Durham Stevens
Encyclopedia
Durham White Stevens was an American
diplomat and later an employee of Japan
's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
. His shooting death at the hands of Korean Americans Jang In-hwan
and Jeon Myeong-un
were caused by his public support of the Japanese occupation of Korea.
He enrolled as an undergraduate at Ohio
's Oberlin College
, from which he graduated in 1871; he then returned to his hometown to study law at Columbian University and Howard University
, and was admitted to the bar association
of the District of Columbia in 1873. His career with the Department of State began in October of that same year, when President
Ulysses S. Grant
appointed him secretary of the United States Legation at Tokyo
, where he served under then-United States minister to Japan John Bingham
. He enthusiastically accepted his new position, in part due to his fondness for learning new languages; he had previously studied Latin, Greek, French, and German. He was initially one of only three staff members at the Legation. He served as secretary until July 1883, and also took up the post of Charge d'Affairs ad interim in 1878-79, while Bingham was on home leave. After resigning his post, he returned to the United States.
to Korea to assist in negotiations related to the murder of several Japanese citizens on Korean soil; for services rendered on that occasion, the Emperor Meiji
awarded him with the Third Class of the Order of the Rising Sun. He was Bureau du Protocole of an 1885-87 Tokyo conference aimed at the renegotiation of unequal treaties
imposed on Japan by Western countries; following the conference, he returned to Washington, D.C. with the rank of Honorary Counsellor of Legation. He served under Count Mutsu Munemitsu
, then-Minister at Washington; during that time, he assisted in the negotiation of the treaty with Mexico, which was the first treaty made by Japan fully recognizing her right to exercise all the sovereign powers of an independent state.
Soon after the start of hostilities in the First Sino-Japanese War
, Stevens published an article in the North American Review
, in which he sought to justify the war by asserting that the "dry rot of Chinese conservatism" blocked Korea's development, and that a reduction of Chinese influence in Korea and a corresponding increase in Japanese power would result in social and commercial reform. For services rendered during the war, he received the Second Class of the Order of the Sacred Treasures
. He travelled twice to Hawaii
to represent Japanese interests there, once in 1901 and again in 1902. He was also decorated two more times by the Japanese government, the third time receiving the Second Class of the Order of the Rising Sun, and then in October 1904, the fourth time, being awarded the Grand Cross of the Sacred Treasure.
. Stevens ignored several requests that a Korean consul be appointed in Hawaii; despite this, in 1905, Allen also commended Stevens to F.M. Swanzy, president of the Hawaii Sugar Planters' Association; Swanzy was interested in seeing Korean emigration to Hawaii
restarted. The Japanese government expected that Stevens supported their efforts to block Korean emigration to Hawaii, but he was initially open to the idea. He had several meetings with Swanzy in Tokyo in mid-1905 on the subject, but in the end, Swanzy's efforts were unsuccessful. Later that year, he issued a statement that Japan would welcome legislation restricting the entry of Japanese immigrants into the United States, and that they were also in favor of stopping movement to Hawaii, "provided it can be done in a manner that would not be offensive to Japan or that would not affect her dignity"; he stated that the Japanese government hoped to induce potential emigrants to settle in Korea or northeast China
instead. While officially under the employ of the Joseon government, he continued to receive tens of thousands of dollars in payments from the Japanese in order to "advance Japanese propaganda" among the American people, according to South Korea's Ministry of Patriots' and Veterans' Affairs
.
In early 1906, Stevens made a bet with Kiuchi Jūshirō
, a Japanese official resident in Korea, about the length of time before Japan would annex Korea. Kiuchi expected it would only take three years; Stevens' guess of five years would prove to be more nearly correct, as the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty
was signed in mid-1910. However, Stevens would not survive to see his prediction come true.
. Upon his arrival, he gave an interview with a San Francisco newspaper in which he stated that the common people of Korea were benefiting from the increasing Japanese presence in their country. These statements provoked the ire of two local associations of Koreans, the Daedong Bogukhoe and the Gongnip Hyeophoe, who held a joint meeting in which they agreed that something had to be done about Stevens. On March 22, 1908, four Korean men chosen by the associations accosted Stevens at the Fairmont Hotel
, where he was staying. Their leader, a man by the name of Earl Lee who was described as fluent in English, asked him if he had indeed made the statements attributed to him in the newspaper, and whether "Japanese were not killing off the Koreans". He answered yes to the first question and no to the second, then proceeded to tell Lee that he had "probably been too long away from his country to know the exact condition of the Government." Upon this, the four men began to strike Stevens with chairs, knocking him down and causing him to strike his head against the marble flooring; Stevens backed up against the wall until help arrived. After the assault, Lee was quoted as saying, "We are all very sorry that we did not do more to him."
The following day, Jang In-hwan
and Jeon Myeong-un
, both Korean immigrants to the United States
, approached Stevens at the Port of San Francisco
as he prepared catch a ferry to make a rail connection in Oakland
and attacked him. Jeon fired his revolver
at Stevens first, but missed, and instead rushed at him, using his weapon as a club to hit Stevens in the face. Jang then fired into the melee, striking Stevens twice in the back; Jeon was also shot in the confusion. The crowd which had gathered urged that they be lynched
on the spot; Jang was arrested and held without bail on a charge of murder, while Jeon was first hospitalized, and later charged as an accessory
. In newspaper interviews after the attack, both Jeon and Jang offered no apology for the assassination, describing Stevens as a "traitor to Korea" and stating that "thousands of people have been killed through his plans".
One bullet had penetrated Stevens' lung, while another lodged in his groin; however, surgeons at the St. Francis Hospital initially expected that he would be able to make a recovery, and on the day of the attack he was apparently in good enough health to issue a statement to the press that the assault was "evidently the work of a small band of student agitators in and about San Francisco, who resent the fact that the Japanese have a protectorate over Korea and believe that I am to some extent responsible for this condition of affairs in their country". However, his condition began to deteriorate on the morning of March 25. His doctors, seeing signs of inflammation in his wounds, placed him under anaesthesia and began to perform surgery at six that evening. He never regained consciousness after that, and died shortly after 11 PM, with Japanese Consul Chozo Koike at his bedside. He was buried in his hometown of Washington, D.C. after a funeral service at St. John's Episcopal Church
; Secretary of State
Elihu Root
was among his pallbearer
s.
was quoted as saying that "the utmost grief is expressed by everyone", adding that he counted Stevens as a "true and useful friend". Yale University
professor George Trumbull Ladd
, in a letter to the editor
of The New York Times
, denounced the attacks as "cowardly and shockingly brutal", calling Koreans a "bloody race" and, comparing the Stevens case to a number of other assaults in Korea, such as that against American missionary George Heber Jones
, concluded that politically-motivated murders were not "an isolated or at all peculiar experience" in Korea, and stated that the events "furnish an instructive object lesson for the correct estimation of the Korean character and the Korean method of self-government".
Jang and Jeon both stood trial for Stevens' murder separately, as there was insufficient evidence to prove they had conspired with each other; Jeon was quickly acquitted of charges. The Korean community hired three lawyers to defend Jang, among whom one, Nathan Coughlan, eventually agreed to take on the case pro bono
. During the trial, he planned to use Arthur Schopenhauer
's theory of "patriotic insanity" to argue that Jang was not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury found Jang guilty of second-degree murder on 23 December of that same year. Later Korean accounts describe Stevens as a traitor to Korea and refer to Jeon and Jang as patriots and heroes.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
diplomat and later an employee of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)
The is a cabinet level ministry of Japan responsible for the country's foreign relations.The ministry is due to the second term of the third article of the National Government Organization Act , and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Establishment Act establishes the ministry...
. His shooting death at the hands of Korean Americans Jang In-hwan
Jang In-hwan
Jang In-hwan was a Korean independence activist. He is best known along with Jeon Myeong-un for his role in the 1908 assassination of Japan lobbyist and former American diplomat Durham Stevens.-Incident:Jang, a Christian, emigrated from Korea to Hawaii in February 1905, and from there to the...
and Jeon Myeong-un
Jeon Myeong-un
Jeon Myeong-un was a Korean independence activist. He is best known along with Jang In-hwan for his role in the 1908 assassination of Durham Stevens, a former American diplomat in Japan who was later appointed as an advisor to the Joseon Dynasty government.Jeon was a member of the Gongnip...
were caused by his public support of the Japanese occupation of Korea.
Early life and career
Stevens grew up in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He enrolled as an undergraduate at Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
's Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, from which he graduated in 1871; he then returned to his hometown to study law at Columbian University and Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
, and was admitted to the bar association
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
of the District of Columbia in 1873. His career with the Department of State began in October of that same year, when President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
appointed him secretary of the United States Legation at Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, where he served under then-United States minister to Japan John Bingham
John Bingham
John Armor Bingham was a Republican congressman from Ohio, America, judge advocate in the trial of the Abraham Lincoln assassination and a prosecutor in the impeachment trials of Andrew Johnson...
. He enthusiastically accepted his new position, in part due to his fondness for learning new languages; he had previously studied Latin, Greek, French, and German. He was initially one of only three staff members at the Legation. He served as secretary until July 1883, and also took up the post of Charge d'Affairs ad interim in 1878-79, while Bingham was on home leave. After resigning his post, he returned to the United States.
Working for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In November 1883, Stevens entered the service of the Japanese Government as English Secretary to the Imperial Legation at Washington, a position which he obtained thanks to the influence his former superior Bingham had with the Japanese government. In 1884 he was ordered to Tokyo for service in the Foreign Office. In the winter of 1884-85 he accompanied Count Inoue KaoruInoue Kaoru
Count , GCMG was a member of the Meiji oligarchy during the Meiji period Empire of Japan. As one of the senior statesman in Japan during that period, he had a tremendous influence on the selection of the nation's leaders and formation of its policies.-Early years:...
to Korea to assist in negotiations related to the murder of several Japanese citizens on Korean soil; for services rendered on that occasion, the Emperor Meiji
Emperor Meiji
The or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...
awarded him with the Third Class of the Order of the Rising Sun. He was Bureau du Protocole of an 1885-87 Tokyo conference aimed at the renegotiation of unequal treaties
Unequal Treaties
“Unequal treaty” is a term used in specific reference to a number of treaties imposed by Western powers, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, on Qing Dynasty China and late Tokugawa Japan...
imposed on Japan by Western countries; following the conference, he returned to Washington, D.C. with the rank of Honorary Counsellor of Legation. He served under Count Mutsu Munemitsu
Mutsu Munemitsu
Count was a statesman and diplomat in Meiji period Japan.-Early life:Mutsu Munemitsu was born in Wakayama domain, Kii Province as the sixth son of Date Munehiro, a samurai retainer of the Kii Tokugawa clan...
, then-Minister at Washington; during that time, he assisted in the negotiation of the treaty with Mexico, which was the first treaty made by Japan fully recognizing her right to exercise all the sovereign powers of an independent state.
Soon after the start of hostilities in the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
, Stevens published an article in the North American Review
North American Review
The North American Review was the first literary magazine in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others, it was published continuously until 1940, when publication was suspended due to J. H. Smyth, who had purchased the magazine, being unmasked as a Japanese...
, in which he sought to justify the war by asserting that the "dry rot of Chinese conservatism" blocked Korea's development, and that a reduction of Chinese influence in Korea and a corresponding increase in Japanese power would result in social and commercial reform. For services rendered during the war, he received the Second Class of the Order of the Sacred Treasures
Order of the Sacred Treasures
The is a Japanese Order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan as the Order of Meiji. It is awarded in eight classes . It is generally awarded for long and/or meritorious service and considered to be the lowest of the Japanese orders of merit...
. He travelled twice to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
to represent Japanese interests there, once in 1901 and again in 1902. He was also decorated two more times by the Japanese government, the third time receiving the Second Class of the Order of the Rising Sun, and then in October 1904, the fourth time, being awarded the Grand Cross of the Sacred Treasure.
Adviser to the Korean government
In November 1904, Stevens was appointed as adviser to the Korean Foreign Office. The Japanese government had urged the Korean government to appoint him to this position on the basis of the 1901 recommendation of Horace AllenHorace Newton Allen
Horace Newton Allen was a Protestant medical missionary and a diplomat from the United States to Korea at the end of the Joseon Dynasty.-Biography:He was born in Delaware, Ohio on April 23, 1858. He lreceived his B.S...
. Stevens ignored several requests that a Korean consul be appointed in Hawaii; despite this, in 1905, Allen also commended Stevens to F.M. Swanzy, president of the Hawaii Sugar Planters' Association; Swanzy was interested in seeing Korean emigration to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
restarted. The Japanese government expected that Stevens supported their efforts to block Korean emigration to Hawaii, but he was initially open to the idea. He had several meetings with Swanzy in Tokyo in mid-1905 on the subject, but in the end, Swanzy's efforts were unsuccessful. Later that year, he issued a statement that Japan would welcome legislation restricting the entry of Japanese immigrants into the United States, and that they were also in favor of stopping movement to Hawaii, "provided it can be done in a manner that would not be offensive to Japan or that would not affect her dignity"; he stated that the Japanese government hoped to induce potential emigrants to settle in Korea or northeast China
Northeast China
Northeast China, historically known in English as Manchuria, is a geographical region of China, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The region is sometimes called the Three Northeast Provinces...
instead. While officially under the employ of the Joseon government, he continued to receive tens of thousands of dollars in payments from the Japanese in order to "advance Japanese propaganda" among the American people, according to South Korea's Ministry of Patriots' and Veterans' Affairs
Ministry of Patriots' and Veterans' Affairs (South Korea)
The Ministry of Patriots' and Veterans' Affairs is a government ministry of South Korea which handles veterans. It was established in August 1961 as the Soldiers' Affairs Agency.- External links :* *...
.
In early 1906, Stevens made a bet with Kiuchi Jūshirō
Kiuchi Jushiro
was a Japanese politician. He was educated at Chiba Middle School and Chiba First High School, and later graduated from Imperial Tokyo University's Department of Political Science. In 1906, while serving as a Japanese representative in Korea, Kiuchi made a bet with Durham Stevens, an American...
, a Japanese official resident in Korea, about the length of time before Japan would annex Korea. Kiuchi expected it would only take three years; Stevens' guess of five years would prove to be more nearly correct, as the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty
Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty
The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, also known as the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, was made by representatives of the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire in 1910. Negotiations were concluded on August 20, 1910...
was signed in mid-1910. However, Stevens would not survive to see his prediction come true.
Assassination
Stevens returned to the United States in March 1908 to visit his family in Washington, D.C. and vacation with his sisters at a cottage they owned in Atlantic City, New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Upon his arrival, he gave an interview with a San Francisco newspaper in which he stated that the common people of Korea were benefiting from the increasing Japanese presence in their country. These statements provoked the ire of two local associations of Koreans, the Daedong Bogukhoe and the Gongnip Hyeophoe, who held a joint meeting in which they agreed that something had to be done about Stevens. On March 22, 1908, four Korean men chosen by the associations accosted Stevens at the Fairmont Hotel
The Fairmont San Francisco
The Fairmont San Francisco is a luxury hotel at 950 Mason Street, atop Nob Hill in San Francisco, California. The hotel was named after mining magnate and U.S. Senator James Graham Fair , by his daughters Theresa Fair Oelrichs and Virginia Fair Vanderbilt who built the hotel in his honor. The hotel...
, where he was staying. Their leader, a man by the name of Earl Lee who was described as fluent in English, asked him if he had indeed made the statements attributed to him in the newspaper, and whether "Japanese were not killing off the Koreans". He answered yes to the first question and no to the second, then proceeded to tell Lee that he had "probably been too long away from his country to know the exact condition of the Government." Upon this, the four men began to strike Stevens with chairs, knocking him down and causing him to strike his head against the marble flooring; Stevens backed up against the wall until help arrived. After the assault, Lee was quoted as saying, "We are all very sorry that we did not do more to him."
The following day, Jang In-hwan
Jang In-hwan
Jang In-hwan was a Korean independence activist. He is best known along with Jeon Myeong-un for his role in the 1908 assassination of Japan lobbyist and former American diplomat Durham Stevens.-Incident:Jang, a Christian, emigrated from Korea to Hawaii in February 1905, and from there to the...
and Jeon Myeong-un
Jeon Myeong-un
Jeon Myeong-un was a Korean independence activist. He is best known along with Jang In-hwan for his role in the 1908 assassination of Durham Stevens, a former American diplomat in Japan who was later appointed as an advisor to the Joseon Dynasty government.Jeon was a member of the Gongnip...
, both Korean immigrants to the United States
Korean American
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean descent, mostly from South Korea, with a small minority from North Korea...
, approached Stevens at the Port of San Francisco
Port of San Francisco
The Port of San Francisco lies on the western edge of the San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate. It has been called one of the three great natural harbors in the world, but it took two long centuries for navigators from Spain and England to find the anchorage originally called Yerba Buena...
as he prepared catch a ferry to make a rail connection in Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
and attacked him. Jeon fired his revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
at Stevens first, but missed, and instead rushed at him, using his weapon as a club to hit Stevens in the face. Jang then fired into the melee, striking Stevens twice in the back; Jeon was also shot in the confusion. The crowd which had gathered urged that they be lynched
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
on the spot; Jang was arrested and held without bail on a charge of murder, while Jeon was first hospitalized, and later charged as an accessory
Accessory (legal term)
An accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal...
. In newspaper interviews after the attack, both Jeon and Jang offered no apology for the assassination, describing Stevens as a "traitor to Korea" and stating that "thousands of people have been killed through his plans".
One bullet had penetrated Stevens' lung, while another lodged in his groin; however, surgeons at the St. Francis Hospital initially expected that he would be able to make a recovery, and on the day of the attack he was apparently in good enough health to issue a statement to the press that the assault was "evidently the work of a small band of student agitators in and about San Francisco, who resent the fact that the Japanese have a protectorate over Korea and believe that I am to some extent responsible for this condition of affairs in their country". However, his condition began to deteriorate on the morning of March 25. His doctors, seeing signs of inflammation in his wounds, placed him under anaesthesia and began to perform surgery at six that evening. He never regained consciousness after that, and died shortly after 11 PM, with Japanese Consul Chozo Koike at his bedside. He was buried in his hometown of Washington, D.C. after a funeral service at St. John's Episcopal Church
St. John's Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C.
St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, is a historic Episcopal church located at 16th and H Streets NW, in Washington, D.C. It is near Lafayette Square and the White House....
; Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Elihu Root
Elihu Root
Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...
was among his pallbearer
Pallbearer
A pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....
s.
Reaction to death
News of Stevens' assassination was greeted with sorrow in diplomatic circles in Japan and among American missionaries in Korea, to whom Stevens was well-known; United States Ambassador to Japan Thomas O'BrienThomas J. O'Brien (Michigan)
[[File:OBrien USAmbassador 1910 Japan.jpg|thumb|right|Hon. Thomas O’Brien[[File:OBrien USAmbassador 1910 Japan.jpg|thumb|right|Hon. Thomas O’Brien[[File:OBrien USAmbassador 1910 Japan.jpg|thumb|right|Hon...
was quoted as saying that "the utmost grief is expressed by everyone", adding that he counted Stevens as a "true and useful friend". Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
professor George Trumbull Ladd
George Trumbull Ladd
George Trumbull Ladd was an American philosopher, educator and psychologist.-Early life and ancestors:...
, in a letter to the editor
Letter to the editor
A letter to the editor is a letter sent to a publication about issues of concern from its readers. Usually, letters are intended for publication...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, denounced the attacks as "cowardly and shockingly brutal", calling Koreans a "bloody race" and, comparing the Stevens case to a number of other assaults in Korea, such as that against American missionary George Heber Jones
George Heber Jones
George Heber Jones was an American Christian missionary in Korea. Jones, who grew up in Utica, New York, is notable as the first Protestant missionary in Korea who took an academic approach to the research of Korean religions...
, concluded that politically-motivated murders were not "an isolated or at all peculiar experience" in Korea, and stated that the events "furnish an instructive object lesson for the correct estimation of the Korean character and the Korean method of self-government".
Jang and Jeon both stood trial for Stevens' murder separately, as there was insufficient evidence to prove they had conspired with each other; Jeon was quickly acquitted of charges. The Korean community hired three lawyers to defend Jang, among whom one, Nathan Coughlan, eventually agreed to take on the case pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
. During the trial, he planned to use Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...
's theory of "patriotic insanity" to argue that Jang was not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury found Jang guilty of second-degree murder on 23 December of that same year. Later Korean accounts describe Stevens as a traitor to Korea and refer to Jeon and Jang as patriots and heroes.
External links
- Entry for Durham Stevens on SamuraiWiki
- The murder of D.W. Stephens, or Spot the terrorist on Gusts of Popular Feeling
- Dr. Hak-wan Sunoo, "A Letter to My Grandson"