Homer Hulbert

Life

Homer Bezaleel Hulbert was born on January 26, 1863, in New Haven, Vermont.

In 1886, at the age of twenty-three, he first came to Joseon as an English teacher at the Yugyeong Gongwon (Royal English School), a modern school established by the Joseon government. He went on to work as a Methodist missionary in education, journalism, and historical research. Enjoying the deep trust of Gojong, he also served as a channel of communication with various Western nations. After the Hague secret envoy mission failed in 1907, he was effectively forced out of Korea under Japanese pressure. He continued to assist Korean independence activists in the United States thereafter.

In 1949, at the invitation of President Syngman Rhee, he returned to Korea on July 29, for the first time in about forty years, to attend the Liberation Day ceremony. However, the strain of the long journey, compounded by his advanced age, took its toll, and he died on August 5 at the Seoul Sanitarium and Hospital in Cheongnyangni, Seoul. In accordance with his long-expressed wish to be buried in Korean soil, he was interred at the Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery.

Ministry and Achievements

• Education and Hangul: He taught English at the Yugyeong Gongwon. He associated with figures such as Ju Si-gyeong, whom he came to know at Pai Chai Haktang, and assisted in the study and dissemination of Hangul. He is known to have emphasized the need for spacing between words.
• Journalism and writing: He published the monthly magazine The Korea Review, in which he criticized Japanese aggression and appealed for Korean independence. He made Western audiences aware of the excellence of Korean culture and of Hangul, citing achievements such as metal movable type, the turtle ship, and the Hunminjeongeum. His best-known work is the book whose Korean edition bears the title Daehan Jeguk Myeolmangsa (History of the Fall of the Korean Empire).
• Support for the independence movement: When the Eulsa Treaty (the 1905 treaty by which Japan stripped the Korean Empire of its diplomatic sovereignty) was concluded, he traveled to the United States carrying a secret letter from Emperor Gojong. He sought meetings with the Secretary of State and the President but was unsuccessful. Returning to Korea in 1906, he proposed to Gojong that secret envoys be sent to The Hague. At the time of the Second Hague Peace Conference in 1907, he helped dispatch Yi Sang-seol, Yi Jun, and Yi Wi-jong, and he himself received envoy credentials from Gojong and traveled to The Hague. Arriving ahead of the delegation, he arranged for the Korean delegation's appeal to be published in the conference newsletter. For these activities he is called "the Fourth Envoy."

Influence on the Korean Church

Although Hulbert was a Methodist missionary, he is known chiefly for his work in education, publishing, and diplomacy. He is therefore cited as a figure who illustrates how early missionaries to Korea engaged with Korean society in spheres beyond evangelism. The Yanghwajin cemetery, where he is buried, is also presented as a place for reflecting on the legacy of the early missionaries.

Assessment

In 1950 the government of the Republic of Korea posthumously awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Independence Medal). In 2014 he was posthumously awarded the Order of Cultural Merit (Geumgwan Medal). He is often remembered as "a foreigner who loved Korea more than Koreans did."

The Hague envoy mission, however, failed to achieve its original purpose, as the envoys were denied admission to the official conference on the grounds that the Korean Empire had lost its diplomatic sovereignty. In addition, while his contributions to Hangul studies are highly regarded, some caution against exaggeration, noting that modern Hangul orthography was not the work of Hulbert alone.