Jo Jung-eung (趙重應, 4 November 1860 (22 September lunar calendar) – 25 August 1919 solar calendar) was an official in the late Joseon period and was included among the Jeongmi Seven Traitors and the Gyeongsul Traitors. His pen name was Nangjeon (琅田), his birth name was Jo Jung-hyeop (趙重協), his family seat was Yangju, and his title was viscount.
Life
Born into a Soron yangban family in Hanseong, he studied Confucianism. In 1880, as a palace lecture Confucian scholar (殿講儒生), he lectured on the Confucian classics to King Gojong.1 From an early age he took an interest in foreign affairs, and after traveling privately to Manchuria and Siberia and other regions, he advocated the "Northern Defense and Southern Opening" theory (北防南開論) upon his return. The theory of blocking the north and opening the south was a diplomatic position with a pro-Japanese tendency, and because of it he was driven out by the anti-Japanese Yeoheung Min clan ruling faction and spent a long period in exile in South Jeolla Province.
Around the eve of the Sino-Japanese War, he accompanied Prince Ui on a trip to Japan, and around that time he openly revealed his pro-Japanese conduct. In 1895 he was involved in the assassination of Empress Myeongseong.2 However, his role in the Eulmi Incident has not yet been clearly established. Only his participation in the aftermath has come to light, such as as Director of the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, where he hastily carried out measures to depose Empress Myeongseong. When the pro-Japanese cabinet collapsed due to Gojong's flight to the Russian Legation, he fled to Japan and lived in exile for more than ten years.
After returning to Korea in July 1906, he was immediately appointed the following year as Minister of Justice in the cabinet of Yi Wan-yong, and he made great contributions to the conclusion of the Korea–Japan Agreement of 1907 and the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty. He was involved in the forced abdication of Gojong, and in 1909 he attended the funeral of Itō Hirobumi as a representative of the cabinet.1 On 16 October 1910, he received the title of viscount (First Class Order of Merit) from Japan and was appointed as an adviser to the Chuseowon of the Government-General of Korea.3 Afterwards, he continued to act as a thoroughgoing pro-Japanese collaborator, including actively participating in the establishment of the Gyeonghakwon.
It is recorded that he kept his legal wife in Seoul, and after marrying a Japanese woman during his exile in Japan, he brought her back with him upon returning to Korea, which caused trouble; later, under the mediation of Gojong, he made both women his legal wives and lived with them together. The son and daughter he had with his Japanese wife grew up in Japan from an early age, and his title was inherited by Jo Dae-ho. In 1960 a magazine reported that these descendants lived a wealthy life during the Japanese colonial period and that his descendants were running a hotel in Seoul.4
Posthumous evaluation
He was selected for the List of 708 pro-Japanese collaborators published in 2002, and for the list of individuals to be included in the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators, compiled by the Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities in 2008. He was also selected for the List of 106 pro-Japanese collaborators of the early Japanese colonial period, officially announced in 2006 by the Committee for the Investigation of Pro-Japanese Collaborationist Activities.
In 2007, the Committee for the Investigation of Property of Pro-Japanese Collaborators decided to confiscate Jo Jung-eung's property for the state,5 but his descendants disagreed and filed an administrative appeal.6 The Seoul Administrative Court ruled against the plaintiffs, stating, "Considering that Jo Jung-eung received various concessions and privileged benefits as compensation for pro-Japanese activities immediately after the Japan–Korea annexation, it cannot be concluded that this land is unrelated to the pro-Japanese activities of the Jo family."7
Family
- Great-grandfather: Jo Je-man (趙濟晩)
- Grandfather: Jo Chul-lim (趙徹林)
- Uncle: Jo Chong-hui (趙寵熙)
- Father: Jo Taek-hui (趙宅熙)
- Left wife: Choi clan
- Right wife: Mitsuoka Takeko
- Son: Jo Dae-ho (趙大鎬)
- Daughter: Jo Suk-ho (趙淑鎬, 1913–?)
References
- Committee for the Investigation of Pro-Japanese Collaborationist Activities (December 2006). 〈조중응〉 (PDF). 《2006년도 조사보고서 II - 친일반민족행위결정이유서》. Seoul. pp. 185–209. Publication registration number 11-1560010-0000002-10. Archived from the original document (PDF) on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2007.
- Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities (1 February 1993). 〈조중응 : 친일의 길이라면 물불 가리지 않았던 매국노 (장석홍)〉. 《친일파 99인 1》. Seoul: Dolbegae. ISBN 978-89-7199-011-7.
Footnotes