Ireland’s Links with Korea

The President of Ireland, Mrs Mary Mc Aleese, visited the Republic of Korea in March, 2005 at the invitation of then President Roh Moo hyun. Her visit was the culmination of a sequence of developing closer ties between Ireland and the Republic of Korea since a resident diplomatic mission was opened in September, 1989. President Mc Aleese’s first stop was Jeju Island, off the southern coast of the Korean peninsula, where she was greeted by Father Patrick Mc Glinchey, Society of Saint Columban who has ministered to the local island community since 1953.He has contributed to the economic and social well-being of Jeju, generally, through a variety of agricultural projects ranging from a local co-operative, to horse breeding using Irish progeny. In Seoul, on 24 March, President Mc Aleese was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Ewha Woman’s College, at the ceremony for which, in her acceptance speech, she paid tribute to Irish missionaries and to those Irish who fought and died in various armies-at least four- while serving under the United Nations Command during the 1950-53 Korean War. To read the full text, click under ‘Speeches’ in the Áras an Uachtaráin website www.president.ie . See also below.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The first documented record to confirm the arrival of Irish people on Korean soil is a reference to members of the U.S. Marine Corps in June 1871. The context was the US Expedition to Korea (or Chim ryak) between June and July, 1871. This was at a time when Korea maintained an isolationist policy (or saekok jungchaek).  The US expedition was primarily diplomatic and commercial in intent, though it had military support.  Because of miscommunication or cross-purposes as between the US expedition and the Koreans, the latter opened fire on the flotilla on 1 June as it sailed on Gangwha Straits.  In the absence of an apology from the Koreans, the US decided to launch a punitive raid on nearby Gangwha island and its garrisons.

On 10 June, the American military in a five-ship flotilla attacked Choji Garrison on Gangwha Island, close to where Incheon International Airport is located. The first two forts, weakly defended, were taken by the 650 member force.  The third fort had been abandoned. The US force then attacked the stoutly defended citadel at Gwangseong Garrison. The assault was preceded by artillery fire from the flotilla off-shore.  Lt. Hugh McKee of Kentucky led the charge into the citadel.  A shot to the groin felled him. Sources suggest that the next man into the fray was Commander Scott Schley who killed the soldier who had fatally wounded McKee.  The raiding party included four Irish born men, among them Marine Private James Dougherty who killed General Yeo.  Back on board one of the ships, Lt. McKee died of blood-loss later that day.

The Center of Military History of the United States Army lists among the Medal of Honour Recipients for the Korean Campaign of 1871, the following: US Marine Private John Coleman born 9 October, 1847, Ireland, US Marine Private James Dougherty born 16 November, 1839 of ‘Langhash, Ireland’, US Marine Patrick H. Grace born 1835 Ireland and Michael McNamara born 1841 of ‘Clure, Ireland’.  

The citadel at Gwangseong has been restored and the raid is commemorated there.  There is also a stone monument to General Yeo, to which his descendants come each year to honour him.  In an unconfirmed story, the Embassy has learned that some twenty-five years ago, a descendant of Lt McKee came to the pay her respects and met with General Yeo’s descendants.  Lt McKee’s forebears came from Armagh.  His body was repatriated and lies now in Kentucky.  At the north end of Gangwha, the episode is vividly retold at the local museum. 

The next reliable recorded account of an Irish presence is that of William George Aston, born Derry 28 August, 1840 who died on 22 November, 1911 in Devon, England. Aston served as British Consul-General in Korea from 1884 to 1885.  Aston was educated at what is, today, Queen’s University, Belfast where he studied languages, classical and modern. His career took him to Japan where he acquired a proficient knowledge of Japanese but also continued his Korean language studies there. 

Sir Nicholas Roderick O’Conor, born in 1843 in Dundermott, County Roscommon served as British Minister to the Empire of Korea in Seoul from 1892 to 1895.O’Conor was also assigned to the British Legation in Beijing at the time.   

A significant historical figure in Korea was John Mc Leavy Brown.  He was born in 1835 in Magheragall, Lisburn, County Antrim.  Educated at Queen’s College, Belfast and Trinity College Dublin, Brown joined the British Customs Service in 1873 and from 1874 spent nineteen years in what is today’s China, serving in Shanghai, Guangdong and Taiwan. He was appointed by King (later Emperor) Kojong as Financial Adviser and Chief Commissioner of Customs. Brown was to remain head of Customs in Korea from 15 October 1893 until 26 November 1905, a period of intense intrigue in the capital as Japan advanced its imperial interests. Brown became something of a consultant in the planning of modern day Seoul as well. He was involved in the part restoration and lay-out of what is, today, Tapgol Park (formerly Pagoda Park) in the north of Seoul, close to the popular tourist Insa-dong area, near to where the Gyeongbok Palace is located. The Straits Times of Singapore on 20 November, 1900 reported that Brown was entrusted by the Government of the time to commence the construction of a lighthouse at Chemulpo, which is part of the port of Incheon, in the spring of 1901, at the request of the ‘Russian Minister to Seoul’. The next reference to Brown is in The New York Times of 31 August, 1905 under the headings J. McL. Brown to Go Supreme in Korean Customs Department until Japanese Occupation. Brown left Korea on 26 November garlanded with Korean and Japanese honours later to become an adviser to the Chinese Embassy in London until his death on 6 April, 1926. Brown’s legacy, his colleagues of the time noted, was in the erection of a series of lighthouses around the Korean coast, starting with Sowolmido (or Little Roze Island).    

The next recorded Irish presences were: Sir John Newell Jordan who served as British Consul-General in Seoul from 1896, becoming Chargé d’Affaires at the British Embassy in 1898 and Minister-Resident from 1901 until November, 1905. Jordan was born on 5 September, 1852 in Balloo, County Down and educated at Queen’s College Belfast.  He later attended the then Queen’s College, Cork where as Senior Scholar of Greek he substituted for Professor of Greek John Ryall who was on sick leave. Jordan’s name appears among a list of signatures in a framed letter of appreciation to Professor Ryall which is in University College Cork.  

At Yangwhajin or Foreigners’Graveyard in Seoul there is among the gravestones that of Charles David Morris who was born in Queen’s County now County Laois on 10 May, 1869 and who came to Korea in 1901 as a Methodist Missionary. Morris was to minister in areas ranging from Icheon to Pyongyang until his death on 18 January, 1927. Both his parents being deceased, he emigrated to the United States of America in 1888 aged 19. There he graduated from Drew Theological Seminary in 1900. A history beside his gravestone states that Morris was descended from French Huguenots.  A Huguenot community had settled around Portarlington in County Laois in the late 17^th century.         

Anglican nun Mother Mary Clare (Clare Emma Witty) was born on 30 May, 1883 in Enniskerry, County Wicklow. She arrived in Korea in 1923 via Kilburn, London and died near Chungkanjin in North Korea on 6 November, 1950 a victim of the ‘death march’. Sister Mary Clare was, as far as we know, the first Irish born woman to reside in Korea.  

On 29 October, 1933 the first Irish Columban Fathers or the Society of Saint Columban, a Catholic society of missionary priests arrived, in Busan, by ferry, from Shimonoseki, Japan.

When the Korean War started on 25 June, 1950 there were 28, mainly Irish-born, Columban Fathers working in Korea. From 27 June until 6 December, 1950 Monsignor Patrick Brennan, Fathers Anthony Collier, Francis Canavan, Thomas Cusack, James Maginn, Jack O’Brien and Patrick O’Reilly were to perish. Father Canavan died in captivity in Hangjang-ni, North Korea on 6 December, 1950. Sister Mary Clare died on 6 November, 1950. Both Canavan and Witty had been on what was called the nine day long Death March which began on 31 October, 1950. Monsignor Quinlan survived and returned to Korea where he died in 1970.

During the Korean War some 130 members of the Royal Ulster Rifles fell. President Mc Aleese, in receiving an honorary degree at EWHA University, Seoul on 24 March, 2005 said:

“One of the regiments of the British Army which took part in the Korean War was the Royal Ulster Rifles. Its members came from both the Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland, the place of my birth. It saw action in two battles of that war in January and April, 1951 and it gave in sacrifice over 130 lives. Today I pay homage to my compatriots who made the supreme sacrifice in that war and to those, their colleagues and families who shared in that sacrifice through their loss and loneliness”.

Another 29 Irish who fell, serving with the US forces, also under United Nations authorisation, during the Korean War and their sacrifice was also acknowledged by then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern. T.D. on 26 July, 2006 when he approved a $10,000 grant to erect in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York an Irish Korean War Memorial. By a special Act of the United States Congress on 30 October, 2003 these 29 soldiers were awarded US citizenship, posthumously. On 12 July, 2005 then US Ambassador to Ireland, James C. Kenny, spoke at a Korean War Memorial dedication ceremony in their honour at Lixnaw, County Kerry.

On 17 January, 1955 five Irish Columban Sisters arrived in Mokpo city to set up an outpatient clinic for the sick poor. This work expanded into the opening of a new clinic on 5 July of the same year and on 20 January, 1957 a St. Columban’s Hospital was opened. Medical services provided by the hospital expanded in the following decades and on 10 February, 1990 responsibility for running the hospital was handed over to the Catholic Archdiocese of Gwangju. The work of the sisters has diversified since to include helping people with learning difficulties, those suffering from HIV Aids, migrant workers, women who are trafficked to be sexually exploited, the elderly, terminally ill as well as the sick poor. On 25 March, 2005 a St. Columban’s Home, Geodu-ri, was opened in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province       

On 21 November, 1958, five members of the Irish branch of the St. John of God Brothers arrived in Gwangju to undertake medical missionary work where they converted a factory building into a clinic. Their work would extend to include people suffering from leprosy or Hansen’s Disease, an orphanage and care of psychiatric patients.

The Catholic Order of Friars Minor Capuchin sent four of their number (three ordained priests and a brother) from Ireland to work in various pastorates in Seoul in July, 1986.   

Interesting Asides

They may not have twigged the Irish connection but the first group of 102 Korean immigrants to set sail for Hawaii was on the SS Gaelic in 1903, a ship built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.

The tune for the Korean National Anthem had its world premier in Dublin in 1938.  Symphonia Fanatasie- Korea, composed by Korean conductor Ahn Eak tai, premiered on Sunday 20 February, 1938 at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin.  The Irish Times, the following, said of the evening that “Orchestrally, the piece of the night was the conductor’s own composition “ Symphonia Fantasie-Korea …a very interesting instance of the meeting, or, rather the coalescence musically of East and West.”   

The tune of the Korean national signature folksong Arirang and Danny Boy when sung are considered by Koreans as indistinguishable to the ear though the lyrics are quite different from one another.

Of course, the Irish influence in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) is not just represented in the tangible presence of Irish people. Many Korean intellectuals looked to Ireland and its struggle against Britain for independence as an inspiration and role model for their resistance to encroaching Japanese colonisation.  For example, Korean dramatists were particularly intrigued by Ireland’s national theatre and the role Irish nationalist drama played in our struggle.  We find echoes too of the 1916 Easter Rising in the actions of the 1 March (Samil) movement whose members read a proclamation on 1 March 1919 declaring “We herewith proclaim the independence of Korea and the liberty of the Korean people. We tell it to the world in witness of the equality of all nations and we pass it on to our posterity as their inherent right.”  The readings of the Declaration that day prompted the Japanese authorities to attack the assembled crowds, leading to the deaths of well over 7,000.

Recent Years

The arrival of the first Irish near what is, today, Incheon as US Marines in June 1871 to the lone Derry man in 1884, to the Roscommon man in 1891, to the County Antrim man in 1893, the Co. Down man in 1898  has, today, enlarged to a community of 836 Irish citizens, registered by the Korea Immigration Service as of 30 June, 2011: some 650 of which are categorised as ‘foreign language instructors’. 

Irish athletes took part in the 1988 Olympic Games and in the FIFA World Cup in 2002 both of which in Seoul.

As the Irish community has grown in numbers local Irish commercial, sporting and social events take place thanks to the work of voluntary Irish groups.  The Irish Association of Korea www.iak.co.kr organises cultural events including a cultural and community event in Seoul to coincide with St. Patrick’s Day. The Gaelic Athletic Association affiliated Seoul Gaels www.seoulgaels.com promotes Gaelic football and hurling.  It has organised tournaments in Korea including taking part in the annual Asian Games and hosting the GAA’s Asia County games here in Suwon on 15/16 October. There is also a Seoul based Asia Ireland Chamber of Commerce www.sgerard.net which meets regularly throughout the year.

Diplomatic Relations

Ireland established diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea on 6 Sept, 1983. Beginning November, 1984, the Embassy in Tokyo dealt with Ireland’s representation to the Republic of Korea. In 1987 the Industrial Development Authority opened an office in Seoul. On 7 April, 1989 the Government decided to open an Embassy in Seoul. The Embassy was opened in September of that year, the first resident Ambassador being Mr. Richard Ryan. In 2004 Enterprise Ireland appointed a representative in Seoul to assist Irish exporters in conjunction with the Embassy. The Republic of Korea opened an Embassy in Dublin in 1987. High level Irish Government visits to the Republic of Korea have taken place over the years among which were the current Taoiseach, Mr. Enda Kenny, T.D. in 1996, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in 2000 and President Mrs Mary Mc Aleese in 2005-see above.

Ireland established formal diplomatic relations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on a non residential basis on 27 January, 2004. Ireland’s Ambassador in Seoul is also accredited to the DPRK. The DPRK postal authority acknowledged the Olympic athletic achievement of Gold Medallist Ronnie Delaney, at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, in a 20 Won commemorative stamp issued in 1978 as part of a History of the Olympics and Winners series.   

Irish Ambassadors to Seoul

• Richard Ryan       1989-1993
• Brendan Moran    1993-1998
• Paul Murray         1999-2004
• Conor Murphy      2004-2009
• Eamonn Mc Kee   2009-                      

This account is a work in progress and should be regarded as a living document.  If there are any readers who have evidence of the contribution of Irishmen and Irishwomen to the history of Korea then we would be delighted to hear from you and will amend this summary note accordingly.

Tuesday 9 August, 2011