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Assassination of Empress Myeongseong (Eulmi Incident)
October 8, 1895· Event· Rulers & states
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
The killing of Queen Min, later titled Empress Myeongseong, by Japanese agents inside Gyeongbokgung Palace in October 1895.
See it on the Korean History map →What happened
Queen Min, Gojong's politically powerful consort, had begun leaning on Russia to offset Japan. Before dawn on October 8, 1895, Japanese soldiers, police and hired swordsmen organized by Japan's minister Miura Gorō, joined by Japanese-trained Korean troops, broke into Gyeongbokgung, killed her and burned her body. Koreans call it the Eulmi Incident (을미사변). An American instructor and a Russian architect in the palace witnessed the attack. A Japanese court in Hiroshima later acquitted the accused, citing insufficient evidence.
Why it matters
It turned many Koreans against Japan, set off armed resistance, drove Gojong to shelter in the Russian legation, and remains a lasting grievance in Korea–Japan relations.
How we know
Eyewitness statements by William Dye and Afanasy Seredin-Sabatin, Western diplomats' reports, a Japanese consul's investigation and the Hiroshima court records.
Still debated
How much Tokyo's government knew in advance, versus Miura acting on his own, is still debated; Japanese and Korean accounts differ on this.
Connections (3)
▸Assassination of Empress Myeongseong (Eulmi Incident) came in the aftermath of First Sino-Japanese WarWell documented
The connection
Japan's victory should have left it dominant, but in April 1895 Russia, France and Germany forced it to hand back the Liaodong peninsula. Seeing Japan humbled, Queen Min's circle turned to Russia and pushed out pro-Japanese ministers. Japan's new minister, Miura Gorō, answered with the plot to kill her.
When and how
Seoul, April–October 1895; the Triple Intervention came on April 23, 1895.
How we know
Diplomatic records of the court's Russian contacts and the Japanese consul Uchida Sadatsuchi's report on the plot.
Debates and open questions
Whether Miura's plot was his own initiative or approved by leaders in Tokyo remains debated.
▸Assassination of Empress Myeongseong (Eulmi Incident) preceded the proclamation of Korean EmpireWell documented
The connection
Fearing for his life after the queen's murder, Gojong fled to the Russian legation in February 1896. Leaving a year later, he set out to restore the throne's dignity: he proclaimed the empire in October 1897, gave the late queen the title Empress Myeongseong, and held her state funeral the next month.
When and how
Seoul, February 1896 to November 1897.
How we know
Court records of the imperial proclamation and the funeral, and diplomats' reports on Gojong's flight to the legation.
Debates and open questions
How directly her death drove the decision to become emperor, versus longer-term plans, is debated.
▸Assassination of Empress Myeongseong (Eulmi Incident) sparked the first wave of Righteous armies against Japan (1895–1915)Well documented
The connection
Outrage at the queen's murder, followed less than three months later by the Japanese-backed order to cut topknots, led Confucian scholars such as Yu In-seok and Yi So-eung to raise volunteer forces in early 1896. They attacked Japanese and pro-Japan officials; most disbanded when Gojong, safe in the Russian legation, asked them to.
When and how
Gangwon, Chungcheong and Gyeongsang provinces, January to autumn 1896: the Eulmi righteous armies.
How we know
Leaders' proclamations citing revenge for the queen and the topknot order, and Japanese and Korean government reports.
Debates and open questions
Which grievance mattered more, the queen's death or the topknot order, is debated, as is how much the uprisings helped Gojong escape.