Kim Okkyun

Kim Okkyun (Korean: 김옥균; Hanja: 金玉均; February 23, 1851 – March 28, 1894) was a Korean scholar-bureaucrat of the late Joseon period. He was a member of the reformist Gaehwa Party. He served under King Gojong, and actively participated to advance Western European ideas and sciences in Korea. The goal of the reform movement was to develop Korea in government, technology, and military by using foreign resources to help Korea become stable enough to withstand anticipated increases in foreign encroachment. Kim was assassinated in Shanghai, and later was given the posthumous title "Chungdal".

Kim was born into the Andong Kim clan to Kim Pyŏngt'ae and his wife, Lady Song of the Eunjin Song clan, on 23 February 1851 in South Chungcheong Province. Through his father, Kim is related to Kim Sangyong, the older brother of Queen Sunwon's 6th great-grandfather, Kim Sang-gwan. His family was poor, and, by the age of four, they moved to Cheonan. His father opened a Seodang, or Korean verbal school, at which Kim was educated. When he was six, he was adopted by Kim Pyŏnggi, a distant relative who had lost his son and was desperate to secure the continuation of his family lineage.

For four years, Kim stayed in what is today Seoul and, when Kim Pyŏnggi was named the governor in Gangneung state in spring of 1861, they moved once again. When Kim reached the age of fifteen, Kim Pyŏnggye was named "Beopmubu Chagwan" in the judicial office, and his family returned to Seoul. There, Kim learned and competed with the sons of other aristocratic families. He displayed his talents in playing the Kayakem, singing and dancing, poetry, calligraphy, and art. His fame and talents eventually reached the imperial palace, and Queen Dowager invited him.

At the age of 22, Kim took the national civil service exam, and was ranked "Changwon Kŭpchae" (level 6) (usually it took about ten years to achieve this status). To avoid the possible negative impacts of the internal political conflicts that could result on his adopted son, Kim Byung-gi retired from his holding.

At the time, Heungseon Daewongun, who had implemented policies to avoid contact with the West for ten years, lost political power. Although trade with Europeans began and foreign policies were adopted, the situation worsened, and Kim meddled in the internal conflicts in the palace.

Kim advocated for more open policies to the West so that Korea might adopt Western European ideals, knowledge, and technology, thereby securing its existence in the rapidly modernizing world of the 19th century. During his national civil service, Kim found many others who agreed with him, and they formed the Dongnipdang, or "Independence Party."

Among their various contacts, the group met a Buddhist monk at Bongwonsa, who showed them a peculiar European device. It was a projector that displayed different photographs of West European, such as the streets of London and a Portuguese soldier. He also showed a Japanese book that contained scenes of foreign nations. The activists asked the monk to obtain more Western European artifacts for them. The monk then spent two months journeying to and from Japan bringing more Western European products. These had to be kept hidden due to the policies of the time which prohibited foreign contact.

After the conflict with the Imperial Japanese Navy and the implementation of the Treaty of Ganghwa, which Kim was against, Kim realized that Japan, regarded by the Korean government as a barbaric nation, had westernized and become a much stronger country. Therefore, Kim wished to visit Japan to learn how the Japanese had western Europeanized. In November 1881, Kim was granted permission to visit Japan under the mission of finding out whether Japan was planning to invade Korea. After arriving in Tokyo, he met with various influential Japanese politicians during his stay, and was sponsored by Fukuzawa Yukichi to study at Keio University from February to August 1882. Kim concluded that for now Japan would not invade Korea because its military strength was not comparable to Qing China. Kim felt that, in order to ensure survival when China was in decline, Korea would have to borrow Japanese help to modernize itself, and that the only solution to the situation was to introduce a new political force to wipe out the present dominant party.