There are some eighty French subjects in Korea, of whom forty are French
priests and one a bishop. Three are associated with the North-Western
Railway Bureau; two are in the Korean Customs; two have been given
employment in the Imperial Mines, and one has become legal adviser to the
Imperial Government. One is attached to the French School; one manages,
most admirably and successfully, the Imperial Korean Post Office. Two
are working in the Korean Arsenal, and three assist in the management of
the Hôtel du Palais. The members of the French colony have been lately
increased by the addition of a number of French engineers, who have
fallen upon the Korean Government in the hope of finding employment with
the Railway Bureau. These transitory visitors are not included in my
figures.
The German colony is small and insignificant. German interests, however,
have been given the concession of a railway line from Seoul to Won-san. A
mine, controlled by a German syndicate, and located at Tong-ko-kai, has
been abandoned with the loss of the many thousand pounds which had been
laid out upon machinery and mining material in general. Germans possess
no other concessions. There is an important firm in Chemulpo, and this
house has established a branch in Seoul. A distinguishing feature of
the business is that there are Germans in both the Seoul and Chemulpo
offices who are thoroughly familiar with the Korean language. This, as
the country develops, will not be without effect; and the fact seems
to illustrate very admirably the methodical system upon which German
commerce in the Far East is built up. The Court band has been entrusted
to the training of a German professor. The effect is very solemn,
and perhaps discloses the necessity for the introduction of a German
physician to the Imperial Household. This counterblast to the position,
which a singular power of sympathy and great professional ability has won
for Miss Cooke, is of recent accomplishment. This English lady doctor
has been for many years physician-in-ordinary to the Imperial Household,
and enjoys the complete confidence of the Court. Miss Cooke is the only
foreigner who has succeeded in overcoming native prejudice and suspicion
entirely.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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