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| - 1900: Boxer Rebellion flares up in China. April 2, 1900: Murder of 23 Korean citizens in Shanhaikwan, most of them teachers at a local school, had sparked again tensions between Seoul and Beijing. June 5, 1900: The Empress Dowager of China demands the Gwangmu Emperor to hand over reformist Kang You-wei for execution in China, and to stop sending troops at the behest of the 'foreign devils.' The Korean reply is that Kang is "advised" by the Korean government to go to Hong Kong instead. Kang was never caught or handed over to the Chinese authorities. June 7, 1900: Boxers cut off the railroad between Beijing and Tianjin, cutting the besieged foreigners off. June 13, 1900: Boxer Rebellion was now in full swing and spread across North China. June 17, 1900: Dagu Forts in Tianjin seized by the Allies. June 18, 1900: The Empress Dowager orders all Boxers to kill all foreigners. The Korean government regarded this as war. Meanwhile, Seymour's allied expedition, in which Korea has no part yet, failed due to fierce Chinese resistance. June 19, 1900: Korea again declares war against China. All troops were to be mobilized on the Yalu River. June 20, 1900: siege of Beijing by the Boxers begins. Foreign legations were trapped. June 25, 1900: The Empress Dowager offered a truce. It was rejected by the Allies. July, 1900: Tianjin Massacre: 600 Chinese Christians and foreign missionaries were massacred by the Boxers. July 2, 1900: 40,000 Korean troops cross the Yalu to "secure" Manchuria. July 3-11, 1900: Korean troops and militiamen fend off 23,000 Boxers who were threatening the Gando area. July 5, 1900: The Imperial Korean Marines' 1st Regiment, trained and modeled after the US Marines, land in Tianjin. July 8, 1900: Korean, Japanese, and Russian troops declared Manchuria "secure". A Korean force, 20,000 strong, however, struck southwest to Beijing. Reports of looting by foreign troops widespread, in which the Korean government and army denied despite some contrary evidence. July 14, 1900: Colonel Kuriya of the Imperial Japanese Army leads the Nine-Nation Alliance in capturing Tianjin. Among his staff was a Korean captain who will be later known as Syngman Rhee, who will later retire as a major in 1903 and go to the United States. He personally led the attack on the final Boxer holdout in Tianjin. July 19, 1900: Korean troops are now halfway and start beseiging area with their famed multiple rocket launchers. They also introduce for the first time modern flamethrowers, albeit they are mounted on carriages.Chengteh captured and destroyed by Korean troops. August 1, 1900: Korean troops reach Beijing. They in disproportionate numbers, kill about 100,000 Imperial and Boxer troops. August 2, 1900: Korean troops reach the Foreign Legation. Meanwhile, the Koreans secure the Guangxu Emperor, the Empress Dowager fleeing from Xian before. August 4, 1900: Other Allied troops reached the Legation. September, 1900: Beijing was completely secured. Occupation the Nine-Nation Alliance commenced, with barbaric atrocities committed by the occupying powers. Gruesome in detail was the Korean method of practicing rifle with condemned Boxers. 1901: With 2,234 reported Korean dead, the Parliament had decided that the troops be sent home except in Manchuria. September 7, 1901: Boxer Protocol signed. Russia got the lion's share of reparations, much to Korea and Japan's chagrin, as both contributed to the majority of the troops and the dead. November 1, 1901: Prime Minister Shin resigns over the failure to recover Korean war dead. 1902: Anglo-Japanese Alliance signed between the two countries. Korea meanwhile had sent observers to the Philippines in the American attempt to crush the rebels. 1903: Korea concluded a secret treaty with France in response, or rather, in envy of the Anglo-Japanese alliance. July 28, 1903: Russian, Korean, and Japanese representatives signed a secret protocol in St. Petersburg dividing Manchuria into three spheres. Russia will occupy the north, Japan the coast, and Korea the remaining territories. All three parties are not satisfied in the partition in the end. January 28, 1904: Russia formally renounced the secret treaties, and had its army mobilize in Manchuria. January 30, 1904: The Korean government orders a general mobilization. February 1, 1904: The Japanese government orders a general mobilization. February 8, 1904: Japan attacks Port Arthur. However, Admiral Heihachiro Togo was unable to dislodge the Russian fleet there despite inflicting on the enemy considerable casualties. Korean troops near the dividing line between the supposed spheres clash with Russian troops there. 1905: Russo-Japanese War ends. 1905: Korean Boy Scouts founded. 1906: Korea sends some "observer" troops to the American Philippines. 1907: Korea imports its first automobiles from the United States. Seoul was the first Korean city to have automobiles. 1907: The Hague Conference. Korea attends the conference with its three delegates. President Roosevelt vetoes Exclusion Act against Koreans, citing the Korean-American treaty. Congress passes it nonetheless, sparking public anger in Seoul. 1908: Railway accident near Pyongyang's train station claim at least 112 fatalities. Overheating of the steam train was to blame. 1909: Emperor Gwangmu abdicates in favor of his son, Sunjong, citing ill health.
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