Anti-foreign riots in Seoul in 1888, driven by fabricated infant-kidnapping rumors, strained diplomatic relations between Joseon Korea and Western powers and Japan.
Key Facts
- Year
- Summer 1888
- Location
- Seoul, Joseon Korea
- Targets of unrest
- Foreign hospitals, schools, and churches
- Suspected instigator
- Yuan Shikai, Qing dynasty ambassador
- Joseon government response
- Reluctantly repudiated the rumors under diplomatic pressure
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Rumors spread in Seoul that foreigners — both Western and Japanese — were kidnapping Korean infants and children, gouging out their eyes for camera lenses, grinding their organs for medicine, and cannibalizing them. These inflammatory falsehoods may have been deliberately circulated, with suspicion falling on Yuan Shikai, the Qing dynasty's ambassador, possibly to deter foreign investment or provoke military intervention in Korea.
In the summer of 1888, Koreans gathered in crowds outside foreign-run hospitals, schools, and churches in Seoul to protest against the alleged 'baby-snatchers.' The riots alarmed the foreign community sufficiently that many prepared to evacuate, while diplomatic representatives from foreign legations formally pressed the Joseon government to publicly deny the rumors.
The Joseon government reluctantly issued a repudiation of the rumors under sustained diplomatic pressure. Yuan Shikai denied involvement to his superior Li Hongzhang. The episode heightened tensions between Joseon Korea and the foreign powers present on the peninsula and exposed the fragility of Korea's position amid competing imperial interests.
Political Outcome
The Joseon government reluctantly repudiated the anti-foreign rumors under diplomatic pressure; no confirmed instigator was established, and foreign communities remained alarmed.