Gapsin Coup - Koushin Coup

In 1884 (Gapsin), in Seoul, Korea, the Enlightened Party attempted to overthrow the Min regime through a coup d'état and reform national politics under the direct rule of the King. After the Imo Rebellion in 1882, as Korea faced an imminent external crisis, the Enlightened Party within the ruling class, centered around Hong Young-sik, Kim Ok-gyun, and Park Yeong-hyo, who were followers of practical learning, attempted to modernize Korea using the Meiji Restoration as a model, sending students abroad and publishing the Hanseong Junpo, while also working to get close to King Gojong and enlighten him. However, the conservative faction, which had allied with Qing China at the time, held the government and blocked reforms. Taking advantage of the defeat of the Chinese in the Sino-French War in 1884, the Enlightened faction, with the assistance of Japan, staged a coup to overthrow the conservative faction. On December 4, they invited conservative high-ranking officials to the opening ceremony of the post office, set fire to a neighboring house, and killed Min Young-ik and others who were fleeing. They then immediately entered the royal palace and seized control of Gojong, and the coup was temporarily successful. The Enlightened faction established a new government, and on the 6th announced a new political platform consisting of 14 articles. The contents reflected a desire for bourgeois reform from above, including the abolition of clans, the promotion of talented people, reform of the land tax law, the abolition of privileged merchants, and reform of the military system. However, the Chinese army intervened on the 6th, and the new government's reign lasted only three days. Hong Young-sik and others were killed, and Kim Ok-gyun and Park Yeong-hyo fled to Japan. The Japanese embassy was burned, and the envoy, Shinichiro Takezoe, fled to Incheon, where a conservative government was established once again. The evaluation of this coup is one of the points of contention in modern Korean history, and while in North Korea it is evaluated as a bourgeois revolution aimed at anti-feudalism and anti-invasion, there is also the view that it was simply a struggle for power within the ruling class.

[Setsuko Miyata]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1884年（甲申）朝鮮のソウルで、クーデターによって閔(びん)氏政権を打倒し、国王親政の下に国政を改革しようとして開化派が行った政変。1882年の壬午(じんご)軍乱以後、朝鮮の対外的危機が切迫してくると、支配層内部でも、実学の流れをくむ洪英植(こうえいしょく／ホンヨンシク)、金玉均(きんぎょくきん／キムオクキュン)、朴泳孝(ぼくえいこう／パクヨンヒョ)らを中心とする開化派は、明治維新をモデルに朝鮮の近代化を図ろうと、留学生の派遣、『漢城旬報』の発刊などに努める一方、高宗にも接近、啓蒙(けいもう)にも努力した。しかし当時清(しん)国と結んだ守旧派が政権を握り、改革を阻んでいた。84年清仏(しんふつ)戦争で清国が敗れたのを機会に、開化派は日本の援助を得て守旧派打倒のクーデターを行った。すなわち、12月4日、郵政局の落成式典に守旧派の大官を招待、隣家に放火、逃れる閔泳翊(びんえいよく／ミンヨンイク)らを殺傷し、ただちに王宮に入り高宗を掌握、クーデターは一時は成功した。開化派は新政府を樹立、6日には14か条からなる新政綱を発表した。内容は門閥の廃止、人材の登用、地租法の改革、特権商人の廃止、軍制の改革など、上からのブルジョア改革の志向を反映していた。しかし6日清国軍が介入し、新政権は三日天下に終わった。洪英植らは殺され、金玉均、朴泳孝は日本に亡命した。日本公使館は焼かれ、公使竹添進一郎は仁川(じんせん／インチョン)に逃れ、ふたたび守旧派政権が樹立された。この政変の評価は朝鮮近代史の論争点の一つで、北朝鮮では反封建・反侵略を目ざすブルジョア革命と評価しているが、単なる支配層内の政権争奪戦という見解もある。

［宮田節子］

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