121 Years Ago on October 27: Why Did Gojong Establish the Korean Red Cross?
The Korean Red Cross began with Imperial Edict No. 47 on October 27, 1905. Historical photographs and documents trace Gojong's humanitarian and sovereignty concerns, Japan's forced dissolution of the society, its 1919 revival, and rebuilding after liberation.
It may sound like a heartwarming story to imagine Emperor Gojong founding the Red Cross with volunteers carrying bandages in mind. But the fate of the Korean Empire itself was uncertain in 1905. October 27, 2026, marks exactly 121 years since the society was established. Looking at its founding and rebuilding shows how saving a person's life became intertwined with the history of the nation.
October 27, 1905: Gojong's Imperial Edict No. 47
The Korean Empire joined the Geneva Convention in 1903. Emperor Gojong then promulgated the Regulations of the Korean Red Cross through Imperial Edict No. 47 on October 27, 1905. The Korean Red Cross officially recognizes that day as its founding date. Its history describes a goal of helping sick and injured people while also showing the international community that the Korean Empire was an independent sovereign state.
The organization did not begin with exactly the same system it has today. On December 12 that year, Gojong issued Imperial Edict No. 54, the Organization and Regulations of the Korean Red Cross, revoking the earlier rules under Edict No. 47 and reorganizing its structure. The Annals of Emperor Gojong say the rules aimed to care for the sick and injured and relieve suffering in peacetime as well as during war. The founding date and later institutional changes must therefore be distinguished.
Why the Red Cross disappeared just four years after its founding
The Korean Red Cross, however, was unable to operate for long. The Eulsa Treaty was imposed in November 1905, deepening Japan's encroachment on Korea's sovereignty. On July 23, 1909, Imperial Edict No. 67 abolished the Korean Red Cross and forcibly incorporated it into the Japanese Red Cross. Even an organization created to help people could not protect its own name and right to operate.
The Red Cross follows international humanitarian principles protecting the wounded and the sick during political conflicts. Yet whether a country's Red Cross society could exist and work independently also depended on that country's historical circumstances.
The name reemerged in Shanghai in 1919
The story did not end there. The 1919 March First Movement expressed the will for independence, and the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was established. In Shanghai, the Korean Red Cross Society was reorganized. Under the provisional government, it raised funds for the independence movement, supported independence fighters, and provided relief for Koreans overseas. Humanitarian relief and the independence movement became connected tasks of the time.
People in the Provisional Government in Shanghai faced many responsibilities, from making a living and managing their organizations to informing the world of Korea's independence. The picture below is an actual photograph of attendees at its New Year's celebration on January 1, 1920. It must not be confused with an image of the Korean Red Cross Society's emergency relief team, but it provides a view of people and the atmosphere in the period when the society had resumed its activities.
October 27, 1949: A new beginning
After liberation, efforts to revive the Red Cross movement continued. The Korean Red Cross Organization Act was promulgated on April 30, 1949, and a founding commemoration was held on October 27 that year. It was the same date as the first regulations of October 27, 1905. The Korean Red Cross subsequently expanded its role in helping Korean War refugees, responding to disasters, and providing blood services.
What should we remember 121 years later?
Today, blood donation and disaster relief may be the first things we associate with the Red Cross. But its beginnings also reflect a commitment to caring for people suffering from war and illness, and the Korean Empire's effort to be recognized as independent. We might remember its founding in 1905, forced abolition in 1909, revival in 1919, and rebuilding in 1949 as one story. Throughout that history, people continued reaching out to others in need.
Comment