Learning about the World
Although globalization has become the norm for modern day Korea, in the 19th century Joseon locked down the country and refused to accept cultural influence or goods from foreign countries, earning the nickname “Hermit Kingdom.” But in this isolated time Yu Kil-chun wrote Seoyu Gyeonmun (Observations on Travels in the West), which showed the people of Joseon how modernization and reforms were changing the west. What motivated Yu, a reformist politician and Joseon’s first state-sponsored student to study abroad, to lead the country into the outside world?

Venturing Out to the Greater World
Born in the upscale neighborhood of Gye-dong in then-capital Hanyang in 1856, Yu received education in Chinese studies in his youth like any other scion of a noble family. In his studies he met famed pragmatist scholar Park Gyu-su at his maternal grandfather’s introduction, and veered away from his predestined path of bureaucratic career.
While studying under Park, the young Yu opened his eyes to western studies and world politics. At the time the Joseon court had established modern diplomatic relations with Japan and began to realize how much progress Japan had made in a short period of time. The king sent a delegation to Japan in 1881 and Yu joined it as an aide to the chief delegate, Eo Yun-jung.
However, Yu did not return to Joseon even after the four-month tour was over. Instead, he entered a Japanese school to learn in earnest about the reformist ideas. After returning to Joseon in the following year Yu was applauded as an up-and-coming scholar and included in a delegation to the United States and Europe. Having impressed everyone with his exceptional interpretation skills during the delegation’s trip abroad, Yu was granted permission from the delegation’s chief envoy, Min Young-ik, to stay in the United States. Gifted with a linguistic talent, Yu became proficient in English in just three months and subsequently entered the two-year college prep school Dummer Academy on Joseon’s first state-sponsored scholarship. But his study was cut short, compelling him to return home, when King Gojong turned against reformists and cut off financial assistance for Yu.

Opening the Path to the World
Yu was arrested upon arriving in Incheon in December 1885 for his association with Kim Ok-gyun and other leaders of the 1884 reformist usurpation. He was put under house arrest for seven years, but this did not thwart his composition of Seoyu Gyeonmun and its eventual publication in 1889.
At a glance Seoyu Gyeonmun appears to be a travel journal depicting Yu’s impressions and experiences during his stays in the U.S. and Europe. But Yu was actually trying to convey the ways for Joseon to achieve independence and modernization in the waning days of the dynasty. In fact, in his writing Yu wrote that a country, regardless of its size, is a valid sovereign state and there is no difference among countries in terms of their sovereign rights and status. That implied that although Joseon had to pay tributes to China for being smaller and weaker, according to the modern political system, it was still a sovereign nation equal to other independent nations around the world. In order to inform the ordinary people, he wrote the book in both Chinese and Korean, a radical practice at the time, and self-funded the publishing and distribution of 1,000 copies.
In 1894 Yu took part in the nation’s first modern reformist movement to push for the abolishment of the lunar calendar, development of a small pox vaccination, establishment of a postal system, and the nationwide hair-cutting mandate.
However, he had to seek asylum in Japan after a pro-Russia government was established in 1896. He returned to Joseon in 1907 and died in 1914 after devoting his life to education, enlightenment and Joseon’s independence. His last wish was to have no headstone for his grave, because he had achieved nothing in his life. But contrary to his stern and humble self-assessment, his reform ideas and writings indeed inspired other Koreans to lead the country into the modern world.