Ernest Bethell
| Ernest T. Bethell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
November 3, 1872 Bristol, England |
| Died | May 1, 1909 Seoul, South Korea |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Bae Seol (배설/裵說) |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Home town | Bristol, England |
Ernest Thomas Bethell (November 3, 1872 – May 1, 1909), who is also known by his Korean name Bae Seol (배설, 裵說), was a British journalist who founded a newspaper, The Korea Daily News, antagonistic to Japanese rule.
In 1904, he originally came to Korea as a correspondent for Daily Chronicle, from Kobe, Japan where he had been in the export business, to report on the Russo-Japanese War, but then stayed in Korea and reported on Japanese imperialism in Korea. Bethell soon noted the abuses by Japanese soldiers towards Koreans, and how Koreans were treated unfairly and as inferior.
He founded an early newspaper in Korea with Yang Gi-tak, a Korean independence activist, in 1904 called Daehan Maeil Sinbo (대한매일신보, 大韓每日申報, The Korea Daily News) which was published in both Korean and English. The publication was strongly antagonistic to Japanese rule in Korea. The paper was available in three versions - English, Korean, and Korean mixed script. Many people who opposed Japanese, such as Park Eun-sik and Sin Chae-ho, wrote articles and columns on the paper.
At the time British subjects enjoyed extraterritorial rights in Korea. Because the paper was published by a British subject it was not subject to local law.
In 1907, Bethell was prosecuted in the British Consular Court in Seoul for breach of the peace and given a good behaviour bond of six months.
The next year, at the request of the Japanese Residency-General, Bethel was prosecuted in the British Supreme Court for China and Corea (sic), sitting in Seoul, for sedition against the Japanese government of Korea. He was convicted of sedition and was sentenced by judge F.S.A Bourne to three weeks of imprisonment and a six month good behaviour bond. As there was no suitable jail in Korea, he was taken to Shanghai aboard HMS Clio and detained at the British Consular Gaol in Shanghai.
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