The Chosun Ilbo ran a story on one of the descendants of assassins of Empress Myeongseong — Queen Min — who is visiting Korea on a mission of repentance. What made the story a tragic coincidence, however, is that the Korean edition of the paper also reported today that a descendant of Empress Myeongseong, 26-year-old Chester Clarence Chang of Santa Monica, California, was shot and killed in LA’s Koreatown on Saturday (local time) as he was trying to break up a fight between a group of Koreans in their 20s (one of whom was apparently a friend of his) and a group of Vietnamese/other ethnic groups.
Chang was a pilot with the Van Nuys charter jet company Prime Jet. His father is director of the FAA’s Western-Pacific Region and a noted contributor or rare Korean art.
More on the shooting here, via the Joongang Ilbo’s LA edition (Korean).
60 Comments
Whoa… tragic indeed. Prayer for the poor dude.
And the “mission of repentance”, kudos to the descendants. Hopefully they will not be spurned when they returen to Japan by the ultra-rights.
Saw the KBS News story this morning (yes, we can get that here); had no idea he was a direct descendant of royalty!
Ditto to what Juan said re what hopefully won’t be their reception when they return to Japan.
Perhaps Marmot was more respectful of the dead than I would’ve been…. here’s is picture.
Was Queen Min really such a glorious person to deserve an apology from a descent of a assassin? I think this is revisionist history. I think it’s fair to accuse the Japanese for doing a lot of things, but lionizing Queen Min….
‘virtual wonderer…’
the true sign of an asshole is when a guy like virtual just doesn’t know when to shut up.
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what the japanese decendants of those who assasianted Empress Myong-song did was admirable and their apology should be graciously accepted so that the koreans and japanese can move a step closer to moving ahead in tandem.
For the record, as if it isn’t already well recorded but you never know when you’re writing in English, Queen Min was killed by Japanese assassins, and about that there is little debate on either side of Dokdo. What was not known was that at least one of them, the ancestor of the person in Korea to apologize, was not just some random homeless wanderer as was long believe by many.
I do believe there is an org (maybe ‘???æ´??¤¾’? or one of its offshoots?) in Japan that does not deny its involvement in the incident one way or another way back then, perhaps even taking a little pride in what happend.
What was not known was that at least one of them, the ancestor of the person in Korea to apologize, was not just some random homeless wanderer as was long believe by many.
Actually, he was the editor-in-chief of the Hanseong Shinbo, the Japanese expat rag from ?????œ period:
http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....90012.html
Kudos to those Japanese decendants. Their acknowledgements (instead of the defensiveness) that the killing of the Queen was not a good act, is much appreciated and is impressive. VW, eventhough there were people who didn’t like the Queen, she was still a leader of a sovereign country. It’s like breaking into the White House, and butchering George Bush with a sword and justifying the act because there were some people who didn’t like him and his policies.
I met an American girl whose grandfather was one of scientists who participated in Manhattan project. She was so shamed about her grandfather and almost cried. Although she had nothing to do with her grandfather?€™s work, she was willing to speak about it and offer a sort of apology. The Japanese descendent seems to be the same mentality like her. Trauma of violence or war seems to continue through next generations. I don?€™t buy theological concept of “Original Sin”, but it seems to me that history becomes our Original Sin. So grateful to the Japanese Doctor (and the American girl). That?€™s beauty of humanity.
I am sorry to hear about Queen?€™s grandson though. I live in LA area, but I didn?€™t hear about it on local news at all.
It’ll probably be all over the local Korean-language media, though. Although when the language student Park Ji-yeon was assaulted in Vancouver a few years ago, it got major play in the English media as well.
Really sad–I lived in L.A. for many, many years, went through the riots (”civil unrest” is the oxymoron the media uses to call it there) in 1992 and finally decided to leave the city because of the level of gun violence. Of course, now I’m in Seoul on the front line of a war zone
but it’s much safer here!
Michael, you’re in Seoul but you have an American flag next to your name?
Ray, you’ve got the Kimster next to your name! The magic of globalization!
I post from Canada but end up with a Star-Spangled Banner beside my name half the time. Mingi posts from Europe and gets a EU flag, whilst other European commenters get their national flags beside their names. I believe there’s a mapping between originating IP addresses and the flags used, but then when I go to Google, I always get rooted to google.ca, so I have no idea.
I post from Canada but end up with a Star-Spangled Banner beside my name half the time.
You may not have heard: the U.S. has taken over Canada through terra nullius since all the Canadians have gone to Korea.
LOL. Nothing here now but marmots. Oh wait….
Re comment 15, “get rooted” should be “get routed.” Ah, fun with typos!
“Ray, you?€™ve got the Kimster next to your name! The magic of globalization!”
Doesn’t he look great?!? It puts a smile on my face everytime I post.
Ray–you must have a “hot wind of admiration” for Kim Jong-il
Dumb: Anyone that gives a shit about Queen Min.
Dumber: Anyone that apologizes for something a relative did.
Dumbest: Anyone that accepts that apology and/or thinks it relevant.
Absolute peak of dumbfuckery: Noolji.
I looked up “E-Rod” in Webster-Merriam. It says
One who doesn’t know where s/he comes from, AKA ssang-nom.
Well it’s nice of the descendent of the assassin to apologize, it’s a nice gesture. But at the same time, it’s absolutely none of his responsibility. If it were me, I might apologize for the hurt my ancestor did, as a gracious thing to do, but I wouldnt hold any guilt whatsoever.
Interesting. It is sad that this guy was shot and died as a result but no more so than anyone else that is shot and dies. As far as his ancestory, it is an interesting but trivial fact. I have read at least two different accounts of what the heir to the Korean throne (if it were still a kingdom) is doing. One of them said that he works for a Korean company and the other said he had a small shop in Seoul somewhere. I would be interested to find out if anyone knows.
They descendant of one of the Assasins that came to appologize at least recognizes that what his ancestor did was not honorable and his recognition of that shows character. It is too bad that the people in Japan (politicians) don’t take this tact-it would take care of alot of issues.
There must be a few descendants. One has had a pretty tough life, but a regional government in Jeolla gave him a home and a salary in one of those “traditional folk villages.” (A good thing, too, as he’d been living on the street, as I recall.) A remember reading a National Geographic story from decades ago on another (the same?) descendant, who at the time was a businessman. And here we have the gentleman in LA.
I wonder if there’s a monarchist group in Korea, a la Canada or other countries, that’s hoping to one day restore the royal family to the throne?
So far I havn’t seen a monarchist group in Korea… I’ve seen some comics and movies with “what if…” stories, but that is as far as it gets. I’m pretty sure most Koreans don’t care for monarchy. Most young kids probably don’t even realize Korea had one.
Why is she a Queen? An empress? Who is the emperor (Chinese Emperor?) and where is the empire?
She is just a sorry figure who didn’t know what to do, except to fight her father-in-law. A power-grabber who shameless brought her relatives to all important government posts.
She also loved to consort with witches and magicians.
This woman who had never learned how to be a submissive wife, together with her stubborn father-in-law, brought down the Chosun dynasty and sold out the country to the Japanese.
I have no soft spots for these f***ing a******s. The same was said for Pres. Rhee who did not prepare the country for the Korean War. And, the same will be said for those who are in power if they sell this country out to the Chinese or to KJI who, I think, is just an underling of the Chinese communist party.
IIRC, the Japanese took the last heirs to the Lee Dynasty to Japan and forced them to marry Japanese. Doubtful that any Koreans would want to see the restoration of the monarchy, much less being ruled by half-Japanese.
On top of that, the son that was born to the Japanese woman and the Korean prince (Sunjong?) went to school in the US where he met an American and they married and had kids so technically, we only talking about 1/4 Korean now. The difference between Emporer and King comes from the Japanese trying to undermine China’s authority in Korea. As a kingdom, Korea was still claiming to be a protectorate of China but as a full fledged Empire, they were free (to be taken over by Japan). Not only that but it is a good ego massage. Not really anything to brag about I think.
James,
You mean the Japanese first called her the Empress and then abused and killed her? That is so befitting to this ignorant and haughty girl who loved to control the stupid king, her father-in-law(dumb ass) and the country.
When I was attending school in Korea in the sixties, every Korean man called her “the reason” for the end of Chosun dynasty. Korean men were saying, ?€œwhen a chicken(like Min) crows (like a rooster), the end of a country(like Chosun) is near”. They did this just to put down women.
Now all women try to exalt her calling her the Empress and the Queen. The Queen of which country? Chosun never had a queen. Min is the Marie Antoinette of Korea. Instead of a revolution, Korea was taken over by a foreign power. But, with a woman this bad, something had to happen.
my korean isn’t realy good enough to read the articles without a great deal of difficulty, but does it really say that he was breaking up the fight? or this just whats being reported? it sounds a little suspicious that he was just trying to break things up. Two groups of asians fighting and one got killed sounds more like it.
James wrote, “On top of that, the son that was born to the Japanese woman and the Korean prince (Sunjong?) went to school in the US where he met an American and they married and had kids…”
This is probably the businessman whose photo I saw in that old issue of National Geographic. Ah, here we go: Yi Kyu. He was (is?) an American citizen, studied and MIT, and married a woman from Pennsylvania. He returned to Korea in 1963 to look after his ailing father (Sunjong?), and was living in Changdok Palace. (National Geographic, March 1969)
…”studied at MIT,” not “studied and MIT”….
…The other gentleman is Yi Seok, who is, according to Yeonhap, the last surviving Yi prince. He is a grandson of Gojong. Story here: http://english.yna.co.kr/Engne.....014E9.html
It seems that when Koreans go overseas they start gangs and violence. They are all over Cebu and Pattaya and LA with gangs and violence. The USA needs to keep a closer eye on them. The vietnamese people are very kindly. Its too bad this criminal wanted to hurt those poor kids. Can you imagine how bad those vietnamese kids felt haveing to defend yourself agains a Korean gang and shooting a guy in self defence. That must be tough. No wonder asians like philipino, viet, and thai hate koreans so much.
look up an article at the nyt about the last prince of korea. it wasn’t too long ago. the article said the prince was living in a van. it also said that a monarchist group does exists though it’s very small. they qouted one individual writing in addressing the former prince as ‘your majesty’. also indicated that it was not likely that koreans would support a restoration of the monarchy considering it lost the country to japan.
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mae, i don’t use the word ‘jap’. do you ever use the phrase ‘garlic eater’?
Throw that kid a ham sandwich!
Noolji, when you insult me, the credibility of what I say goes up. For that, I thank thee.
Sa Hwa Dong, KJI is also a leader of a sovereign country, and I would say that Pol Pot also falls under this category. Other screw ups that we lionize in order to promote national chaunism–andrew jackson, genghis khan, etc etc. If there is one impressive thing about the japanese, it’s who they choose to put on their national currency.
Kimchikid, that’s the funniest thing I read all day. I guess I forgot to buy my Tec-9 at Hanareum last weekend. Next Saturday, I better not forget to pick up the kids at the Kumon learning center so we can do a drive-by on the Thai kids.
Queen Min was a cultist and the public enemy #1 for Joseon. After Taewongun was fallen from power, Min, wishing prosperity of her clan family, asked a cult mistress to built 1200 shrine on each hilltop of the Kumkang mountain range, donating 12 million won (1 won = 1 dollar back then) with a total of 12000 seok (1 seok=150kg) of rice and 12000 rolls of fabrics. This emptied the national treasury and resulted harsh taxing to commoners. People were forced to eat roots and ashes…
Joseon was such a backward country that farmers/commoners didn?€™t have the ownership of land. Farmer uprising particularly in 1894 was a chance for their own Civilization and Enlightenment, but Min blew it for her dynasty?€™s sake. After Japan’s victory in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Queen Min advocated stronger ties between Korea and Russia in an attempt to block Japan’s influence in Korea. They sold many rights to Russia and other European countries while their people dying of hunger and diseases. Min obviously had no interests in the future for Joseon whatsoever but only for her and her clan.
When Min was assassinated, Gojong lowered her title from Queen to Commoner in favor of public opinion. But Kaoru Inoue, the Japanese Envoy, suggested Gojong to show mercy on the dead soul, and thus, Gojong awarded his late wife the title ?€œMyeongseong?€?.
Her image was so glorified and romanticized under the modern-day Anti-Japanese sentiment, but she was no doubt a BETRAYER to the nation. Descendants of Queen Min should apologize to Korean public for her misguidance that caused Russo-Japan war and the Annex in my opinion.
How come Chester Clarence Chang of Santa Monica, California is donating thousands of treasures to LA/Hawaii museums and no even thinking about returning them to his mother county anyway?
Kimcity, thank you for a very enlightening post. Of course, I would try to stay away from using bloated terms like “cultist” but I heartily agree.
http://www.bloglot.com/wikiped....._of_Joseon
Yes, much of what KimCity 2000 wrote I have read or heard elsewhere. As for Daewongun, it was his restoration of Gyeongbok Palace that also helped to drain the country’s coffers.
Be that as it may, in the case of Gojong, he represents the last legitimate sovereign of Korea (his son Sunjong being installed by the Japanese government in 1907), regardless of whatever shortcomings the royal family may have exhibited in the dying days of the Joseon Dynasty.
The independence movement does not appear to have strongly supported forming a republic until after Gojong died. The Shanghai-based Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was formed in 1919, the year Gojong died (and the year of the Samil (March 1st) movement). It would appear that until 1919, the aim was to restore the “Korean Empire” (Daehan Jeguk, the country’s last official name) with Gojong as its head of state, whereas the push for the formation of the “Korean Republic” (Daehan Minguk) did not come until after his death. (I am not 100 % sure of this, however.)
…I am sure of the dates (everything happened in 1919), just not of whether there actually was a cause-and-effect reletionship between Gojong’s death and the shift to republicanism.
Pretty wierd/cool with the flags, huh?
Was King Gojong a piece of dumba**? What did he do while his wife was bringing modern technologies and playing international politics? Did he just sit in the warm place and defecate?
There is so much lying in interpretations of past history . Korean women have some problem when it comes to “Queen Min”, because men have ridiculed all Korean women about her.
If she were a good queen, then she would have made her husband look good by giving credits to her husband , the lord of her life, especially in Chosun frame of mind.
Instead, she decided to make her husband look like a fool and she ran the court. What a b****!
If she did not appear when she did in Korean history, Korea could have possibly gone in different direction. Korea as a country could have united under a powerful king. The Japanese emperor might have given up fighting Korean men and suffering casualties. He might have elected Gojong and his court as his puppets, and might not have taken over Korea as he did.
Queen Min did divide Korea into two opposing factions and weakened the defense.
…Nevertheless, if the two visitors from Japan felt that formally apologizing is the best way to right past wrongsregardless of whether people’s views of the main actors have changed over timethen I wish them well.
Curious, where did you get that pic? I like it - a sun-bi.
Ah, my gravatar debuts! (Wasn’t able to see it before now.) It’s a picture of the 19th-century geographer Kim Jeong-ho. I just did a search in Google Images until a find a suitable picture that would still look good at 80 x 80. (I’m working on the assumption that as the painting must be 150 years old or so, it’s not copyrighted.)
Marmot, it’s funny. You have a few dozen regular posters who comment on a variety of topics. But when you do a post on Mongolian models or Filipina celebs, suddenly Mongolian and Filipino posters appear out of nowhere, and you do a post on Nic Cage and Alice Kim, LA gyopos come out of the woodwork! Not that I mind at allit broadens the appeal of your blog. But it’s amusing.
i read in one of the articles that after the assassins killed her, they burned her body in the pine forest of the palace and then spread her ashes around. it seems strange that the palace guards didn’t try to break up their “camp fire” or anything. it leads me to think that if that story is true then the palace guards and other koreans in the palace allowed what happened to happen. it takes quite a while for a body to burn to ash.
I’m a friend of Chester Clarence Chang. I don’t know the history of his family nor do I know much about the topic of this queen min you all speak of, but Chester was an extraordinary person. One I will miss a great deal. He will forever hold a special place in my heart. For those of you poking fun at his death…F@ck you!
Hi, Gina: Nobody is poking fun at his death. It is certainly a sad and serious matter. The comments people are making about Queen Min are 19th-century politics, and nothing personal. You should be honoured to have known him, since apart from his being your friend, he was, as has been said, a direct descendant of Korea’s royal family.
…The royal family to which I’m referring ruled Korea from 1392 to 1910. Min was the queen (her husband was King Gojong) in the late 1800s. I’m still trying to figure out the exact relationship between Chester Clarence Chang and Queen Min, so for anyone who can translate, here’s an excerpt from chol.com (http://news.chol.com/webnews/W.....INS_231384, reproduced from the Jungang Ilbo):
?œ???¸??™?????¼ ??¤??½??œ ?????? ??¼????œ?(1852~1935)??? ?™¸????†???¸ ?????¸??™??? ?²´??¤??° ??´?????°??¤ ???(??œ???ª… ????§??™?.26)?”¨?°€ ?§€??œ 7??¼(????§€??œ?°?) ?¡œ??¤??¤??¤?????¤ ??œ??´?????œ ?Œ¨??¸??€??? ?§??????? ?¤‘ ?´???? ?§???? ??¨?¡Œ??¤. ??¼????œ???” ?ª…??±?™??????? ?¡°?¹´?????´ ?????” ?¨¼ ?¹œ?²™?œ¼?¡œ ??¹??œ ??¼?”¨ ??¼?°€??¼ ?Œ€?‘œ?????” ??¸????°€??€??¤.
My knowledge of distant kinship terms is a little weak, but it appears he’s the great grandson of Min Yeong-hwi, who was somehow related to Lady (Queen) Min. If anyone can help out, I’d appreciate it.
Gina, I hope you don’t mind my dwelling on this at what must surely be a difficult time for you. The Korean media made a big deal of his royal descent, so I’m curious to know more about it.
the key term here seems to be: ?™¸????†?
I think this means (great?) grandson via a daughter? Man, I’ve turned into a lousy gyopo - my ancestors must be turning their grave… I
Thank you all for the history and clearing up that no one is poking fun. It has been an extremely difficult time for me and a few of the comments came off as very offensive (just because I’m still a little sensitive). I have read pretty much every article posted about the tragic incident (in both English and Korean). It breaks my heart that he had worked so hard to gain all that he had and lost it all in seconds. I love Chester with all of my heart and I’m just regretful that everyone but him knew that. “Carpe diem!”
Gina, my condolences to you as you pull through this difficult time. Losing someone close to you is never easy and always painful. Just focus on the good memories you have of him.
…And I’m sorry to read that you were unable to tell him your feelings. After my grandmother passed away many years ago, I really felt like her spirit was close by me. Maybe it’s the same for you. Take comfort in your memories of him, and hold him close to your heart.
Gina,
I would also like to extend my condolences to you and to Chester’s family. It is such a tragedy when people are killed in such senseless violence. As a fellow Californian, I have always felt saddened that this kind of thing has become so commonplace there.
Condolences…
First of all, I would like to say yes, that is sad about Queen Min’s descendant being killed, but the main issue I would like to raise is that I was pretty much appalled at a lot of the comments that were posted here about Queen Min herself.
I am open-minded enough to respect another’s opinion, so you should respect mine when I say that yes, I think that Queen Min had her odd habits that some people might consider superstitious and archaic, but put things into context, people, before you start judging anybody!
Time, place, and location. These three factors are incredibly important when putting things into context. What was the time period? Where there any other factors to take into consideration? Blah blah blah.
Queen Min might have been a heartless eccentric at times, but I choose to believe that she was the one person who was politically powerful and manipulative enough to block and Japanese invasion. (How else do you explain the events that transpired after her death?) For that, as a Korean, I owe her my respect.