Late in the year the Tong-hak made a startling proclamation which they secretly nailed to the gate of the governor’s yamen in Chŭn-ju. It called upon all right-minded men to join in the march on the capital and the extirpation of the foreigners. This seemed more tangible than the former rumors and foreign men-of-war began to congregate at Chemulpo for the protection of their nationals in Seoul. Hundreds of Japanese left the city and hurried to Chemulpo for safety. A force of Korean infantry marched southward to head off the revolutionists but they were easily defeated and their arms and accoutrements fell into the hands of the enemy. It was quite evident that the Korean government was without the means or the men to cope with such determined opposition. This deplorable state of things was looked upon by Japan with some uneasiness. Korea seemed to be coming more and more under Chinese influence and in the same proportion her internal management became more corrupt. Japan regarded Korea as an independent power and was determined to see that independence upheld. This feeling on the part of Japan was sharply accentuated when in the spring of 1894 a Korean detective, Hong Chong-u, succeeded in gaining the confidence of Kim Ok-kyun who was living at Tokyo as a political refugee. He was induced to accompany his betrayer to Shanghai where, in a hotel, his betrayer shot him down in cold blood. The Chinese government condoned the dastardly deed and sent the assassin, together with the body of his victim, to Korea in a Chinese gunboat. The body of Kim Ok-kyun was dismembered on April fourteenth in a most brutal manner and the different portions of his body were sent about the country as a warning to traitors. This lapse into the worst excesses of the old regime opened the eyes of Japan to the actual situation and gave her just the impetus she needed to take the strong position which she did later. Soon after this the Tong-hak took the town of Chŭn-ju and defeated all the government troops sent against them. The governor of the province, Kim Mun-hyŭn, made his escape from the place. The government had at last become convinced of its inability to cope with its enemies single-handed and it determined to have recourse to the dangerous policy of asking China to throw troops into the peninsula to aid in putting down the Tong-hak uprising. China immediately complied and on June sixth 1,500 Chinese troops were embarked at Tientsin and were sent to Chemulpo under the escort of three gunboats.