Ernst Oppert

Ernst Jakob Oppert (5 December 1832 – 19 September 1903) was a Jewish businessman from Germany best known for his unsuccessful attempt in 1868 to remove the remains of the father of regent Yi Ha-eung from his grave in order to use it to blackmail the regent into removing Korean trade barriers.

Life

Oppert was born into a wealthy banker family in Hamburg. Two of his brothers, Julius and Gustav, became leading German orientalists,Bräsel, S.:
Ernst Jakob Oppert: "Ein verschlossenes Land" - Die erste Reisebeschreibung eines Deutschen über Korea
'', project description, University of Erfurt, 2002. URL last accessed April 26, 2006. while Ernst opened a trading business in 1851 in Hong Kong. When that company went bankrupt in 1866, he became interested in trading with Korea, which at that time followed a strict isolationist policy and was a hermit kingdom, with a closed market to westerners. Still, Oppert visited Korean shores two times in 1866, without much business success as his efforts were thwarted by Korean emissaries.Lankov, A.
A Grave enterprise
'', The Korea Times, January 20, 2005. URL last accessed April 26, 2006. Although Oppert himself had no experience in learning the Korean language, he judged the Korean language to be much harder to learn than either Chinese or Japanese. Oppert based this judgment on a scarcity of sources as stated below:

Attempted Robbery of the Tomb of Prince Namyeon

Back in Shanghai, Oppert allegedly met a French priest Stanislas Féron (MEP), who had devised a plan to excavate and hold hostage the remains of the father of regent Yi Haeung, who ruled the country for his son, King Gojong, to use them to blackmail him into opening the country for trade. Other accounts alleged that Oppert just sought to rob the royal graves for the gold and precious antiquities that they were supposedly filled with. Financed by the American E. F. B. Jenkins who also participated in the enterprise, Oppert and Féron set out on 30 April 1868 on the ships ''China'' and ''Greta'', manned with a crew of about 130. Arriving in Korea on 8 May, they "acquired" two fishing boats from the locals, and proceeded further inlands. When they reached the tomb on 10 May, Oppert's men tried to steal the body, but were stopped by the massive stone slab that covered Prince Namyeon's remains. Being observed by large crowds of Koreans and fearing the arrival of the Korean military, the graverobbers had to leave without having achieved their objective.Williams, S. W.:
Oppert's Kingdom of Corea
', book review of Oppert's book ''A Forbidden Land: Voyages to the Korea'' (G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York 1880), in ''New Englander and Yale review 39(157)'', September 1880, pp. 509 – 521. URL last accessed April 26, 2006. The stone that had impeded their success was thought to be steel, but it was in fact quicklime. On their second attempt at landing, Oppert's party was engaged by Korean soldiers in a battle where they lost two men and had to retreat.Neff, R.:

'', ''The Korea Times'', October 29, 2004. URL last accessed April 26, 2006. Oppert, Jenkins and Féron then sailed along the coast to Incheon, sending missives to the Korean regent who was not impressed by the promises of impending doom if the westerners were ignored. Running low on fuel, the ships eventually had to flee the country.

The entire incident enraged the Koreans, who were now even less inclined to trade with the foreigners.

Back in China, the ringleaders of the expedition reportedly faced trial. The catholic priest Féron was expulsed from China and was later a missionary in Puducherry, India. Jenkins was set free because of inconclusive evidence of his involvement. Oppert opted to return to Germany, but was sentenced to a three-month prison sentence in Hamburg.

According to A. H. S. Landor, the tale of Oppert's unsuccessful tomb raiding was still well known in Korea around the end of the 19th century and was being told to foreigners on arriving, with one member of the raid party allegedly still living in Chemulpo.

Later life

Oppert returned to Germany, where he thereafter had an unremarkable businessman's life. Some sources claim that he spent a few months in jail for this grave robbing episode.Kleiner, J.: ''Korea – A Century of Change'', World Scientific Publishing Company 2001, ; in particular
Chapter 1: The Hermit Kingdom
', "Oppert's Act of Piracy" (p. 10). URL last accessed April 26, 2006. In 1880 he published a book about Korea titled ''Ein verschlossenes Land. Reisen nach Corea.''https://archive.org/details/gb0WYBAAAAQAAJ It was originally published by Brockhaus in Leipzig and was also translated into English. Other authors of the time who published about Korea called Oppert out for brazenly publishing about his own international incident, referring to the ″monstrous impertinence″ of his book.William Elliot Griffis: ''Corea, the Hermit Nation'', New York und London, Charles Scribner's Sons 1882 (reprints 1889, 1897). Pages 392-402. Oppert also translated into German a few more books by other authors about Africa and East Asia.

See also

* Germans in Korea

References

Works

* ''Ein verschlossenes Land''. - Brockhaus, Leipzig 1880
Digital

External links

* Kneider, H.-A.:

', 2003. URL last accessed April 26, 2006.
* Jewish Encyclopedia:
Oppert, Ernst Jacob
'. URL last accessed April 26, 2006.
* Neff, Robert: "German merchant's Bodysnatching Expedition in 1868," ''The Korea Times'' July 22, 2010, p. 15.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oppert, Ernst
1832 births
1903 deaths
19th-century German businesspeople
Businesspeople from Hamburg
German expatriates in Korea
19th-century German Jews