Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/217

 CHAPTER XI HE return to Seoul of M. Pavlow on the 15th of January, 1900, marked the definite beginning of that train of events which led up to the declaration of war by the Japanese in 1904. The Russians had been induced, two years previously, to remove the heavy pressure which they had brought to bear upon the government, but it was only a change of method. They were now to adopt a policy of pure intrigue, and, by holding in power Koreans who were hostile to the Japanese, to harass and injure Japanese interests in every way possible.

At this same time we see a clear indication of the trend of events in the return to Korea of An Kyung-su and Kwan Yungjin, two of the best men that late years had developed in Korea. They had been charged with connection with the plot to compass the abdication of his Majesty, and had taken refuge in Japan. Now, on the promise of the government that they should have a perfectly fair trial, and on the guarantee of protection by the Japanese, they returned boldly to Korea and presented themselves for trial. They were strong men and they had to be reckoned with. They openly favoured Japanese influence and the reforms that that influence was supposed to embody. In fact, they were thoroughly in sympathy with the best motives of the defunct Independence Club. An Kyung-su returned on the I5th of January and was held in detention until the i6th of May, when Kwan Yung- j in returned. They were to stand a fair trial, but on the night of the 27th of May they were both strangled secretly in the prison. No more dastardly crime ever stained the annals of this or any other government. Induced to return