Five Eulsa Traitors

Article summary

The Five Eulsa Traitors ( ) refers to the five officials serving under Emperor Gojong who signed the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905, which is also referred to as the Eulsa Treaty. The treaty made Korea a protectorate of Japan. The five officials were Education Minister Lee Wan-yong, Army Minister Yi Geun-taek, Interior Minister , Foreign Affairs Minister Pak Chesoon, and Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry Minister Gwon Jung-hyeon. Initially, all of the ministers were against signing the treaty. Pak Chesoon even declared that he would rather commit suicide if Japan forced him to sign the treaty. However, under threat of execution, five of the ministers signed the treaty. Lee Wan-yong, Yi Ji-yong, and Gwon Jung-hyeon were the first to change their stance. Prime Minister Han Kyu-seol, the ministers of finance and justice, and Emperor Gojong refused to sign the treaty. However, the treaty was deemed to have gone into effect with the five ministers' signatures, even though the Emperor refused to sign the treaty himself, an act required to bring the treaty to conclusion under Korean law. The Japanese government forced Prime Minister Han to step down and installed Pak in his place. Widespread public dissatisfaction at the treaty was directed at the five ministers, and an "assassination group" was formed targeting the five.…

Key claims

No claims recorded.

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.