HOME | DD

Description

War Memorial of Korea (Seoul).

Particularly after the middle of the 19th century, various foreign powers began approaching Joseon dynasty Korea, whose isolationism gave it the nickname "hermit kingdom," but Korea took longer than Japan to reopen. The first state to succeed was Japan, which after its own forced reopening and the Meiji Restoration began practicing its own imperialism for the first time in centuries. Korea refused to see the Japanese emperor as equal in authority to the Chinese emperor -- crucial to note Korea was still a Chinese tributary state -- even after China recommended accepting Japan as a rising Asian power. Conflict came in 1875 when Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) gunboat HIJMS Un'yō landed at Ganghwa Island (another foreign landing there!) to request food and water from the local garrison while on a mission to survey the Korean coast. Korean authorities refused and fired at the Un'yō with shore batteries. Captain Yoshika Inoue made full use of his ship and crew, blasting the coastal defenses with his gunboat's modern weapons and beating 500 Korean troops with only 22 well-armed sailors and marines. The Japanese government received the report the next day, sent more gunboats to Busan to support the Japanese residents there (and intimidate the Korean government), and later sent minister Kuroda Kiyotaka to impose an unequal treaty on Korea. The Ganghwa Treaty of 1876 forced Korea not only to reopen to international trade and diplomacy but also to grant Japan rights of extraterritoriality, unimpeded survey, construction of ports, and other concessions. The first steps to annexation were taken almost 35 years in advance.

Here is a Japanese soldier's uniform with two modern Western-style rifles similar to what the Un'yō crew used to overpower a larger defense force armed with more primitive matchlock guns.

Description

War Memorial of Korea (Seoul).

Particularly after the middle of the 19th century, various foreign powers began approaching Joseon dynasty Korea, whose isolationism gave it the nickname "hermit kingdom," but Korea took longer than Japan to reopen. The first state to succeed was Japan, which after its own forced reopening and the Meiji Restoration began practicing its own imperialism for the first time in centuries. Korea refused to see the Japanese emperor as equal in authority to the Chinese emperor -- crucial to note Korea was still a Chinese tributary state -- even after China recommended accepting Japan as a rising Asian power. Conflict came in 1875 when Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) gunboat HIJMS Un'yō landed at Ganghwa Island (another foreign landing there!) to request food and water from the local garrison while on a mission to survey the Korean coast. Korean authorities refused and fired at the Un'yō with shore batteries. Captain Yoshika Inoue made full use of his ship and crew, blasting the coastal defenses with his gunboat's modern weapons and beating 500 Korean troops with only 22 well-armed sailors and marines. The Japanese government received the report the next day, sent more gunboats to Busan to support the Japanese residents there (and intimidate the Korean government), and later sent minister Kuroda Kiyotaka to impose an unequal treaty on Korea. The Ganghwa Treaty of 1876 forced Korea not only to reopen to international trade and diplomacy but also to grant Japan rights of extraterritoriality, unimpeded survey, construction of ports, and other concessions. The first steps to annexation were taken almost 35 years in advance.

Here is a Japanese soldier's uniform with two modern Western-style rifles similar to what the Un'yō crew used to overpower a larger defense force armed with more primitive matchlock guns.