Jemulpo in the late 19th century / Robert Neff Collection

A recent article appearing in The Korea Times announced the opening of a photo exhibition illuminating the 70 years of friendship between Korea and Greece. While it is true the diplomatic relationship between the two countries is fairly recent, there have been Greeks residing in Korea for over 120 years.

In the mid-1890s, Jemulpo (part of modern Incheon) had grown from a port made up of a handful of crude shacks into one of Joseon's most cosmopolitan communities. According to a census taken in late 1896, there were: 15 British (three women); seven French (two women); six Americans; 18 Germans (eight women); two Italians; one Austrian; one Portuguese; one Spanish woman; one Greek; 2,458 Japanese (1,595 women); and 1,105 Chinese — all men. Many of these are accountable — some of the Americans had Japanese wives, the Spanish woman was married to a Chinese official, and due to the recent Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, the Chinese population in Korea was still not official recognized and was administered by the British representatives to Korea.

The Greek, however, is the wild card. The Austrian, Italians and Portuguese worked for the Korean Imperial Customs Service but, to the best of my knowledge, there were never any Greeks hired by the Korean government. As Korea and Greece had not concluded a treaty, this Greek national was also prohibited from owning land (in his own name), so it might be safe to assume he was one of the drifting entrepreneurs who briefly set up a boarding house that catered to sailors from one of the many visiting warships.

Jemulpo is often associated with two hotels — Daibutsu Hotel and Steward's Hotel. However, there were a large number of "boarding houses" a.k.a. "flop houses" that never appeared in any of the regional directories — including the Bristol Hotel.

The only reason we know about the Bristol Hotel is because of the Greco-Turkish War in the spring of 1897. That distant conflict somehow managed to rear its ugly head in the Land of the Morning Calm. According to an article in The Independent — a newspaper published in Seoul:

"The Greco-Turkish war seems to have extended to Korea. On the 26th instant a Turk, presumably from some man-of-war in the harbor, went to the Bristol Hotel, which is kept by Mrs. A. Donapassis, and made insulting remarks about Mr. Donapassis. Her husband demanded an explanation from the offender and an apology which the Turk was too 'full' to render. The irritated husband punished the unspeakable Turk in true Olympean style, returning the compliment which his compatriots recently received from the Turks at Pharsala and Epirus. In order to complete the history, the intervention of other Powers took place. In this case a Chinese policeman interfered and sent the combatants to the British Consul for arbitration."

Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any reports in the British diplomatic archives about this incident.

However, two years later, there are references to another Greek living in Jemulpo with his wife. Masturas, also known as "Tommy the Greek," appears to have been a temporary employee with the Seoul-Chemulpo Railroad — perhaps as a supervisor. It was not an especially high-paying job and he and his wife made ends meet by establishing their own little boarding house (possibly the Klondike). He would have probably passed through history unknown except he testified to the good character of a Scottish American man accused of murdering an American businessman in Jemulpo. The accused murderer was later found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Shortly afterwards, Masturas and his wife left Korea and moved on to Shanghai where they faded from history.

By the early 1900s, there were a number of Greeks doing business in Korea, not as boarding house proprietors but as purveyors of smoke — they were tobacco merchants and enjoyed much success. In fact, one of these early Greek tobacco merchants is buried in Jemulpo — but that story will have to wait for another time.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.