Show ITO A DEATH ATE OF A KOREAN WHO DODGED ASSASSINS FOR TEN YEARS A burrd aue of comparatore security by the of money QI howera true one of Cabor lau gaboriau never wrote a detective novel tnt had in it a more startling story of criminal revenge than has tho following true story from china tho assassination si at shanghai of kirn ok kirn tho korean conspirator was tho climax of 10 years of sleepless pursuit of this refugee by emissaries of tho korean government it seems that kirn who was the leader in the seoul balaco plot of 1884 and fled to japan to avoid death recently received letters from an old korean exile in shanghai offering to pay him a large sum that had been duo many years if he would go to shanghai about the time kirn received an invitation to go to shanghai from lord li formerly chinese minister to japan specially instructed by viceroy li hung chang this step was taken by the viceroy it Is assumed owing to the increasing influence of russia in korean affairs and he felt tho necessity of an alliance with japan as a setoff against the encroach ments of russia for this reason tho attitude atti tudo of china toward japan in connection with korean matters has become much milder of late as may bo instanced in the appointment of a much more easy going minister in tho of yuan the late representative of china in japan with this change of policy the support given by china to th eMing family has sensibly declined and their influence has in consequence waned lord li intended to have held a conference with kirn with the idea of drawing up a pro gramme of progressive party politics which it was proposed to introduce again into korea kim saw the means of gaining a small fortune and of increasing his prestige with china and japan ho saw that the latter might leid to his return to power so he ignored the danger and started for shanghai whether the assassin accompanied him is not known but the day after bo reached shanghai kim was killed in a foreign hotel the assassin kwo sho was caught and held for trial belongs to a family eaid to have held an official position for generations in tho peninsular kingdom came to japan in 1888 almost and earned a difficult livelihood by various devices nevertheless in 1890 ho managed to procure money for a trip to europe where be spent three years often encountering great hardship but always finding means to live without recourse to charity returning to japan he showed a keen interest in politics those who know him best declare ho is an adventurer who would undertake any crime for sufficient reward on the day that kim was killed a plan was devised for murdering baku ei another korean who bad solicited funds for a school in tokyo for training korean youth one of the students tai gen told his fellows that ho had been ordered by li itan choku a korean who claimed to have instructions from the king at seoul to murder bo ku the lad hesitated because tho victim had been good to him li and the students were arrested after kim fled from korea repeated efforts were made by the korean government to procure hia extradition but tho japanese foreign office refused to entertain any such demand obviously opposed as it was to the practice of civilized nations for a time the refugee was prudent enough to avoid any act that might shako the japanese governments decision or endanger bis own privilege of asylum but as time went by bo acquired assurance and began or was supposed to bavo begun fresh designs against the public peace of the country the japanese authorities had then to choose between running the risk of troublesome complications with korea or ordering kirn to leave japan or removing him to some place where his machinations would be practically powerless the first of courses would have been plainly like the second would have involved kima death and the third was open to several objections nevertheless the last course was chosen kim was sent to the bonin islands here he lived a comfortable and uneventful ufa for some years finally it was decided that the climate of the benins did not agree with kim and ho went to tokyo an impression constantly prevailed among the japanese that kim could never rest without making some final attempt to carry out the pro gramme which failed so signally in 1884 it is said that in his early daya be three tamea dissipated the whole of bis resources in gambling and that bis speculative tendency did not disappear but only took a different direction in later years in bis own country and in china be was always regarded as a factor of potential magnitude in the oriental question the anxiety of his government about him was shown by repeated attempts to get possession of his person and oven it is rumored by more than one commission to assassinate him A man of considerable attainments and wide erudition be possessed aasc the gift of winning not only confidence but sympathy during his residence it japan where he went by the name ol 01 iwata shusaku Shu kaku wore the japanese cos tume and spoke the japanese language fluently ho made the acquaintance oi many new york telegram |