Queen Min

Today on the Chosun Ilbo webpage there were a series of articles related to the murder of Queen Min. One of the articles says new Japanese documents show that the Queen was not murdered in the bedroom, but out in the courtyard which has new implications. One of the implications cited is that Queen Min was murdered in the courtyard with people watching, which makes the incident an occupation of the royal palace rather than just a murder. I don't really understand why people watching make it any more brutal than without people watching, unless it was a huge crowd that would have had the ability to stop the murder and didn't. He also said that it was the same as military operation. Again, I'm not sure why this new evidence is cited as leading to that conclusion, but that is in a quote said by a Korean professor.

Another article talks about how the descendants of the Queen's murders were tracked down by The Society that Thinks of Empress Myeongseong and journalists. Two of the assassins' grandchildren, well one grandson and another grandson's wife, traveled to Korea to apologize. They say this is helpful for reconciliation. It seems like Japanese citizens want to mend relations with the Koreans and make the effort, but it doesn't do anything because the Koreans want the government to make the effort and take responsibility. It is the same in the case of the comfort women. They reject the donations of Japanese people and say they will not be happy until the government issues a real apology and takes responsibility. Until the Japanese government takes responsibility, the efforts of the Japanese citizens won't have very impressive results.

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