‘Gojong sought exile in Russia’

Emperor Gojong attempted to go into exile in Vladivostok, Russia, in June 1910, to establish a base for fighting the Japanese before Japan’s annexation of Korea, according to Russian diplomatic documents. 

The documents are a part of the “Description of Korean Manuscripts and Block-prints in St. Petersburg (Russia)” published by the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2008. 

“Gojong sent a message that he would like to flee to the north, cross Russian borders and stay in Vladivostok where he can get help from Lee Beom-yun, the administrator of Gando, and the army in Hamgyung Province,” reads a document sent from Goier, Russian commercial attaché in Shanghai, to Malevski-Malevich, Russian envoy in Japan, on June 22, 1901.