Ascending to the Imperial Throne: Kojong’s Elevation from King to Emperor and British Responses, 1895-1898

Abstract

This article aims to examine the objective and the background of Kojong’s assumption of the title of emperor in 1897 and the British response. Kojong’s assumption of the new imperial title mainly aimed to end Korea’s centuries-long tributary relationship with China and to reclaim its position as an independent country, which had been damaged by severe political events, such as the Japanese murder of Queen Min and Kojong’s asylum at the Russian Legation. To avoid any objection from foreign representatives, which he had already faced in 1895, Kojong took a very cautious and patient approach for months by building up justifications on why Kojong should assume a new imperial title. Kojong and his loyal officials mainly argued that the title would represent the complete independence of Korea and raise Korea’s status to the same level as China and Japan. However, foreign powers, especially Britain, were indifferent to the question of the assumption of the imperial title because their primary interest in the country, which was to balance Russia’s advance towards Korea, could not be achieved by a change in title. This show differences between Korea and Britain in their policies towards Korean questions.

Keywords

• anglo-korean relations
• emperor kojong
• diplomatic history
• taehan empire
• korean history