Opium addiction in Korea's past
Posted : 2019-08-18 09:46
Updated : 2019-08-18 17:12
William Franklin Sands, an American adviser to the Korean Government, posed in Korean clothing circa 1900s. Robert Neff Collection
By Robert Neff
In 1892, rumors began to spread that opium was becoming a problem in Korea ― especially along the Chinese border. Many people ― who probably should have known better ― played down the allegation insisting that it was nothing but a local (border area) problem.
According to one unnamed writer, whose opinion appeared in The London and China Telegraph:
"It would be no difficult matter to smuggle opium into Korea if a demand for the drug existed; but it is not probable that so costly an indulgence will become prevalent in this country, where poverty is the rule, though actual want is happily the exception."
The writer was probably Rev. George W. Gilmore, an American employed as a teacher by the Korean government. In his own book, Gilmore claimed that opium use was extremely rare in Korea, but quotes one of his Korean "scholars" as saying, "It was very nice, but it cost too much money for Koreans to buy it."
Again, according to Gilmore, the drug was unlikely to become popular among the common people. Gilmore was wrong.
In 1896, British consular records indicate concern that opium was smuggled "overland in considerable quantities." The proportion of users among the Chinese population in Korea seemed higher than in China. It was also noted that Koreans who did a lot of business with the Chinese "frequently contract[ed] the habit."
The Russian Legation in early 1904. Robert Neff Collection
Throughout the year and the following, reports of opium use in Seoul were increasing. Husbands and wives were arrested for using and selling, bodies were found in the streets ― some were accidental overdoses while others were deliberate. Opium became a popular method of committing suicide. Even policemen, fearing they would be punished for infractions of their duties, used it as their final exit.
In February 1898, the Seoul governor called on the British consul-general to apprehend and punish Wang Ka-pung, a Chinese merchant (for a short time, following the Sino-Japanese War, the British government had jurisdiction over the Chinese in Korea). Allegedly, the merchant was selling more than just household sundries ― he was also running a gambling den and selling opium to Koreans.
The consul-general promised he would look into it, but also suggested to the Korean governor that "if the Koreans did not buy opium there would be no one selling it."
By the early 1900s, it was clear there was an opium problem. According to the Korea Review (April 1904):
"Special efforts are being made to check the use of opium by Koreans. Some of the people who smoke opium have been punished by tying to their backs the opium pipes and marching them about the streets to be jeered at by the people."
Even soldiers were involved. Just a year earlier, five soldiers from the Ganghwa Island regiment were arrested.
In 1904, Archimandrite Khrisanf, of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Seoul, seemed somewhat disheartened when he wrote: "Idleness, wine, opium, gambling, and debauchery of every nature swallow up the days and nights of the lives of capital dwellers."
He was especially dismayed to discover that Koreans with Russian citizenship, who worked as court interpreters, were almost all opium addicts. Perhaps the Russian legation officials decided to intervene because Khrisanf later notes the Koreans believed (were told?) the best way to kick opium addiction was by drinking.
So the next time you over-indulge in soju, remember, opium is no longer a problem in South Korea.
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