Ernest Bethell
Ernest T. Bethell | |
|---|---|
| File:ErnestBethel.JPG Ernest Bethell in 1905 | |
| Born | November 3, 1872 England |
| Died | May 1, 1909 Seoul, South Korea |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Bae Seol (배설/裵說) |
| Occupation | journalist |
Ernest Thomas Bethell (Nov 3, 1872 - May 1, 1909), who is also known by his Korean name Bae Seol (배설, 裵說), was a British journalist who founded a newspaper, the Korea Daily News, antagonistic to Japanese rule.
In 1904, he originally came to Korea as a correspondent for Daily Chronicle, from Japan where he had been in the export business, to report on the Russo-Japanese War, but then stayed in Korea and reported on Japanese imperialism in Korea. Bethel soon noted the abuses by Japanese soldiers towards Koreans, and how Koreans were treated unfairly and as inferior.
He founded an early newspaper in Korea with Yang Gi-tak, a Korean independence activist, in 1904 called Daehan Maeil Sinbo (대한매일신보, 大韓每日申報, The Korea Daily News) which was published in both Korean and English. The publication was strongly antagonistic to Japanese rule in Korea.[1] The paper was available in three versions - English, Korean, and Korean mixed script. Many people who opposed Japanese, such as Park Eun-sik and Sin Chae-ho, wrote articles and columns on the paper.
At the time British subjects enjoyed extraterritorial rights in Korea. Because the paper was published by a British subject it was, therefore, not subject to local law. In 1907, he was prosecuted in the British Consular Court in Seoul for breach of the peace and given a good behaviour bond of 6 months. In 1908, at the request of the Japanese Residency-General, Bethel was prosecuted in the British Supreme Court for China and Corea (sic), sitting in Seoul, for sedition against the Japanese government of Korea. He was convicted of sedition and was sentenced by judge F.S.A Bourne to three weeks of imprisonment and a 6 months' good behaviour bond.[2] As there was no suitable jail in Korea, he was taken to Shanghai and detained at the British Consular Gaol in Shanghai.[3]
After being released, he returned to Seoul to continue his business. He died of cardiac enlargement on May 1, 1909. The monument that Koreans erected in for him was defaced by the Japanese. Another monument was erected near the original one in 1964 by journalists living in Korea.[4] Both can be seen at his grave at Yanghwajin Foreigners' Cemetery.
References
- ^ Press, Office of the President also cited by Nicole Cohen, Japanese Periodicals in Colonial Korea, report on Japanese bibliography accessed on Columbia University NY website at [1] July 27, 2006
- ^ North China Herald, 27 June 1908, p825
- ^ North China Herald, 27 June 1908, p841
- ^ Clark, Donald N., comp and ed. The Seoul Foreigners' Cemetery at Yanghwajin: An Informal History with Notes on Other Cemeteries in Korea and Individuals and Families in the History of the Foreign Community in Korea. Seoul: Seoul Union Church, 1998