Soh Jaipil


Soh Jaipil, also known as Philip Jaisohn, was a Korean-American political activist and physician who was a noted champion of the Korean independence movement, the first Korean naturalized citizen of the United States, and founded Tongnip Sinmun, the first Korean newspaper in Hangul.
Soh was one of the organizers of the failed Gapsin Coup in 1884 and convicted for treason, seeking refuge in the United States where he became a citizen and earned a medical doctorate. Soh returned to Korea in 1895, becoming a chief advisor of the Joseon government where he advocated for democracy, leaving the Chinese sphere of influence, and numerous civil rights and suffrage movements. Soh was forced back to the United States in 1898, from where participated in the First Korean Congress and advocated for the March 1st Movement and U.S. Government support for Korean independence. Soh became a chief advisor to the United States Army Military Government in Korea after World War II and was elected as an interim representative in South Korea in the 1946 legislative election. Soh died in 1951 shortly after returning to the United States during the Korean War, and in 1994 his remains were reburied at the National Cemetery of South Korea in Seoul.

Life

Early years

Soh Jaipil was born on 7 January 1864 in Boseong County in southern Jeolla, Joseon Korea, into a noble family. Soh was the second son of a Soh Kwang-hyo, who was a local magistrate in Boseong County, but was raised by one of his relatives in Seoul. Soh was the eight generation descendant of Seo Jong-je, father of Queen Jeongseong, the wife of the King Yeongjo of Joseon, the 21st king of Joseon. At eight years of age, Soh was adopted by his father's second cousin, Soh Kwang-ha. Soh studied at Kim Seong-geun and Park Kyu-su's private school during his adolescence, and was a teenager when he had already been exposed to the reformist ideals of Kim Ok-gyun.

Political activist

Soh passed the civil service exam at the age of 18, becoming one of the youngest people to ever pass this exam, and as a result became a junior officer in 1882. Thereafter he was appointed to Gyoseokwan Bujeongja and Seungmunwon Gajuseo. In 1883 he was appointed to Seungmunwon Bujeongja and Hunryunwon Bubongsa. In the following year, he was sent to Japan where he studied both at the Keio Gijuku and the Toyama Army Academy. In July 1884, his adoptive mother died, but he quickly returned to public service under special orders.
In his reports to the king, Soh explained that in the new world Korea's armed forces were useless and obsolete. This annoyed powerful conservatives, but it made Soh widely known and respected among like-minded young intellectuals. By that time, a small but growing number of young intellectuals understood that fundamental reform had to occur or Korea would fall victim to the neighboring imperialist powers of Qing China, Japan, or Russia. He was appointed to Joryeon-guk Sagwanjang shortly after.
In December 1884, Soh, following Kim Ok-gyun, was involved in the Gapsin Coup, a radical attempt to overturn the old regime and establish equality among people. Soh and Kim Ok-gyun, Park Yeong-hyo, Yun Chi-ho, Hong Yeong-shik, and others had planned a coup for seven months, from July to December 1884. He was appointed the Vice-Minister of Defense. The coup was defeated in three days, as China intervened by sending military troops. As a result, his two younger brothers were killed and his biological father Soh Kwang-ha and biological mother Lady Lee of Seongju were executed under a guilt-by-association system. His first wife Lady Kim was sold into slavery, but committed suicide. Convicted of treason, Soh Jaipil lost his whole family and had to flee Korea to save his life.
The majority of the 1884 revolutionaries fled to Japan. Unlike them, Soh moved to the United States. He saw Japan as essentially a conduit for Western knowledge and ideas, but preferred to deal with what he saw as the source itself.

Exile in the United States

In 1885, early in his stay in America Soh worked part-time jobs. In 1886, Soh lived in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and attended the Harry Hillman Academy thanks to the help of John Welles Hollenback. He began to use the name "Philip Jaisohn" at that time. In 1890, he became the first Korean immigrant to acquire United States citizenship. He studied medicine at Columbia Medical College, and became the first Asian-American Doctor when he received his medical degree in 1892.
In 1890, he became a U.S. citizen and from then he was often referred to by his American name Philip Jaisohn.
In 1894, he married Muriel Armstrong, a distant relative of the former president of the United States, James Buchanan, and daughter of George B. Armstrong, credited as the founder of the U.S. Railway Mail Service. They had two daughters, Stephanie and Muriel. In 1895, he was pardoned by the Joseon government, but he flatly refused to return.

The Independent

In 1894, Japan defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese war which occurred on the Korean Peninsula. The Korean cabinet was filled with reformists. Along with these political changes, the treason of the Gapsin Coup was pardoned enabling Jaisohn's return in 1895. In December 1895, he went to Incheon. The Joseon government wanted to appoint him to Foreign Secretary but he refused to take the position. In Korea, he endeavored to politically educate people. Jaisohn published a newspaper, The Independent, to transform the Korean population into an informed citizenry. He was the first to print his newspaper entirely in Hangul to extend readership to lower classes and women.

Sowing the ideals of independence and democracy

In the 1896 to 1898 Civil rights movement and suffrage movements. Soh's goal was to ensure that Korea would drift away from the Chinese sphere of influence but without falling too heavily under the influence of Russia or Japan. He was also behind the construction of the Independence Gate, which was initially meant to symbolize the end of Korea's ritual subordination to China. Apart from his journalistic and political activities, he delivered regular lectures on modern politics and the principles of democracy.
He promoted national independence as the principal political ideal and emphasized neutral diplomatic approaches to protect Korea from China, Russia and Japan. He also underscored the importance of public education, modernized industry and public hygiene. The Independence was particularly critical of misconduct by government officials, which caused strong reactions by the conservatives. Under the aegis of the Independence Club, Jaisohn organized the All People's Congress, an open public forum to debate over political issues. The Congress was hailed by young reformers and began to establish nationwide chapters.
In November 1897, Soh enabled the construction of the Independence Gate. At this time he also ended the policy of Yeongeunmun. Yeongeunmun was the Korean policy of welcoming the Chinese envoys, Yeongeun roughly translates from Korean to English as "Welcome to beneficent Envoys of suzerain's."
In 1898, conservatives accused Jaisohn and the Club of seeking to replace the monarchy with a republic, and the Korean government requested Jaisohn to return to the US. After his return, the Korean government ordered the Club to disband and arrested 17 leaders including Rhee Syngman.

Clerk and Company manage

In April to August 1898, he accompanied an army to the Spanish–American War. In 1899 he found employment as clerk for the University of Pennsylvania Hospital.
In 1904, worked with Harold Deemer, who was a year younger, to create the "Deemer and Jaisohn shop". It was a stationery and printing industry store. In 1915, the shop became called the Philip Jaisohn Company, and specialized in the printing industry.

Independence movements

In the United States, Jaisohn conducted medical research at the University of Pennsylvania and later became a successful printer in Philadelphia. When he heard the news of the March 1st Movement, a nationwide protest against Japanese rule in Korea, Jaisohn convened the First Korean Congress, which was held in Philadelphia for three days on April 14–16, 1919. After the Congress, Jaisohn devoted his energies and private property to the freedom of Korea.
He organized the League of Friends of Korea in 21 cities with the help of Rev. Floyd W. Tomkins, rector of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia on Rittenhouse Square and established the "Korean Information Bureau." He published a political journal "Korea Review" to inform the American public of the situation in Korea, and to persuade the U.S. government to support the freedom for Koreans.
In the 1920s, Soh, who had just turned 60, returned to research and spent his 60s and 70s working as a specialist doctor and micro-biologist, as well as occasionally publishing in peer-review academic journals.
Five years later in 1924, Jaisohn went legally bankrupt due to his political engagement and had to resume practicing medicine to make a living. At age 62, he became a student again at the University of Pennsylvania to renew his medical knowledge. After this, he published five research articles in the medical journals specializing in pathology. During World War II, he volunteered as a physical examination officer with the belief that the victory of the U.S. would bring freedom to Korea.

Last days in Korea

Jaisohn returned to Korea once again after Japan's defeat in World War II. The U.S. Army Military Government in control of the southern part of Korea invited him to serve as chief adviser. In December 1946, he was elected to the Interim Legislative Assembly. In May 1945, liberal and moderate socialist intellectuals selected him as candidate for presidency, but he declined. When the date of the first presidential election was confirmed by the United Nations, Jaisohn was petitioned to run for presidency by 3,000 people including a young Kim Dae-jung, but he refused in the end.
Jaisohn felt that political unity was needed for a new nation despite his uneasy relationship with the president elect Syngman Rhee. He decided to return to the United States in 1948. Suffering a heart attack a week earlier on December 29, Jaisohn died on January 5, 1951 during the Korean War, just two days before his 87th birthday.
His body was cremated, and his ashes were buried in Bib church in Philadelphia. In 1994 his remains were repatriated to South Korea. His ashes were buried in the National Cemetery of South Korea in Seoul.

Book

1864–1895

The Philip Jaisohn Memorial House in Media, Pennsylvania was Dr. Jaisohn's home from 1925 to 1951. This house was bought when Dr. Jaisohn was in great financial difficulties, while his house in Philadelphia was pledged due to his devotion to the Korean independence. His Media home was acquired by the Philip Jaisohn Memorial Foundation in 1987 and opened to the public in 1990. Since then, the Jaisohn House has been visited by many students and politicians from Korea such as former South Korean president and Nobel peace laureate Kim Dae-jung as well as Korean American immigrants and community neighbors.
On May 21, 1994, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the Philip Jaisohn Memorial Foundation dedicated a historical marker for Dr. Jaisohn, stating:
American-educated medical doctor who sowed seeds of democracy in Korea, published its first modern newspaper, and popularized its written language. The first Korean to earn a Western medical degree and become a U.S. citizen. He worked for Korean independence during the Japanese occupation, 1910-45. Chief Advisor to the U.S. Military Government in Korea, 1947-1948. This was his home for 25 years.