Politics4th lunar month, 1881(Lunar)

Tongni Gimu Amun and the Byeolgigun

The government set up the Office for Extraordinary State Affairs to manage reform (1880) and a new-style army, the Byeolgigun, trained by a Japanese officer (1881).

In December 1880 the government set up the Office for Extraordinary State Affairs on the model of the Qing Zongli Yamen, with twelve bureaus dividing diplomacy, military affairs, trade and more. In 1881 the five army garrisons were merged into two, the Muwiyeong and Jangeoyeong, and a new-style force, the Byeolgigun, was trained by the Japanese officer Horimoto Reizō.

While the new force was well treated, the old-style soldiers went thirteen months without pay. When the rice they finally received in 1882 was mixed with chaff and sand, the Imo Incident broke out, and the Daewongun, back in power, abolished both the office and the Byeolgigun.

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The map in 1881

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States and rulers at the time: Joseon — Gojong

People

Gojong1852 – 1919
monarch · Twenty-sixth king of Joseon and first emperor of the Korean Empire

Before and after

Earlier: 1881 Inspection Mission to Japan
Later: 1881 Yeongseonsa Mission to Tianjin

Themes that include this event

Central Government Through the AgesAD 250 – 1899
From the noble councils of the Three Kingdoms to the State Council, the Border Defense Council and the Gabo cabinet — how central government shifted between aristocratic consensus and royal power
Military Systems Through the AgesAD 685 – 1907
From the Nine Oath Banners to the Two Armies and Six Guards, the Five Commands and garrison system, the Five Army Camps and the Board of Marshals — armies rebuilt at every crisis