Korea Establishes a Legation in Washington
January 1888
After reaching the United States on New Year’s Day in 1888, Bak Jeong-yang and his staff presented their credentials to President Grover Cleveland on 17 January. Two days later, they established Korea’s legation at Fisher House in Washington, six years after the countries had signed their first treaty. [1]
On 13 February 1889, the legation moved to a house on Logan Circle, a different building from the present chancery. [1]
Japan’s assumption of control over Korea’s foreign affairs in November 1905 ended Korea’s independent diplomacy. The United States closed its legation in Seoul, and Korea’s Washington mission lost the authority it had been established to represent. South Korea recovered the Logan Circle building in 2012 and opened it as a museum in 2018. [2] [1]
Related Diplomats
Sources
- Old Korean Legation Museum: diplomatic timeline
January 1888; February 1889; recovery and museum opening
- Korea — Office of the Historian
Japanese control of foreign affairs and closure of the American legation, 1905
- 미속습유 (美俗拾遺)
Compilation and contents
- Mr. Bayard to Mr. Dinsmore
FRUS 1888, Part I, document 300 and enclosures
Related Reading
Cite This Article
Korea Establishes a Legation in Washington. Chanceries Diplopedia. Record 24da8aafcc0c3816728c. https://chanceries.org/research/history/korea-legation-c5bee96730/