Page "Empress Myeongseong" Paragraph 63

Modern weapons were imported from Japan and the United States in 1883.

The first military factories were established and new military uniforms were created in 1884.

Under joint patronage of Gojong & his Queen Consort, a request was made to the US for more American military instructors to speed up the military modernization of Korea.

Out of all the projects that were going on simultaneously, the military project took the longest.

To manage these simultaneous projects was in itself a major accomplishment for any nation.

Not even Japan had modernized at the rate of Joseon, and not with as many projects going on at once, a precursor to modern Korea as one of East Asia's Tigers in rapid development into a first class nation during the 1960s-1980s.