Assassination of Josuke Tsuchida
On October 8, 1895, Empress Myeongseong (명성황후; 明成皇后; 민비), the wife of Emperor Gwangmu (광무황제; 光武皇帝; 고종) of the Korean Empire was assassinated by a group of Japanese assassins (the Eulmi Incident; 을미사변; 乙未事變). Miura Goro (三浦梧楼), then Japan's Resident Minister in Korea, was suspected as the mastermind of the assassination. In February 1896, Kim stayed at an inn in Chihapo, Hwanghae Province while traveling to southern regions. There he found a Japanese man named Tsuchida Josuke (土田譲亮), who was disguised as a Korean and concealing a Japanese sword, and killed him believing that he was involved in the assassination of the queen.
In his autobiography, 'Baekbeom Ilji' (白凡逸志), Kim describes his motivation at the time as follows:
Since many Japaneses go through Chihapo every day, there is no reason for him to disguise as a Korean if he were an ordinary merchant or workman. Could he be Miura or one of his accomplices who killed the queen, fled from Seoul and hiding here? Even if he is not, a Japanese man with a disguise and a sword can do nothing but harm to my country and people. I will revenge for my queen by killing this Japanese man.
— Baekbeom Ilji
The following morning, Kim attacked Tsuchida, took his sword, and killed him with it. The "Report from acting administrator Hagihara Moriichi of Incheon Consulate on the current situation of Incheon" describes Tsuchida as a "commoner from Nagasaki Prefecture" and an "employee of a Nagasaki trader on a business trip". However, this does not prove that Tsuchida was not involved in the assassination of the Empress Myeongseong, as this assassination was carried out not only by Japanese soldiers but also by many Japanese Ronins, as described in the report by Ezo Ishizuka (石塚英藏), the Japanese adviser to the Korean Empire at the time.
In addition, Kim stated in his autobiography that Tsuchida was concealing a sword and had identification papers that showed him to be a Japanese army lieutenant. Official Japanese interrogation police records from the time also verify the fact that Tsuchida was carrying a sword around.
After the killing, Kim left a hand-written document which said "Kim Changsoo from Haeju, Hwanghae Province, killed this Japanese man to revenge the murder of the Queen of Korea", as documented in Baekbeom Ilji. He waited at his home at Haeju for three months before the police came and arrested him.
Famous quotes containing the words assassination of:
“I cannot be indifferent to the assassination of a member of my profession, We should be obliged to shut up business if we, the Kings, were to consider the assassination of Kings as of no consequence at all.”
—Edward VII (1841–1910)