Note 79 — Chapter XV · FOREIGNERS AND FOREIGN RELATIONS

The following incident illustrates the habitual behavior of the Korean Daily News, edited by Mr. Bethell, in both an English and a native edition. Dr. Jones, one of the most faithful and useful of the Missionary body in Korea, had previously incurred the bitter enmity of this paper by publicly announcing (see p. 61 f.) the intention to assist the Resident-General in his plans, so far as his own work as a missionary permitted, for the up-raising of Korea. At the time when the Korean troops, in a wholly unprovoked way, fired upon the crowd in the streets of Seoul, Dr. Jones published in the Seoul Press an account of what he himself saw. The account was not accompanied by any harsh criticism of the conduct of the troops. But “shortly afterwards a Korean attached to the vernacular paper visited him and, attacking him fiercely, denounced him as an enemy of Korea. This was followed by a savage attack in the Korean edition of the News, giving an entirely false account of what Dr. Jones had done and said. It was in fact an invitation to murder.” Dr. Jones at once appealed to the American Consul-General and he to the British. The editor was forced to retract and apologize, but this by no means compensated for the damage his article had done.