Seo Jae-pil (Korean: 서재필; Hanja: 徐載弼; January 7, 1864 – January 5, 1951), better known by his English name Philip Jaisohn, was a Korean American politician, physician, and Korean independence activist. He was the first Korean to become a naturalized citizen of the United States. He also founded the Tongnip sinmun, the first Korean newspaper written entirely in Hangul.
Jaisohn was one of the organizers of the failed Kapsin Coup in 1884. He was thus convicted for treason and sought refuge in the United States where he became a citizen and earned a medical doctorate. Upon returning to Korea in 1895, Jaisohn was offered a position as a chief advisor of the Joseon government. He declined, choosing to focus on reform movements where he advocated for democracy, Korean independence and self reliance from foreign intervention, numerous civil rights and universal suffrage. Jaisohn was forced to return to the United States in 1898, from where he participated in the First Korean Congress and advocated for the March First Movement and U.S. Government support for Korean independence. Jaisohn 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.
He died in 1951 shortly after returning to the United States during the Korean War. His remains were reinterred at the Seoul National Cemetery in 1994.
Jaisohn was an admirer of American-style liberalism and republicanism. He was also reform-minded, and sought to revise Confucianist culture and institutions in Korea.
Jaisohn was born on January 7, 1864, in Boseong County, Jeolla Province, Joseon. He was born into the Daegu Seo clan. Jaisohn was the third son of Seo Gwang-hyo, who was a local magistrate, but was raised by his relatives in Seoul.
At a young age, Jaisohn was adopted by his father's second cousin, Seo Gwang-ha, and his wife. Jaisohn studied at Kim Seong-geun and Park Kyu-su's private school during his adolescence, where he was exposed to the reformist ideals of Kim Okkyun.
Jaisohn 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 (교서관 부정자; 校書館 副正字) and Seungmunwon Gajuseo (승문원 가주서; 承文院假主書). In 1883 he was appointed to Seungmunwon Bujeongja (승문원 부정자; 承文院 副正字) and Hunryunwon Bubongsa (훈련원 부봉사; 訓鍊院 副奉事). In the following year, he was sent to Japan where he studied both at the Keio Gijuku (the forerunner of the Keio University) 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, Jaisohn explained that Korea's armed forces were useless and obsolete in the new world. These reports annoyed powerful conservatives, but it made Jaisohn widely known and respected among like-minded young intellectuals. By that time, a small but growing number of young intellectuals believed 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 (조련국 사관장; 操鍊局 士官長) shortly after.
In December 1884, Jaisohn, following Kim Okkyun, was involved in the Kapsin Coup, a radical attempt to overturn the old regime and establish equality among people. Jaisohn and Kim Okkyun, Pak Yŏnghyo, 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 older half-brother, Seo Jae-hyeong, and younger brother, Seo Jae-chang, were killed. His biological father, Seo Gwang-hyo, and biological mother, Lady Yi of the Seongju Yi clan, were executed under a guilt-by-association system. His second wife, Lady Kim of the Gwangsan Kim clan, was sold into slavery, but committed suicide. His 3-year-old son had also died in 1885. Convicted of treason, Soh Jaipil lost half of his family and had to flee Korea to save his life.
His only remaining family was his older brother, older sister, younger brother, and younger sister, along with his eldest daughter and her husband. However, his older brother soon committed suicide by poisoning on September 5, 1888.
The majority of the 1884 revolutionaries fled to Japan. Unlike them, Jaisohn 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.
In 1885, early in his stay in America, Jaisohn worked part-time jobs. In 1886, Jaisohn lived in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and attended the Harry Hillman Academy (Wilkes-Barre, PA) 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 (now George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences), and became the first Asian-American Doctor when he received his medical degree in 1892.
In 1894, he married Muriel Mary Armstrong, a distant relative of the former president of the United States, James Buchanan, and the eldest daughter of George B. Armstrong, credited as the founder of the U.S. Railway Mail Service. They had two daughters, Stephanie and Muriel.
In 1894, Japan defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese War, which had occurred on the Korean Peninsula. The Korean cabinet was filled with reformists. Along with these political changes, the treason of the Kapsin Coup was pardoned, enabling Jaisohn's return in 1895. In December 1895, he went to Incheon. The Joseon government wanted to appoint him as the Foreign Secretary, but he refused to take the position. In Korea, he endeavored to politically educate people. Jaisohn published the Tongnip sinmun (also called 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, Jaisohn's goal was to ensure that Korea could drift away from the Chinese sphere of influence 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 Korea's independence from foreign interventionism. 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 (독립협회; 獨立協會), 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.