A Critical Biography Of Horace N. Allen, The U.S. Minister To Korea During The Late 19^th And Early 20^th Century

In the history of Korean-American relations during the 1880s to the 1900s, American Protestant missionary & diplomat Horace N. Allen had played an important role. He arrived in Korea as a missionary in 1884 and departed from Korea in 1905 because of his relinquishment of diplomat. He almost experienced all the great events happened in Korea during this period on one hand and influenced many Korean things such as economy, education, foreign relations etc. on the other hand. Due to the marginality of the object itself, there has been not a case study on Horace N. Allen in domestic academia. This paper chose Horace N. Allen's activities in Korea as an object to tease out the whole story of his missionary and diplomatic work during 1884 to 1905 and to give him an objective evaluation. Furthermore, because Horace N. Allen's arrival in Korea was the earliest among American Protestant missionaries and the time of his office holding in Korea was the longest among American diplomats, a case study on him might have a fundamental value, and this paper could be a reference material to the scholars who research the history of Korean-American relations to a certain degree. This paper was divided into three parts to explore:The first part mainly introduced the circumstance that Horace N. Allen was assigned to China and transferred to Korea by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, and Korean political situation as he arrived in Seoul.Horace N. Allen was born in Ohio, the U.S., on April 23, 1858 and his family had haven a glorious past. Therefore his temperament and life was deeply influenced by the family background. When Allen received the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1881from Ohio Wesleyan, he made up his mind to be a foreign medical missionary, and then he went to Miami Medical School to learn medicine. Soon after graduation in 1883 Allen was assigned to China by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. But because Allen wasn't good at dealing with human relationships, he often had quarrels with colleagues when he worked in China, and then asked for transfer to Korea. In September, 1884, Allen arrived in Seoul, the capital of Korea. For one thing, the Minister from the U.S. to Korea of that time Lucius H. Foote gave him much help, for another, the situation that the prohibition against Christianity in Korea relaxed after the Imou Mutiny of 1882 caused him working and living safely. There were political struggles in Korea at that time, and Allen was inclined to take sides with the progressive party. To outward seeming, it was Allen's expectation of missionary freedom, but the progressive party was supported by Japanese and aimed at driving out the influence of Qing Dynasty, so Allen's attitude reflected the fact that the U.S. backed up Japan to disintegrate the relationship of suzerainty and vassal between China and Korea.The second part mainly investigated Horace N. Allen's activities as a medical missionary which was during and after the Kapsin coup of 1884.On the evening of December 4, 1884, when the progressives started the Kapsin coup of 1884 against the conservatives, Min Yong Ik, Queen Min's nephew and leader of the great Min clan, was assassinated on the banquet that was held to celebrate the opening of postal service and seriously wounded. At that time Horace N. Allen accepted the request from P. G. von M?llendorff to treat with Min Yong Ik. Soon after the coup was put down, Allen cured Min and was appointed a court physician because of Min's recommendation, and then got well with Korean royal family and especially was trusted by King Gojong. In April, 1885, Allen established Gwanghyewon, the first modern medical facility in Korea, and in March, 1886, Allen set up Chai Chung Medical School under royal finance and support in Seoul. To operate the hospital and school, Allen enlisted a lot of American Protestant missionaries to Korea in a planed way. Then the missionaries started to preach religion under tacit approval of Korean government with semi-official status that they were Korean government employees. Moreover, when there were negotiations between French and Korean to establish trade relations, Allen successfully put a barrier between the two nations on the grounds of sectarian divisions. But in fact that was a mirror of the conflict of interest in Korea among the Western powers. In 1887, Allen was bothered by his frequent quarrels with colleagues once again, and just then Korean government decided to open a legation in the U.S. and asked Allen to be its foreign secretary and to serve as guide the Korean diplomatic mission. Consequently Allen got away from his gloomy human relationships.The third part mainly discussed Horace N. Allen's action which was in his nearly-two-decade diplomatic career and his influence to modern Korean society and foreign relations and so on.In January, 1888, when Horace N. Allen accompanied the Korean diplomatic mission in the U.S., he instigated the minister plenipotentiary Park Chung Yang to violate"three rules"that Qing Dynasty made for Korean diplomatic mission in the hope of maintaining its suzerainty on the grounds of declaration of Korean sovereignty. But his really purpose was to disintegrate the relationship of suzerainty and vassal between China and Korea. When Allen worked in Korean legation in Washington D.C., he committed himself to promote economic ties between Korea and the U.S., and for instance he ever personally financed loan for Korean government, but because of American capitalists'hesitance that loan was going to evaporate. In 1890, Allen was appointed secretary of the U.S. legation in Seoul, and in 1897 he became the U.S. minister and consul general to Seoul. Until March, 1905, Allen was recalled by Department of State, he had served as a diplomat in the U.S. legation in Seoul for about fifteen years. During this period Allen still advocated for"Korean independent"and grabbed the rights and interests in Korea for the U.S., his home country. Though Allen played an important role in the process of the collapse of the relationship of suzerainty and vassal between China and Korea and promoted the modernization process of the Korean to a certain degree, but because of his contradictory position, he was on behalf of the fundamental interests of the U.S. and his individual subjective will could not change the trend of historical development of international relations in Northeast Asia and Korea itself.