Page:A Problem in Japan's Control of the Press in Korea, 1906-1909.djvu/9

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PRES CONTROL IN KOREA, 1906-1909
401

in the great summer heat."[1] Cockburn sent a written message to Miura, the Japanese resident in Seoul, stating that, based upon the facts told by Marnham, Yang should have better care if he were to survive the ordeal. Miura, however, showed indifference to the request, arguing that whatever treatment he was receiving was better than the treatment under the Korean government, and no partial favor should be given to Yang over the others who were likewise awaiting trial.[2] Ito was displeased with Miura's argument and instructed that better treatment be offered Yang.[3] Ito further ordered that Yang should be sent to a hospital. A Japanese prison doctor was brought in to diagnose Yang's condition, but he reported: "Yang's constitution not worse than he was before imprisonment."[4] Ito, however, insisted that Yang be hospitalized and warned against the consequences of disobedience.[5] Dr. Saido, director of the Japanese-operated Taehan Hospital, also rendered a diagnosis not much different from that of the Japanese prison doctor, but commented that Yang was suffering from a chronic disease in his digestive organs, and that his ordinarily frail physique made him appear a sick person.[6]

Yang was sent to the Taehan Hospital. The nurses, somehow having mistaken the order from the Police Department, released Yang the next day, and he found security in Marnham's residence. As he was resting at Marnham's residence, a British doctor diagnosed Yang's condition as "dangerously ill," and Marnham, in cooperation with Cockburn, insisted that Yang be kept there until his recovery.[7] Thereupon, a threatening demand for the person of Yang was made by Miura to the British consul-general who was much irritated by Miura's undiplomatic wording.[8] The original date of the hearings for Yang's case was set on August 15, but with Yang in the custody of Marnham, it was postponed until August 31.

Meanwhile, Bethell, back in Seoul upon completion of his prison sentence, testified by affidavit at a staff meeting of the National Foreign Debt Reimbursement Association, which was held on July 30. (None of the three persons cited by Maruyama as the original complainers


  1. MacDonald to Ito, Aug. 5, 1908, related to Sone, ibid., 306, pp. 63-68.
  2. Sone to Ito, Aug. 2, 1908, ibid., 390, pp. 2-3.
  3. Ito to Sone, Aug. [?], 1908, ibid., 306, pp. 61-62; same to same, Aug. 10, 1908, ibid., 206, pp. 76-77; Ito to MacDonald, Aug. 8, 1908, ibid., 69-71.
  4. Sone to Ito, [n.d.], ibid., 390, p. 7; same to same, Aug. 10, 1908, ibid., 306, pp. 77-79.
  5. Ito to Sone, Aug. 10, 1908, ibid., 76-77.
  6. Sone to Ito, Aug. 11, 1908, ibid., 81-82; Sone to Terauchi, Aug. 25, 1908, ibid., 290, pp. 28-31.
  7. Sone to Ito, Aug. 14, 1908, ibid., 28-31.
  8. Sone to Terauchi, Aug. 20 , 1908, ibid., 55-57.