three-day coup d'état which started on 4 December 1884 in the late Joseon dynasty of Korea. The pro-Japanese leaders of the coup were suppressed by a Chinese garrison in Korea. This led to Chinese domination of Korea from 1885–1894. The Korean name for the events takes from the year designator in the traditional sexagenary cycle system of dating, "gapsin" here referring to the year 1884. The Enlightenment Party sought to initiate rapid changes within Korea to open its borders. They sought to eliminate social distinctions, including eliminating the legal privileges of the yangban class. Thwarted by conservative factions within the Joseon court, particularly the pro-Chinese Sugup'a, they launched a coup d'état attempt with Japanese support on 4 December 1884, seizing the royal palace in Seoul.

History and background
After the Imo Incident of 1882, early reform efforts in Korea suffered a major setback. The aftermath of the event also brought the Chinese into the country, where they began to directly interfere in Korean internal affairs, undertaking several initiatives to gain significant influence over the Korean government. The Regulations for Maritime and Overland Trade Between Chinese and Korean Subjects (Choch’ŏng sangmin suryuk muyŏk changjŏng) was signed on October 4, 1882; permitted Chinese merchants to trade in Korea, and although allowed it Koreans reciprocally to trade in Beijing the agreement was not a treaty but was in effect issued as a regulation for a vassal. In December, two high-level offices, the Foreign Office (Oeamun) and the Home Office (Naeamun) were established. The Oeamun dealt with foreign affairs and trade while the Naeamun the was responsible for military matters and internal affairs. At the recommendation of the Chinese two advisors were appointed to the foreign office: the German Paul Georg von Möllendorff who had served in the Chinese Maritime Customs Service and the Chinese diplomat Ma Jianzhong. A new Korean military formation, the Capital Guards Command (Ch'in'gunyŏng), was also created and trained along Chinese lines by Yuan Shikai. The Chinese also supervised the creation of a Korean Maritime Customs Service in 1883, with von Möellendorff as its head. Korea was again reduced to a tributary state of China with King Gojong unable to appoint diplomats without Chinese approval and troops stationed in Seoul in order to protect Chinese interests in the country.

Emergence of the Enlightenment Party
A small group of reformers had emerged around the Enlightenment Party (Gaehwadang) and had become frustrated at the limited scale and arbitrary pace of reforms. The members who constituted the Enlightenment Party were youthful, well-educated Koreans and most were from the yangban class. They were impressed by the developments in Meiji Japan and were eager to emulate them. Its members included Kim Ok-kyun, Pak Yŏng-hyo, Hong Yŏng-sik, Sŏ Kwang-bŏm, and So Chae-p'il. The group was also very young; Pak Yŏng-hyo came from a prestigious lineage related to the royal family, was 23, Hong was 29, Sŏ Kwang-bŏm was 25, and So Chae-p'il was 20, with Kim Ok-kyun being the oldest, at 33. All had spent some time in Japan, In 1882, Pak Yŏng-hyo had been part of a mission sent to Japan to apologize for the Imo incident. He had been accompanied by Kim Ok-kyun who later come under the influence of Japanese modernizers such as Fukuzawa Yukichi and also by Sŏ Kwang-bŏm. Kim Ok-kyun, while also studying in Japan, had cultivated friendships with influential Japanese figures and was the defacto leader of the group. They were also strongly nationalistic and desired to make their country truly independent by ending Chinese interference in Korea's internal affairs.

Ascendancy of the Min clan and conservatives
In Korean history, the king's in-laws enjoyed great power and the Daewongun acknowledged that any future sons-in-law might threaten his authority. Therefore, he attempted to prevent any possible threat to his rule by selecting as a new queen for his son, an orphaned girl from among the Yŏhŭng Min clan, a clan which lacked powerful political connections. With Queen Min as his daughter-in-law and the royal consort, the Daewongun felt secure in his power. However, after she had become queen, Min recruited all her relatives and had them appointed to influential positions in the name of the king. The Queen also allied herself with the Daewongun's political enemies, so that by late 1873 she had mobilized enough influence to oust the Daewongun from power. In October 1873, when the Confucian scholar Choe Ik-hyeon submitted a memorial to King Gojong urging him to rule in his own right, Queen Min seized the opportunity to force her father-in-law's retirement as regent. The departure of the Daewongun's to Korea's abandonment of its isolationist policy.

Also the Min clan, through the ascendancy of Queen to the throne, had been able to use the newly created institutions as bases for political power and with their growing monopoly of key positions they frustrated the ambitions of the Enlightenment Party. After the Imo incident in 1882, the Min clan pursued a pro-Chinese policy. This was partly a matter of opportunism as the intervention by Chinese troops led to subsequent exile of the rival Daewongun in Tianjin and the expansion of Chinese influence in Korea, but it also reflected an ideological disposition also shared by many Koreans toward the more comfortable and traditional relationship as a tributary of China. The Sadaedang, was a group of conservatives, which included not only the Min Yŏng-ik from the Min family but also prominent political figures including Kim Yun-sik and Ŏ Yun-jung, wanted to maintain power with China's help. Although the members of the Sadaedang supported the enlightenment policy they favored gradual changes based on the Chinese model. The Min clan also become advocates of the "Eastern Ways, Western Machines" (tongdo sŏgi). This had came from the ideas of moderate Chinese reformers who had emphasized the need to maintain the perceived superior cultural values and heritage of the Sino-centric world while recognizing the importance of acquiring and adopting Western technology, particularly military technology, in order to preserve autonomy. Hence, rather than the major institutional reforms such as the adaptation of new values such as legal equality or introducing modern education like in Meiji Japan, the advocates of this school of thought sought piecemeal adoptions of institutions that would strengthen the state while preserving the basic social, political, and cultural order.

Events of the coup
The Gaehwapa members had failed to secure appointments to vital offices in the government and so were unable to implement their reform plans. As a consequence they were prepared to seize power by all means necessary. An opportunity presented itself to stage a coup d’état in August 1884. As hostilities between France and China erupted over Annam, half of the Chinese troops were withdrawn from Korea. On 4 December 1884, with the help of the Japanese minister Takezoe Shinichiro, who promised to mobilize Japanese legation guards to provide assistance, the members of the Gaehwapa staged their coup under the guise of a banquet hosted by Hong Yŏngsik, director of the General Postal Administration (Ujŏng ch’ongguk) to celebrate the opening of the new national post office. King Gojong was expected to attend together with several foreign diplomats and high-ranking officials, most of whom were members of the pro-Chinese Sadaedang faction. Kim Ok-kyun and his comrades approached King Gojong, falsely stating that Chinese troops had created a disturbance and escorted him to a small palace, the Kyŏngu-gung, where they placed him in the custody of Japanese legation guards. They then proceeded to kill and wound several senior officials of the Sadaedang faction.

After the coup, the Kaehwadang members formed a new government and devised a program of reform. The radical 14-point reform proposal stated that the following conditions be met: an end to Korea's tributary relationship with China; the abolition of ruling-class privilege and the establishment of equal rights for all; the reorganization of the government as virtually a constitutional monarchy; the revision of land tax laws; cancellation of the grain loan system; the unification of all internal fiscal administrations under the jurisdiction of the Ho-jo; the suppression of privileged merchants and the development of free commerce and trade, the creation of a modern police system including police patrols and royal guards; and severe punishment of corrupt officials.

Facing this threat, Queen Min secretly requested military intervention from China's Qing dynasty. After three days the revolt was suppressed by 1500 troops of the Chinese garrison based in Seoul led by General Yuan Shikai. During the ensuing battle, the Japanese legation building was burned down, and forty Japanese were killed. Surviving Gaehwapa activists escaped to the port city of Chemulpo under escort of the Japanese minister to Korea, Takejo, and there boarded a Japanese ship for exile in Japan.

Consequences
The Japanese government demanded an apology and reparations from the Korean government over the incident, which resulted in the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1885 (Treaty of Hanseong), signed on 9 January 1885. The treaty restored diplomatic relations, and Korea agreed to pay Japan 110,000 yen and provide a site and buildings for a new legation.

In an effort to defuse tensions over Korea, both Japan and China agreed to withdraw their troops from Korea in the Convention of Tientsin of April 1885. China appointed Yuan Shikai as Resident in Korea, who directed Korean affairs until 1894.