This is the second of a three-part contribution on relations between Korea and France, which have marked the 130th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations. -- Ed.

France and Korea in the powers game

Having been forced to open herself and her ports to the rest of the world in 1880, Korea became a battlefield for the conflicting interests of China, Japan and Russia. Korea entered an unprecedented crisis during which the destiny of the Korean nation as well as her cultural identity had more to do with external forces than with the intentions of Koreans themselves. In this way, Korean experience at that time demonstrates that the destiny of a small and weak country located at the point of conflict between the world powers’ interests is really a function of these powers fighting or reaching a compromise.

France’s stance was to let China, Japan and Russia fight with each other and, together with the U.S. and Great Britain, be the major actors on the Korean Peninsula, while concentrating on the support and protection of the French missionaries there, otherwise remaining a passive observer. Due to her sense of duty as a world power, France chose to keep its presence in the Korean Peninsula without engaging in systematic rent-seeking that was rampant in her African or Southeast Asian colonies. Korea was too far away and the potential rents to be collected there were of minor importance compared to the ones coming from China and Indochina.

Within this context it becomes clear why France never intervened in the war of 1894-1895 between China and Japan that broke out after the two countries’ leaders argued about the fate of the Korean Peninsula.

According to the Treaty of Shimonoseki signed in April 1895, Korea was recognized as an independent state, while China, having lost a war, ceased its suzerain claims to Korea after so many centuries of Korea having been China’s vassal state.

After losing the war, China withdrew from the Korean Peninsula, and Russia immediately attempted to fill the vacuum. Given the fact that within the Korean government there quickly formed a pro-Russian faction, these developments posed a serious threat to Japanese ambitions. Although the original goal of the Franco-Russian alliance since 1892 was to keep Germany in check, France also tried to march in step with Russia in the Korean Peninsula as well. Finally, in the turmoil of a political upheaval of 1895, the Japanese murdered Queen Min. Shortly after that, the Korean monarch found refuge in the Russian Legation where he stayed for a year until 1897.

Disappointed in the Russian support, King Gojong returned to the palace in April or May, 1897, and began to seek assistance from the French. France responded with all kinds of flowery and skillful diplomatic rhetoric that fully satisfied its intentions to pursue a policy of nonintervention, in line with the requirements imposed by the Franco-Russian alliance.

Meanwhile, Paris was actively pursuing its plans to make Korea a neutral country. It is likely that France sincerely hoped that neutral Korea would enjoy better chances of keeping her independence and implementing development reforms. As tensions between Russia and Japan reached their climax, on the eve of the breakout of the Russo-Japanese war, the Korean emperor held consultations with the Russian Legation and appealed to countries with which Korea had treaties to declare Korea’s neutrality, France actively participating in this process. Unfortunately, this attempt ended in failure as a result of a Japanese ship sinking a Russian ship in the waters close to Incheon. The result of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 was that Korea fell victim to Japan’s imperialistic ambitions by becoming a Japanese protectorate in 1905, and setting her feet on the way to becoming Japan’s colony five years later. On August 29, 1910, Japan annexed Korea, which would remain colonized until the demolition of the Japanese Empire in 1945.

Even though France aligned her international policy with that of Russia, it never hesitated to take advantage of Russia’s reduced influence on the Korean Peninsula in order to acquire gains in the economic, technological and cultural areas.

Franco-Korean technological cooperation and economic links

By establishing diplomatic ties with France, Korea proclaimed its independence once again, while expecting that France would be playing an active role helping Korea confront the growing imperialistic ambitions of China, Japan and Russia. However, in the end Paris simply distanced itself from the problem. Although France did not live up to Korea’s hopes in terms of foreign policy, the Korean government nevertheless happily employed the French advisers. The Korean government was irritated by imperialistic and aggressive attitudes assumed by advisers hailing from the other world powers, while the French policy of noninterference did not raise any doubts. However, the appointment of the French advisers was made possible due to the tacit agreement of Russia, who at that time had the most political power on the Korean Peninsula.

French cooperation with Korea was at its strongest between 1895 and 1905, reaching a peak in 1902-1904 when there were 14 French advisers, compared to seven from all other countries combined.

Referring to the commercial side of the cooperation issue, France’s first Consul to Korea Collin de Plancy remarked that increasing trade ties with Korea was hardly possible because Korea was “extremely poor.” Indeed, the French transportation companies preferred not to send their liners to Korea, focusing instead on the ports of Indochina, South China and Japan.

In June 1896, Fives-Lille, a French company that was already constructing a railroad linking Tonking and South China, obtained a concession from the Korean government to build a railroad linking Seoul, Pyongyang and Uiju, a city located on the Chinese border. This came as a result of the Russian government actively pushing the French government to engage in this construction. However, the Fives-Lille before long assumed an extremely passive attitude toward this project, trying to resell the concession to the Japanese and fix the appropriate price. In November 1898, the Fives-Lille put up for sale their concession, arriving at an agreement with the Korean government. The latter would be responsible for the construction of the railroad itself, while France would provide engineers and supply wagons. In August 1899 the Fives-Lille sent a report to Foreign Minister Declasse, who was in Paris, where it described the then-state of affairs. According to this report, the participation itself of Fives-Lille in this construction project was solely the result of the attempts of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to please Russia by jeopardizing the sale of the railroad construction concession to the Japanese.

Anyhow, on May 8, 1902 a celebration ceremony was held to mark the beginning of the railroad construction. On May 17, 1903 a contract was signed between Fives-Lille and the Korean Treasury for the shipment of four locomotives and tenders and 66 wagons of various types.

By Lee Chang-hoon

Lee Chang-hoon, a former president of Halla University and Veolia Water Korea, is now the president of the Seoul ASEM Institute for International Relations and representative for Korea of the French ports of Le Havre-Rouen-Paris, called HAROPA. Lee holds a doctorate from the University of Paris X. He can be reached at leech771@seoulasem.com. — Ed.