Office of the Historian

Minister Morgan to the Secretary of State.

American Legation,
Seoul, Korea, July 31, 1905.
No. 9.]

Sir: I have the honor to inclose for your information a copy of the regulations recently published by the Japanese military administration in Korea with penalties for their violation; and with these the special regulations for the fortified zone of Yong Heung Bay (Port Lazareff), issued under Article VII of the above.

I have, etc.,

Edwin V. Morgan.
[Page 627]
[Inclosure.]

regulations published by the japanese military administration in korea, with penalties for the violation thereof.

I.
As a safeguard against interference with the movements of the Japanese armies in Korea, the following regulations will hereafter be enforced.
II.
Penalties for the violation of these regulations shall be as follows:
(a)
Death by hanging.
(b)
Imprisonment.
(c)
Exile.
(d)
The lash.
(e)
Fine.
A prisoner may, by a single sentence, be condemned to suffer any one of the above penalties, except hanging, in combination with any other herein mentioned.
III.
Imprisonment shall consist in confining the prisoner in a certain jail, with or without hard labor.
Exile shall consist in excluding the prisoner from a certain locality for a certain time.
IV.
Those convicted of the following offenses are liable to the sentence of death by hanging:
(a)
The enemy’s spies or those who have in any way assisted such spies.
(b)
Those who report to the enemy the movements or dispositions of our troops, vessels of war, or military transports; who give information concerning our military lines of communication, the whereabouts of stores, or warehouses erected to facilitate the accumulation of weapons, ammunition, provisions, clothes, or other supplies; who divulge military secrets; who lead the enemy to such stores or warehouses; who have intentionally deceived or misled our forces, naval or military, or who have given or are giving any assistance to the enemy.
(c)
Those who assist in, either forcibly or otherwise, or connive at the escape of prisoners.
(d)
Those who destroy, burn, or steal military telegraphs, telephones, electric lights, railways, trams, carriages, boats, ships, military roads, bridges, buildings, warehouses, or the material therefor.
(e)
Those who poison wells, rivers, or other sources of water supply.
(f)
Those who destroy, burn, or steal military maps and books, weapons, ammunitions, provisions, clothes, or other supplies or military mails.
(g)
Those who spread by word of mouth, in writing, or by means of pictures, rumors disadvantageous to our army.
(h)
Those who interfere with our communications or transport.
(i)
Those who prevent or resist our military requisitions.
(j)
Those who interfere with our military activities or violate our military regulations.
V.
Any offenses not included in the above will be punished in accordance with the laws of Japan or Korea.
VI.
All persons who have actually committed, have connived at or instigated, or have had the intent to commit the above crimes shall be punished.
Those guilty of connivance at, assistance in, or in any way concerned in the commission of the above crimes shall be punished by imprisonment, exile, the lash, or fine, according to the gravity of the offense.
VII.
Commanders of divisions, of the lines of communication, and of the fortified zones are authorized to issue such supplementary regulations as they may deem necessary.

Under the provision of Article VII of the regulations published by the Japanese military administration in Korea, General Minoda, commander of the fortifications at Yong Heung Bay (Port Lazareff), has issued the following:

I.
Any articles calculated to disturb, or which have been obtained in such a manner as to interfere with, the preservation of good order within the fortified zone will be confiscated by the authorities. In case the articles have been destroyed the offender shall be subject to a fine equivalent to their original value.
II.
Any persons who without the permit of the commander or who have obtained such permission from him by fraudulent means commit the following acts shall be punished by military law:
(a)
Entering military buildings or fortifications.
(b)
Making surveys, photographs, or publishing books and maps of the fortifications.
(c)
Anchoring off the fortified zone.
(d)
Rebuilding or making any alterations in dwellings, warehouses, or other buildings, or heaping articles in piles more than 5 feet in height within the fortified zone.
(e)
Constructing or tampering with existing embankments or canals or laying out or changing the present location of cultivated lands.
(f)
Felling timber or cutting bamboos or grass.
(g)
Permitting stock to graze within the fortified zone.
III.
The following acts shall be punished:
(a)
Removal or destruction of wooden or stone boundary marks.
(b)
Violation of military instructions.
(c)
Interference with the preservation of good order within the fortified zone.
(d)
Failure to report any violation of these regulations or connivance or assistance in the escape of persons guilty of these offenses.
IV.
Any building erected, removed, or repaired in violation of the above regulations will be destroyed or removed by the owners at their own expense.
V.
The head men of the villages within the fortified zone will constitute a committee for the prevention of the violation of these regulations and shall be held responsible for the observance thereof.
VI.
All persons violating the above regulations are liable to trial by court-martial.