김홍집 金弘集
Enlightenment-faction bureaucrat and Prime Minister of late Joseon who led the Gabo Reform
| Life | 1842 ~ 1896 |
| Era | 조선 |
| Clan | 경주 김씨 |
Life & career
Kim Hong-jip was a civil official and enlightenment-faction bureaucrat of the late Joseon period. As the second Diplomatic Envoy (susinsa) to Japan in 1880, he brought back Huang Zunxian's A Strategy for Korea (Joseon Chaengnyak), providing an impetus for enlightenment policy. After the Gapsin Coup, he served as the Joseon representative in concluding the Treaty of Hanseong.
From 1894, as Prime Minister (Naegak Chongni Daesin), he led the Gabo Reform, pursuing modern institutional reforms such as the abolition of the class system, the abolition of the civil service examination, the unification of weights and measures, and the topknot-cutting ordinance (danballyeong). However, amid the backlash against the Eulmi Incident and the topknot-cutting ordinance and the turmoil of the royal refuge at the Russian legation (Agwan Pacheon), he was killed by a mob in 1896.
Grave
Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do (originally buried in Paju, later reinterred; designated a local cultural heritage)