- May. The Jong-hyun Catholic Church (종현본당, 鐘峴本堂) was finished of construction. It was the first Gothic architecture to be built in Korea. It was later called the Myeongdong Cathedral, the centre of the Korean 20th century. It is registered as a national historical landmark.
- Independence Gate
- January. The Seoul Electric Corporation (한성전기회사, 漢城電氣會社), or the Korea-American Electric Corporation (한미전기회사,韓美電氣會社) was opened as a joint-venture company between Americans Henry Collbran, H.R. Bostwick and Emperor Gojong.
- 만민공동회 개최, 독립신문에 여권 통문을 발표KO
- August. Brown reported blueprint of the Pan-Korean railway to Gojong.
- September 5. The Imperial Capital Gazette released its first print. The president of the company was Nam Gung-euk (남궁억,南宮檍).
- September. Kim Hong-nyuk (김홍륙,金鴻陸) attempted assassination of Gojong by putting excess amount of opium in his coffee. It is to be noted that Gojong was a coffee lover. While Gojong spat out the coffee upon drinking it, his son Sunjong drank the opium-tainted coffee and suffered from mental and physical disabilities from the incident.
- 1896January. Joseon begins to use the Gregorian calendar.
- 1896Independence Club
- 1896April. Tongnip sinmun, the first private modern Korean newspaper, is founded.
- 1896February. Gojong's internal exile to the Russian legation.
- 189611 February. King Gojong flees to the Russian legation in Seoul.
- 1897대한제국 고종이 제위에 등극하고, 대한제국을 수립해 연호를 광무로 고침
- 1897October. King Gojong proclaims the Korean Empire and is crowned at the religious shrine Hwangudan in Seoul.
- 1897February. King Gojong established the Board of Marshals. All military power was henceforth centralized to the Emperor.
- 1897November. John McLeavy Brown constructs Pagoda Park.
- 1897September. The Donghwa Pharmacy opened in Seoul, Korea. The established corporation, now known as the Dong Wha Pharmacy Corporation., Limited (동화약품(주), 同和藥品(株)). The company, now the oldest pharmacy-based corporation in Korea, has products that are nationally famous, with its 'folding fan' trademark.
- 189720 February. King Gojong returned to the palace after 1 year of refuge at the Russian legation.
- 1899September. The establishment of the Northwest Railway Bureau (서북철도국,西北鐵道局), an agency within the Gungnaebu (궁내부,宮內府). Its mission was to construct a railway from Seoul to Sinuiju (신의주,新義州) without the help from foreign countries. This department later became the Korail, or the Korea Railroad Corporation (한국철도공사,韓國鐵道公社).
- 1899May. American businessmen Henry Collbran and H.R.Bostwick opened the first tram lines within Seoul (the West gate-East gate line).
- 1899대한국 국제를 공포, 동대문-서대문 전차 개통
- 1899August. The promulgation of the Korean Imperial Legislation (대한제국국제, 大韓帝國國制) by the Ministry of Justice (법규교정소,法規校正所). This is of certain significance, as it led to Gojong's success in modernisation of the empire. It also took international laws into consideration. Although the actual legislation is very short, numerous other edicts were proclaimed to be used like laws.
- 1899April. The Gyeongseong Medical School, the first modern national hospital, opened. It is the forerunner to the present-day Seoul National University Hospital.
- 1899January. Several Korean entrepreneurs and high-ranking officials establish the Daehan Cheon-il Bank (대한천일은행, 大韓天一銀行). The bank operated as both a local bank and central bank. The bank is the predecessor of the Woori Bank.
- 1900January. Korean Empire became a member of the Universal Postal Union.
- 1900July. Seoul-Incheon railroad opened with completion of the Han River Bridge (한강철교,漢江鐵橋). The bridge later becomes part of the Hangang Railway Bridge. It is still in operation.
- 1900October. The Hanseung Secondary School (한성중학교,漢城中學校) was finished construction. It is the predecessor of Kyunggi High School (경기고등학교,京畿高等學校), one of the best high schools in Korea.
- 1900April. Construction of streetlamps on Jong-ro, Seoul. The Korean Empire opens its own exhibition pavilion in the Exposition Universelle of Paris.
- 1900January. First mail of Korea was sent.
- 1900인선 철도 개통, 만국 우표 연합 가입, 종로에 가로등 설치
| - Hundred Days' Reform
- September — Empress Dowager Cixi puts the Guangxu Emperor under house arrest
- Convention for the Lease of the Liaotung Peninsula
- September — Empress Dowager Cixi comes to power
- September — Zhang Yuanji recommends ending Manchu-Han differences and dissolving the Eight Banners system
- September — The Guangxu Emperor was removed from the imperial palace in a coup organized by Cixi and Ronglu, the Viceroy of Zhili.
- 1899道士王圓籙于敦煌石窟第17窟发现大量书画经卷。
- 1900June — Boxer Rebellion: Cixi responded to anti-foreign unrest by issuing the Imperial Decree of declaration of war against foreign powers in the Guangxu Emperor's name.
- 1900Boxer movement
- 1900Battle of Peking
- 1900Siege of the International Legations
- 1900Battle of Tientsin
- 1900Battle of the Taku Forts
- 1900Battle of Langfang
- 1900Battle of Shanhaiguan
- 1900Taiyuan massacre
- 1900August — Boxer Rebellion: Foreign troops enter Beijing
- 1900September — Boxer Rebellion: Foreign troops leave Beijing
- 1900June — Boxer Rebellion: Empress Dowager Cixi declares war on foreign powers
- 1900September — Boxer Rebellion: The Boxer Protocol is signed
| - Nishi–Rosen Agreement
- 第1次大隈内閣成立（日本初の政党内閣）。JA
- 18961896 Sanriku earthquake
- 1896June — Sanriku earthquake kills 22,066 people.
- 1897貨幣法が公布され、金本位制が確立する。
- 1899Boxer Rebellion
- 1899著作権保護等を定めたベルヌ条約に加盟。
- 1900立憲政友会結成。軍部大臣現役武官制導入。
| - Treaty of Paris
- Hawaii annexed
- USS Maine explodes in Havana, Cuba harbor, precipitating the Spanish–American War
- Wilmington massacre
- Newlands Resolution
- Battle of Virden
- American Anti-Imperialist League organized
- Battle of Sugar Point
- The City of Greater New York is created through the annexation of Brooklyn, Western Queens County, and Staten Island into New York City
- De Lôme Letter
- 1896Gold discovered in the Yukon's Klondike
- 1896Utah becomes a state
- 1896Henry Ford builds his first automobile
- 1896Plessy v. Ferguson 163 US 537 1896 affirms the idea of "separate but equal"
- 1896U.S. presidential election, 1896: William McKinley elected president and Garret A. Hobart vice president
- 1896William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech
- 1896March 4, 1897 – McKinley becomes the 25th president; and Hobart becomes the 24th vice president
- 1897Lattimer massacre
- 1897Intentona de Yauco
- 1897Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition
- 1897Dingley tariff
- 1897Boston subway completed
- 1899Boxer Rebellion
- 1899American Samoa occupied
- 1899Tripartite Convention
- 1899Teller Amendment
- 1899November 21, 1899 – Vice President Garret Hobart dies
- 1899Newsboys' strike of 1899
- 1899Paris Arbitral Award
- 1900September 6, 1901 – McKinley is shot, in Buffalo, New York.
- 1900Treaty of Washington
- 1900President William McKinley reelected; Theodore Roosevelt elected vice president.
- 1900September 14, 1901 – President McKinley dies, Vice President Roosevelt becomes the 26th president
- 1900March 4, 1901 – President McKinley begins second term; Roosevelt becomes the 25th vice president.
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