Five Eulsa Traitors
In
Korean history,
Five Eulsa Traitors refers to those officials serving under Emperor
Gojong who signed the
Eulsa Treaty of
1905 against Gojong's wishes, stripping the
Korean Empire of its sovereignty and making Korea a
protectorate of
Japan. The five officials were Education Minister
Yi Wan-yong, Army Minister Yi Geun-taek, Interior Minister Yi Ji-yong, Foreign Affairs Minister Pak Je-sun, and Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry Minister Gwon Jung-hyeon.
Opposition to the Treaty was made by
Prime Minister Han Gyu-seol and by the ministers of finance and justice, but they and the politically weakened Gojong were unable to resist the Five. The Japanese government forced Prime Minister Han to step down and installed Park in his place.
In 2005, the Research Center for National Issues (민족문제연구소) identified the names of the five officals responsible for the Eulsa Treaty, as part of its efforts to compile a directory of individual Koreans who had collaborated with the Japanese before and during its
colonial rule.
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Eulsa Treaty*
Gojong of Korea*
Korean Empire*
Korea under Japanese rule*
History of Korea*
Imperialism in Asia*
Japanese Empire*
Anti-Japanese sentiment*
List of Korea-related topics*
Research Center for National Issues (민족문제연구소) – Korean language site.
*
Chosun-Japanese Treates, 1904–1910 *
Book review of Korea and the Politics of Imperialism, 1876–1910, by C. I. Eugene Kim and Kim Han-kyo – James B. Palais,
The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 863–864.
*
민족문제연구소 – Wikipedia article in Korean
