THE CASUS BELLI. 539 their strength in war. A quarrel between the twoparties in the capital led to an outbreak of fierce anti-foreign riots. The Japanese embassy at Seoul was attacked and set on fire,and the ambassador had to fight his way out with his escort. He reached Chemulpo, and escaped to seain a native junk. War was averted by the good offices of the neutral Powers. China sent astrong force to Chemulpo and Seoul to restore order. The Japanese envoy returned with a stronger escort of Japanese troops to guard his residence, and the Korean Government offered an apology for the disorders, and paid a large indemnity for the damagedone.

Two years later there was another and more serious crisis. This time the reform party,under their leader Kim-Ok-Kiun, were the aggressors.

They had formed a plot for murdering all the chiefs of the other partyduring a public dinner, and thenproclaiming a progressive Government. The conspiratorsattacked the house wheretheir opponents we.e dining,and killed or desperately wounded several of them. During the night Seoul was the scene of a number of street skirmishes,inwhich thereformers were so successful.

that in the early morningthey seized the palace, and Kim-Ok-Kiun proclaimed a new Government, and sent a message to the Japanese envoy askinghimto take the Koreanking and his new Ministry under the protection of the Mikado. Bart of the escort of the envoy were sent to the palace, but by this time the anti-reform party had recovered from the first shock of the outbreak, and, assisted by the Chinese troops,they marched on the palace, drove off the Japanese guard,and clearedout the reformers. The victorious reactionists then proceeded to the Japanese embassy and set fire to the buildings. The envoy and his guard fought their way out through the crowd, and for the second time escaped to Chemulpo.

InMarch,1894,Kim-Ok-Kiun was murderedat Shanghaiby a Korean namedHung,whohinted that he was an envoy of the Government at Seoul. Arrestedin the foreign settlement Hung washandedover to the Chinese authorities, who shipped him back toKorea, sending the body of the murdered man with him. At Seoul, Hung was loaded with honours by the Korean king, and the body of his victim was publicly cut to pieces. It was generally suspected that tlae Chinese and Korean Governments were no strangers to this assassination of the leader of the Korean reformers, and thoughKim-Ok-Kiun washimself a political assassin, there was a good deal of hostile feeling evokedagainst the accomplicesin thecrime of whichhe was the victim.

The party in power in Korea had got ridof their most dangerousenemy. By a strange turn of fate they were next put inperilby over-zealous friends. In the south of the peninsula therehad existed since 1859 an association knownas the Tong-haks, originally religious but afterwards political in its aims. It had developed into a powerful secret society, whose chief object was to get rid of foreign influence in Korea. It was thus bitterly hostile to the European and Japanese traders, but it was also, though in a less degree, opposed to the Chinese claim of suzerainty. In the springof1894 the Tong-haks raised an insurrection in the south of Korea, proclaiming the necessity of driving out every foreigner. Troops sent against them from Seoul were defeated, and the King of Korea then applied to China for help. A Chinese squadron was sent to Chemulpo, escorting about 2,000 troops. These were landed at Asan. Japan had been duly informedof these proceedings, and on June 9th Count Otori, the Japanese envoy at Seoul, who had been absent on leave, returned to his post, taking with him as escort some hundreds of marines from a Japanese fleet, which had now reached Chemulpo. On the 5th the JapaneseGovernment had ordered the mobilisationof a force of all arms, under the command of General Oshima, for service in Korea. On the 12th Oshima landed the first part of his brigade at Chemulpo, and next day marched to Seoul and took over the protection of the embassy. Other reinforcements followed,and by the end of June there were seven or eight thousand Japanese troops in and around Seoul. The ?,ooo Chinese remained at Asan. TheTong-hak rebellion wasin a state of collapse.

War seemed inevitable,but again diplomacy preserved the peace of the Far East. Korea agreed tomake reparation for the attack on the Japanese embassy, and by a treaty signed at Tientsin in April, 1885, China and Japan agreed to withdraw all their soldiers from Seoul. It was further provided that if at any future time either country should find it necessary to send an armedforce to protect its interests orits subjects in Korea, the other Power should receive due notice, and be entitled to send an equal force.

The situation was serious. The troopsof the rivalPowers were camped in Korea, their war-Fornine yearsmatterswereexternallypeaceful inKorea, but the two parties were still at work.