Frederick Arthur McKenzie Frederick Arthur McKenzie was a foreign correspondent who spent time in Joseon and wrote several books about the Japanese occupation there. The picture above is a re-enactment from a real picture he took of the Righteous Army. Manchuria The Righteous Army and Ae Sin are seen leaving Joseon to Manchuria. Several … More Bits & Pieces of History; Mister Sunshine (미스터 션샤인) {Episode 24}

  1907 Hague Peace Convention Emperor Gojong sent a secret mission to the Convention trying to get help for Joseon. Ultimately, the Japanese made sure that the mission wasn’t heard and one of them committed suicide. Before this, Gojong had sent letters to foreign powers (like I also mentioned in History Bits for episode 2). … More Bits & Pieces of History; Mister Sunshine (미스터 션샤인) {Episode 22}

  United States-Korea Treaty of 1882 Eugene Choi; “America will never help Joseon.” This treaty although the first one Korea made with a Western nation was just another unequal treaty Joseon was pulled into. It mainly dealt with trade with Joseon and even though Joseon got a “friendship clause” it didn’t mean that United States … More Bits & Pieces of History; Mister Sunshine (미스터 션샤인) {Episode 21}

  Lee Wan Ik Yong Now Lee Wan Ik has met his demise. From the beginning his character was obviously modeled after Lee Wan Yong, who is known as the greatest traitor in Korean history. Lee Wan Yong was the Korean Prime Minister who signed the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. In real life though he wasn’t … More Bits & Pieces of History; Mister Sunshine (미스터 션샤인) {Episode 20}

  Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty Mori Takashi (Kim Nam Hee) and Hayashi (Jung In Kyum) are seeing discussing a document that will be later known in history as Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. This treaty, signed in 1910 finalized Korea’s fate and made it a part of Japan. This treaty was already primed by the Eulsa Treaty in … More Bits & Pieces of History; Mister Sunshine (미스터 션샤인) {Episode 18}

Shamanism Shamans were usually females and they were thought to be able to communicate with spirits and have knowledge above the normal man. Now before Joseon dynasty shamans had great trust from the royal family and citizens but during the Joseon dynasty they were considered outcasts. Shamanistic beliefs were still deeply rooted in common people … More Bits & Pieces of History; Mister Sunshine (미스터 션샤인) {Episode 15}

I am back! I was on vacation in Korea for a month and I did intend to update this blog while I was there but I just got swept away. I’m sorry. But for now just a short update as Mr. Sunshine is starting to stand on the more fictional side and as this particular … More Bits & Pieces of History; Mister Sunshine (미스터 션샤인) {Episode 11}

Very short update for this week. Adoption During the Joseon dynasty it was not unusual to adopt an heir to the family. As only sons were thought to carry on the family line if a family was missing an heir it was custom to adopt even distant relatives into the family. Here the ladies are … More Bits & Pieces of History; Mister Sunshine (미스터 션샤인) {Episode 5}

I’m back with more history! Queen Min Go Ae Shin is speaking with her grandfather about the proper behavior for women (I could write a very long essay about this but I’ll control myself) and he makes a reference to Queen Min. Like I mentioned in my History Bits for episode 1, the Daewongun hated … More Bits & Pieces of History; Mister Sunshine (미스터 션샤인) {Episode 2}