A study on the relationship between Korea and Japan in the 15th century

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A STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KOREA AND JAPAN IN THE 15th CENTURY

Moon Hyoungjin

Korea and Japan are geographically very close, yet feel so distant from each other.

Both are neighboring countries, but there seems to be an invisible wall between them. Korea and Japan are on guard against each other, rather than being open-minded to each other. Until recently, Koreans needed a visa to visit Japan. Japan wanted to control the entry of Koreans to Japan with the visa system, but to no avail: due to Japan's higher currency exchange rate and technological level, the number of Koreans entering Japan kept increasing day by day. In addition, Korean politicians wanted to establish a diplomatic relationship with Japan in order to expand their political power, and Korean businessmen wanted to trade with Japan to maximize their profits. Japan's political power, bigger economic size, and higher currency value were factors that increased the number of Koreans entering Japan.

But then, what had the relationship between the two countries been like in ancient times? Currently, Japan is richer, technologically more developed than Korea, but in ancient times, the situation was opposite. Several Korean dynasties adopted Chinese culture and then developed their own unique cultures. At the same time Japan received advanced culture and technology from the ancient dynasties of Korea. Hence, Japan had to depend on several dynasties of Korea for several thousands of years. In the relationship between Korea and Japan, Korea was in the position of offering favors and benefits to Japan, whereas Japan was a marginal nation, which received culture from the advanced dynasties of Korea. Such a hierarchical relationship between Korea and Japan began to be formed since the Three Kingdoms Period, continued during the Goryeo Dynasty and until the early Joseon Dynasty.

This study focuses on the Joseon Dynasty, which spanned from the late 14th century to the 15th century, during which time Korea was culturally superior to Japan. During the period, the military power, economic size, and culture of Japan did not surpass those of the Joseon Dynasty. Japan wanted to adopt Joseon's advanced culture and maintain an economic relationship with Joseon, so Japan frequently sent envoys to Joseon to sustain such a relationship. That is, the relationship established between Japan and Korea at that time was quite different from that between the two nations in modern time. Just as Japan tried to control Koreans' entry to Japan in modern time, there was a time when the Joseon Dynasty tried to restrict the Japanese entry to Joseon and to control their trade in Joseon.

The Joseon Dynasty utilized both moderate and tough policies toward the Japanese in order to prevent side effects that could have occurred from implementing total control over Japan. Joseon attacked the base of Japanese pirates by force, and at different occasions, they tried to actively accommodate the Japanese who wanted to be naturalized as Joseon people. Such dual Joseon's policies toward Japan will be reviewed in detail in Chapter II.

There are several literatures which give a vivid knowledge of the relationship between Korea and Japan during the ancient time. Prior studies were conducted in various fields, such as the political relationship [Lee 1964; Son 1994; Han 1996], the dispatch of envoys [Ariyi 1993; Son 1996], and the economic trading [Kim 1964; Kim 1969; Ha 1980; Na 1989]. Those studies showed valuable results, and most of the results have been verified. However, despite so many research accomplishments have been published, one research area has not been conducted: the relationship between Joseon's policies toward Japan and the crimes committed by Joseon and the Japanese people. Further studies should be conducted in this area. Previous studies mostly focused on Joseon's military actions against Japanese pirate's invasions of Joseon, as well as on Joseon's control over Japanese pirates via Daemado Island [Moon 2004; Moon 2005; Han 2004]. Even though the direction of Joseon's policies toward Japan was greatly influenced by Japanese pirates' invasions of Joseon, this study aims to show that Joseon's policies toward Japan were also influenced by the actions of the Japanese who were naturalized as Joseon people. The rationale of this study bases on the assumption that abnormal trading, private commerce, and illegal trade, as well as conflicts and disputes over profits between the Joseon and Japanese people, could be a threat to the safety of Joseon people and mess up the order of economy, as bad as the threats from the Japanese pirates.

Accordingly, this study focuses on the relationship between Joseon's policies toward Japan and the types of crimes committed by the Japanese and Joseon people. The Joseon government thought that Japanese piracy behaviors were conducted out of hunger, so resolving their hunger would get rid of Japanese piracy. However, as more Japanese pirates were naturalized as the Joseon people, more crimes were committed: abnormal trading, as well as criminal cases such as battery and murder. Hence, the Joseon Dynasty took various measures to resolve such problems, but they could not achieve satisfied results. The measures had led to the Sampo Weran, a Japanese riot in Sampo (three ports), and they worsened the relationship between Japan and Joseon. Joseon's policies for reducing the number of Japanese entrants to Joseon and for controlling trade venues in Joseon, and for supplying resources to the Japanese envoys, had caused more problems, such as abnormal trades and economic burdens to the Joseon. As such, during the early Joseon period, the relationship between Korea and Japan became quite complicated owing to Japanese pursuit for economic profits and desire for acquiring advanced culture from the Joseon Dynasty, as well as due to the Joseon Dynasty's measures for protecting its people and property against the invasions of the Japanese pirates.

The chapter ІІІ investigates the types of crimes committed by the Joseon people, particularly the corruptive acts by the Joseon officials while dealing with the Japanese. Based on the fact that the pillage of the Joseon coastal areas was mainly committed by the Japanese pirates who stationed in Daemado Island, as well apart from the fact that Daemado was more closely related to the interests of Joseon than to the Central government of Japan, this study focuses on several phenomena that occurred in such relationships.

Duality of Joseon's policies toward Japan

The core of the Joseon Dynasty policies toward Japan in the early Joseon period was the `Control Policy' and the `Engagement Policy'. Earlier researchers used such terms as the `diplomatic policies' or `conciliatory policies' in explaining Joseon relationship with Japan in the early Joseon period. However, the diplomatic policies were to deal with national issues between the two nations, so they had limitations in explaining the relationship between Joseon people and the Japanese who were residing in Joseon or the surrendered Japanese pirates or the Japanese naturalized as the Joseon people. That is, the diplomatic policies could be implemented between the authorities who represented the two nations, but they were not suitable for explaining the relationship among individuals or between a nation and individuals.

Accordingly, this study uses the term `control policies' to explain the relationship between a nation and individuals. Furthermore, the term, `conciliatory policies' also has limitations as it implies an attempt to change the other party by assuming that the other party is inferior. In the early Joseon period, even though there was some discrepancies at the level of culture between Korea and Japan, the term, `good-neighbor policies' implies equality between nations. In conclusion, the term `engagement policies', which does not have a subjective concept, is more appropriate to use in this study. In addition, instead of simply classifying military suppression and tough policies as the control policies or classifying measures for allowing Japanese people's naturalization as Joseon people as the engagement policies, this study attempts to show that there can be an element of engagement policies within the tough policies or an aspect of control policies within the peaceful measures.

1. The Control Policies of the Joseon Dynasty

In the case of the control policies through military force, it conquered the island under the leadership of Admiral Lee Jongmu in the first year of King Sejong's reign in 1419 [Nakamura 1965]. In the first year of King Sejong, Joseon headed to Geojedo Island with its naval force equipped with 227 battle ships, 17,285 soldiers, and 65 day-supply of military rations, and landed on the Daemado Island. During the operation, the Joseon burned down 129 ships belonging to the pirates and 1,939 houses belonging to the plunderers, and killed 114 pirates (Annals of King Sejong, 1-6-191). The conquest of the Daemado Island by Admiral Lee Jongmu was considered a successful case of Joseon's control policies, as it decreased the frequency of pillage by the pirates and changed the pirates to peaceful traders.

2. The Engagement Policies of the Joseon Dynasty

The most enticing measures of the engagement policies that naturalized the Japanese people as the Joseon people were the tax incentives and no discriminatory policies were imposed to help them to attain the official positions in Joseon.

Table 1: The size and condition of naturalized Japanese people in the early Joseon period [Moon 2005, 62]

Note: The summary is based on records in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.

The above table shows a summary of the conditions of the naturalized Japanese during the period of the King Taejo and the King Sejong's reign of the Joseon Dynasty. According to the records of the naturalization of the Japanese pirates, the number of naturalized Japanese people steadily increased regardless of whether the control policies or the engagement policies were implemented. In terms of the characteristics of the naturalized Japanese, during the King Taejo's reign, pirates mainly became naturalized as the Joseon people, whereas during the King Sejong's reign, many Japanese civilians came to Joseon with their families and were naturalized as the Joseon people to have a better life in Joseon. In particular, the naturalization of the Japanese people could be analyzed in relation with the Joseon policies toward Japan. The Japanese naturalization began with the opening of the Busanpo and Naeyipo ports in the 7th year of King Taejong's reign (1407). After the three ports (Busanpo, Naeyipo, Yeompo) were opened in the 8th year of King Sejong's reign (1426), the number of naturalized Japanese people was drastically increased: this shows that there was a strong relationship between the Joseon's engagement policies toward Japan and the number of naturalized Japanese people. Furthermore, before the period of the King Taejong's reign, only the fact of the naturalized Japanese was recorded, but from the period of King Sejong, the naturalized Japanese people were offered houses, land, household goods, even clothes, and they were helped to marry as well, which implies that the Joseon's engagement policies toward Japan were actively implemented during that time.

Types of Crimes by Joseon people

This chapter will investigate Joseon people's crimes, which occurred related to the Japanese, from the illegal trading, the negligent defense, and the falsified report cases. Illegal trading mostly occurred after the establishment of the trading system between Jo- seon and Japan. Negligent defense resulted from the invasions of the coasts of Joseon by the Japanese pirates. And fabricated reports also occurred related to the Japanese as Jo- seon people wanted to hide their faults. Thus, this study assumes that these three categories will help to understand the relationship between Joseon and Japan in the early period of Joseon. The rationale is that illegal trading was caused by Joseon's engagement policies toward Japan, whereas negligent defense occurred by Joseon's control policies toward Japan, and falsified reports by Joseon people were caused by both Joseon's engagement policies and control policies.

Figure 1: Crimes committed on the Japanese by the Joseon people

The above Figure 1 shows crimes committed by the Joseon people against the Japanese in the early Joseon period. The cases of negligent defense were increased under King Taejong's reign during which Japanese invasions of Joseon were frequent, but decreased after the end of King Taejong's reign. On the other hand, illegal trading was usually conducted after the Japanese entered Joseon, so the related cases occurred from the beginning of King Taejong's reign. The cases of falsified reports by Joseon people also happened related to the Japanese, so the cases show a similar pattern to that of illegal trading. In this chapter, the above illegal cases will be reviewed related to the Joseon's policies toward Japan.

1. Cases of illegal trading

Joseon's trading with the Japanese during the early Joseon period can be classified into two forms: public and private trading. In the case of public trading, the Joseon government purchased the remaining goods after the main goods were offered to the King of Joseon, or excess goods that were brought into Joseon from Japan. Public trading was limited to the goods needed in Joseon, and the exchange rate was not specified, so profits for the Japanese were small. On the other hand, private trading was usually conducted at Waegwan in Seoul and local regions. Private trading was not allowed at first, but as goods brought by the Japanese into Joseon had become excessive, and when public trading could not handle all of them as a result, private trading was allowed at the designated locations under the supervision of Joseon officials [Kim 1969, 2-28]. Private trading was conducted individually with Joseon merchants, and the prices of goods were determined by market, so private traders could make more profits. As a result, the Japanese brought in more goods to Joseon in order to make more profits through private trading. policy government crime military

Despite the fact that private trading was more profitable than public trading, some Japanese people traded goods secretly to secure more profits. This form of trading is defined as illegal trading. Trading was conducted after the Japanese legitimately entered Joseon. In order to convert the Japanese pirates, who frequently plundered the coasts of Joseon, to lawful traders, the Joseon government opened several ports. In that sense, opening ports can be considered as a representative example of the Joseon's engagement policies that attempted to convert the Japanese pirates to traders. Two ports were opened in the 7th year of King Taejong's reign (1407), and one port was opened in the 8th year of King Sejong's reign (1426). The opening of the ports contributed to converting the Japanese pirates to traders, but it also increased social crimes in Joseon. An increase in battery and murder cases, as well as an increase in illegal trading, caused other social problems. The goal of the illegal trading was to gain more profits, so the conflicts of interests among the traders were readily connected to other social crimes. Illegal trading could disturb the order of trading and could potentially lead to the corruption of Joseon officials, so it had to be controlled.

The first case of illegal trading detected in Joseon was an illegal trading of silver and gold by Song Geosin at Waegwan in the 11th year of the King Taejong's reign (1411) (Annals of King Taejong, 11-12-13). The case occurred immediately after the opening of two ports in the 7th year of King Taejong's reign (1417). According to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, more illegal trading cases were revealed in the 14th year of the King Taejong's reign (1411) and the 17th year of King Taejong's reign (1417), so it seems that there is a strong relationship between the opening ports and illegal trading in Joseon. After the period, when three ports were additionally opened in the 8th year of the King Sejong's reign (1426), illegal trading cases were drastically increased. In the 11th year, 15th year, and 16th year of the King Sejong's reign, from 3 to 4 cases of illegal trading were prosecuted during that time. From the above cases, we can infer that the Joseon's engagement policies toward Japan seem to be closely related to the illegal trading of the Japanese. This can be proven by the fact that no illegal trading was detected during the King Taejo's reign, which was the founding years of the Joseon Dynasty, but after the relationship between Japan and Joseon was normalized during the King Taejong's reign, illegal trading occurred frequently.

Illegal trading by the Japanese was usually conducted with Joseon people who had access to Waegwan, as well as with the officials of the Joseon government who traveled often back and forth between Joseon and Japan as envoys or correspondents. It seems that, because such Joseon people had a frequent contact with the Japanese, it was probably easy for them to trade goods with the Japanese. Meanwhile, illegal trading was usually conducted in Waegwan where the Japanese resided. The case of Song Geosin, which occurred in the 11th year of King Taejong's reign, was also detected at Waegwan, and other prosecuted cases were also detected at Waegwans which were located in Dong-pyeonggwan and in the Poso Port. Major goods that were traded at that time were silver and gold (Annals of King Taejong, 14-5-9; 14-5-19). Before the incident, silver was priced higher in Japan than in Joseon, so Japanese people liked to buy silver from Joseon. However, after Joseon's silver extraction method was transmitted to Japan, the price of silver in Japan had gotten cheaper, and the situation was reversed: silver started to flow in Joseon from Japan.

Major goods of illegal trading were silver and gold during King Taejong's reign, but they were expanded to coins and white iron during King Sejong's reign (Annals of King Se- jong, 11-1-24). Copper coins were used as money in Joseon, so the illegal outflow of the coins from Joseon was prohibited by law (Annals of King Sejong, 11-7-30; 15-1-15; 151-18). However, it was not easy to root out the illegal outflow as some people made dishes with the melted coins for sale (Annals of King Sejong, 15-1-18). Accordingly, the Joseon government punished people who sold coins, as well as people who did not report such illegal sale, and even punished officials of the areas where such illegal trading occurred.

Despite such efforts, illegal trading was not easily eradicated, because Joseon's envoys to Japan or officials of the Joseon government traded with the Japanese secretly. Even though the Joseon government was considerate of the Japanese by allowing them to bring in more goods to Joseon as they had to sail through the rough sea, compared to traders from Beijing, illegal trading by the Japanese was not easily controlled due to their pursuit of profits.

2. Cases of negligent defense

Japanese pirates' frequent invasions of Joseon, which had begun from the mid-14th century, were a great burden to the Joseon government. To strengthen solidarity among the Joseon people and to stabilize Joseon, King Taejo Yi Seonggye needed to prohibit invasions by Japanese pirates. King Taejo, who was an expert in eradicating Japanese pirates during the late Goryeo Dynasty and the early Joseon Dynasty, implemented both the control and engagement policies toward Japan to achieve his objectives. The King dispatched envoys to the Japanese government and clans in Japan in order to solve the problem of Japanese pirates. He also gave land and houses to the surrendered Japanese pirates to help them settle in Joseon. Despite such efforts, invasions of Joseon by Japanese pirates were rarely reduced.

According to the analysis of Joseon officials who were punished for failing to defend the Japanese invasions of Joseon during the period from the King Taejo's reign to the 1st year of King Sejong's reign, 8 cases, 9 cases, and 3 cases of the punishment of officials were executed during King Taejo's reign, King Taejong's reign, and the first year of King Sejong's reign, respectively [Moon 2004, 130-133]. What is interesting is that three cases of punishment occurred each year during the 8 years of King Taejong's reign (1408), and three cases of punishment were recorded even during the first year of King Sejong's reign. In the 7th year of King Taejong's reign (1407), two ports were opened for the Japanese ships to enter Joseon as a part of Joseon's engagement policies toward Japan. However, a record showed that, in the following year, three incidents on the punishment of the Joseon officials occurred. This shows that the punishment of Joseon officials was not highly related to Joseon's engagement policies toward Japan.

While, from a record about the punishment of Joseon officials, who failed to defend the Japanese invasions on three occasions in the 5th month of the 1st year of King Sejong's reign (1409), and from the fact that the incidents provided justifications for the Joseon government to conquer Daemado on the 6th month 17th day of the same year, it seems that the cases of the punishment of Joseon officials had a significant influence on the implementation of the Joseon's control policies over Japan.

3. Cases of falsified reports

The Joseon government used both the control policies and engagement policies toward Japan in order to decrease the Japanese invasions of Joseon. The Kings of Joseon personally praised and awarded the people who cut off the head of Japanese pirates or captured the pirates by giving them silk (Annals of King Taejo, 3-2-26), clothes (Annals of King Sejong, 1-5-23), liquor (Annals of King Taejo, 3-2-26), and horses (Annals of King Sejong, 1-8-10). However, the Kings of Joseon also administered flogging and even decapitation to people who could not prevent the invasions. As such, Joseon's punishment and rewarding systems were clearly specified, so many Joseon officials wanted to receive award by capturing the Japanese. As a result, some officials beheaded the Japanese who even surrendered to them, or they killed people who were fishing and reported falsely as if they captured the pirates (Annals of King Sejong, 11-10-28). Some officers covered up their faults with lies as they were afraid of punishment. In one incidence, an officer mobilized soldiers and sailed to a nearby island for fishing, then their ship was wrecked and some soldiers were drowned while fishing, but the officer filed a false report as if the accident happened while fighting against the Japanese pirates (Annals of King Sejong, 3-7-27). Another record showed that an officer went hunting during a state funeral but falsified a report as having conducted a military operation to eradicate pirates (Annals of King Seongjong, 1-11-11). In some cases when the Joseon soldiers were killed or injured by the Japanese pirates, the Joseon officials filed a report late or did not report the incidences for the fear of being reprimanded (Annals of King Seongjong, 6-5-25).

The cases of such falsified reports were the adverse effects of Joseon's reward-based policies related to the Japanese pirates, and they were also the side effects of Joseon's punishment-centered policies. As prize money was increased and prize winners were honored depending on the number of the Japanese pirates captured, some officers fabricated the number of pirates that they actually captured. Many officers tried to hide the fact that they failed to eradicate pirates or they lost their soldiers or warships, because they were afraid of punishment. When the naval forces of the Joseon Dynasty defeated the Japanese pirates, they could gain wealth and honor, but when they failed, they received heavy punishment. It has been found that there had been the number of falsified reports during the King Sejong's reign drastically increased compared to the reigns of King Taejo and King Taejong.

Conclusions

This study was conducted to investigate the changing of the relationship between Korea and Japan which depends on the hierarchy in the history. At present, the economic size and the currency exchange rate of Japan is bigger and higher than those of Korea, but until the Joseon period, the cultural level and economic size of the Joseon Dynasty used to be more advanced and bigger than those of Japan. To verify the status of the Joseon Dynasty, this study focused on the Joseon government's policies toward Japan and the crimes committed by the people of the two nations, which occurred in the process of the implementation of these policies. The accomplishments of this study can be summarized as follows:

First, this study resolved the problems of previously-used terms. The terms of `diplomatic policies' and `conciliatory policies,' which have been used in the existing academia, tend to have narrow meanings, however this study used the terms of `control policies' and `engagement policies' to convey more comprehensive meanings.

Second, this study investigated the two policies from a multidimensional perspective. The control policies include the military suppression, the issuance of visas, and the port entry certificates, whereas the engagement policies include the concepts of the naturalization of Japanese civilians and the surrender of the Japanese pirates.

Third, this study investigated how the policies of the Joseon government and the needs of the Japanese made compromises. The objective of the Joseon government was to convert the Japanese pirates to peaceful traders, whereas the Japanese were in pursuit of the economic profits and the resolution of their hunger. This study showed how these conflicting interests were harmonized in the process of implementing and executing Joseon's policies.

Fourth, the Joseon people were investigated separately under Joseon's control and engagement policies, and their interrelationships were also investigated. In the case of crimes committed by the Joseon people, the negligent defense cases were found to be closely related to Joseon's control policies, whereas the illegal trading was found to be a side effect of Joseon's engagement policies.

Fifth, the implementation period of the Joseon policies and the frequency of crimes committed were presented in graphs to show the relationship between the occurrence of the crimes and Joseon's engagement policies. After the opening of Busanpo and Naeyipo ports in the 7th year of the King Taejong's reign (1407), and the opening of three ports in the 8th year of King Sejong's reign (1426), the increase in illegal entry, battery, murder, and long-term illegal overstay by the Japanese were shown in graphs. The frequency of Joseon's dispatch of envoys to Japan, and the Japanese invasions of Joseon, were found to be closely related to Joseon's military operations over the Japanese.

According to the findings of this study, the relationship between the Joseon and Japan during the early Joseon period was quite different from today's relationship between Korea and Japan. Joseon's policies toward Japan were closely related to the frequency of crimes committed by the Japanese, which means that the economic power greatly affects the relationship between the two countries. The findings of this study will help to look back on the relationship between Korean and Japan.

1 Annals of King Sejong. 1st year - 6th month - 19th day of reign; 1-6-19: hereinafter when referring to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, the date will be noted in the order of year, month, day of a king's reign.

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