Gwangmu Reform

The Gwangmu Reform (광무개혁,光武改革) was a chain of events that was aimed at modernizing and westernizing the Korean Empire as a late starter in the industrial revolution. The reform that took place during the Gwangmu Era (1897-1907) showed, in the long term, Korean potential for starting and continuing modernisation even at the face of adversity. This sort of development was unseen until the President Park era of the 1960s and 70s. The Gwangmu reform of Emperor Gojong later staged the fundamental background for future Korean development by building infrastructure, reforming the economy and creating the nucleus of the modern bureaucracy and military.

Following the collapse of the Gabo government proclaiming the abolition of the status system, the loyalists’ cabinet was formed in 1896. The new cabinet, which became the Gwangmu government after the establishment of the Korean Empire, introduced systematic measures for abolishing the traditional class system. One of these was the new household registration system, reflecting the goals of formal social equality, which was implemented by the loyalists’ cabinet. Whereas the old registration system signified household members according to their hierarchical social status, the new system called for an occupation.

Although most Koreans by that time had surnames and even bongwan, a substantial number of cheonmin, which mostly consisted of serfs and slaves, and untouchables still did not. According to the new system, they were then required to fill in the blanks for surname in order to be registered as constituting separate households. Instead of creating their own family name, some cheonmins appropriated their masters’ surnames, while others simply took the most common surname and its bongwan in the local area. Along with this example, activists within and outside the Korean government had based their visions of a new relationship between the government and people through the concept of citizenship, employing the term Inmin(people) and later, Kungmin(citizen).

During the Gwangmu period, Western-style official uniforms were introduced in Korea. At the start, the Korean Emperor had begun to wear Prussian-style royal attire along with Korean diplomats, who wore Western suits. In 1900, Western attire became the official uniform for the Korean civil officials. Several years later, all Korean soldiers and policemen were required to wear Western style uniforms.

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