A tragedy occurred in the Choi’s drugstore located in Hanseong Jongro a little past 10pm, January 2, 1884. After the scuffle during purchasing Cheongsimhwan, three men who are suspected Chinese soldiers killed the storekeeper with a gun and stabbed his son with a knife after shooting. In the following morning, the father and the son’s destinies split. The owner survived dramatically, but his son passed away. The decapitation of the three escaped assailants was reported by Hanseongsunbo on January 11. It was a devastating incident, but it looked like this case had been closed.
However, this murder case developed to a serious slip of the pen. The one who led it was Chen Shutang of the Qing dynasty. Chen Shutang sent an inquiry to the authority of the Joseon dynasty in order to ask grounds proving that the three decapitated Chinese soldiers were the assailants. The authority admitted a mistake. In late March, Chen Shutang prepared two notifications and intensively sent official documents and letters to the authority of the Joseon dynasty and government officials of the Qing dynasty. Especially, Chen Shutang asked two official documents to Li Hongzhang. The documents were a diplomatic document for the King of Joseon and a letter of order for Yuan Shikai. The diplomatic document was to put pressure on Joseon and the letter of order was a firm security to encourage Yuan Shikai who was passive for cooperation. Li Hongzhang’s move was cautious. He sent a letter of order but refused to send an diplomatic document. Meanwhile, the authority of Joseon showed its good faith to the inquiry from Chen Shutang. The authority proclaimed the two notifications in major cities and printed them on Hanseongsunbo. Inoue Kakugoro resigned from Hanseongsunbo and returned to his country. Since the Qing dynasty showed its strong intention, some concessions were unavoidable. It was the end of the serious slip of the pen.
Even though this incident was closed, its aftereffect was serious. Chen Shutang started to find an alternatives after the court hearing as an advisory letter was foundered. Yuan Shikai should take a positive attitude since he received a letter of order from Li Hongzhang. These two guys" common solution was a court hearing. They summoned all concerned and held a court hearing which is jointly held by the authorities of both countries. In the meantime, two people had an elaborate prior consultation. At this time, the initiative of discussion was passed over to Yuan Shikai. It was totally different from the serious slip of the pen. On May 17, the court hearing was held. Chen Shutang who was inexperienced in legal principles was completely defeated. The statements of people concerned were euphemistic, but they sticked to their original opinion that assailants looked like Chinese soldiers. An exit strategy was necessary. Yuan Shikai finally came up with an option. He suggested to make it an unsolved case. However, Chen Shutang couldn’t give it up. He suggested a solution of the court hearing again with professional manpower, but Yuan Shi-kai coldly rejected it. Chen Shutang had no choice but to accept it. They reported it to Li Hongzhang under their names and received a endorsement. For the record, this case was closed as an unsolved case permanently. The six-month diplomatic issue of Korea and China was finally closed.
One of important aspects of the murder case in the Choi"s drugstore is that the representative of Qing changed after the case developed to a diplomatic issue between Korea and China. Assuming the execution of three suspects as the first stage, the serious slip of the pen as the second stage and the court hearing and afters as the third stage, the serious diplomatic argue started from the second stage. The main hero of the second stage and the third stage was Chen Shutang and Yuan Shikai, respectively. Chen Shutang grew the aftereffects of the case as it seemed like an obsession, but the end was vain. The obsession of Chen Shutang deteriorated the his political status in Joseon. In short, a sign of reversal for Chen Shutang and Yuan Shikai"s political influences was already shown in the wave of the murder case.