500 years of Joseon, which was open to the outside?

 [Hangyoreh] It is often cited as one of the ills that bruised the Joseon Dynasty in the 500th year of Joseon Dynasty, which was open outward. It is said that the country failed to achieve modernization due to the "closed country" and eventually caused the country to collapse. If so, is this logic based on a legitimate perception of history? For example, was Joseon a locked and closed country? It is something to look back on at this point in time before the emergency of the two sides. In fact, considering the Joseon Dynasty's closed-door logic in terms of due diligence, it is based mainly on the closed-door policy advocated by Daewongun in the late 19th century, and externally on the so-called "land of seclusion" view imprinted in the minds of Westerners at that time. It was unconsciously solidified by the colonial history of Japan and our own view of self-inflicted history. This logic is a prejudice that cannot see the forest only by looking at trees, and it is also a private opinion derived from ignorance. If you look at the entire Joseon Dynasty, which enjoyed a long life of 519 years, which is rare for a "land of seclusion" ignorant colonial history, it is believed that there were some twists and turns of the Joseon Dynasty, but it was on the normal path of modernization in various fields. Then, in the late stages, facing the challenges of emerging Western powers and Japan, a late modernization country, this path was blocked, and Daewongun chose a closed-door policy as a countermeasure. Since the 18th century, Western ships, so-called "iyangseon," have been forced to open ports and trade by neglecting the coast of the Korean Peninsula, and in the first half of the 19th century, foreign pressure has increased, such as Britain and France occupying Beijing. On the other hand, Western Catholicism, which permeated in time with this tie in the West, was regarded as a kind of evil against traditional Confucian ideology or religious beliefs. Thus, Daewongun devised a plan to persecute Catholics in response to the infiltration of Western forces, and as a result, Yangyo (1866), a soldier in which the French fleet invaded Ganghwa, took place under the pretext of this. When the U.S. merchant ship General Sherman was blocked while sneaking back to the Daedong River, the U.S. dispatched a warship belonging to the Asian Fleet to Ganghwado Island and collided with the Korean government forces in 1871. On top of that, Daewongun was forced to distrust and be wary of the West as Oppert, an ignorant German merchant, stole the tomb of Daewongun's father, Namyeon-gun. Daewongun, who defeated Yangyo twice, gained confidence in the West and further strengthened his isolation policy. Around this time, Japan accepted Western culture, carried out a spiritual retreat, and then boldly asked Joseon for trade diplomatic relations. Daewongun advocates "Chukwae" under the same pretext as "Cheokyang," which rejects the West. In the meantime, he further refined his will to close the country by proclaiming the "Cheokhwaseo" against reconciliation with Yang Yi (Western Orangae) and setting up a fire monument in Jongno, Seoul, and throughout the country, saying, "Not fighting against Yang Yi's invasion is reconciliation, and insisting on reconciliation is selling the country." In addition to this external isolation policy, Daewongun's series of domestic reform policies to strengthen the royal power and settle the turbid political situation have worked, but he is dismissed due to opposition from political parties and internal and external enlightenment forces. His seclusion policy, which began as regent, ends with a short life of 10 years (1863-1873). Since then, Yang and Wei have frequently invaded the country, and as a series of enlightenment movements such as the Gabsin Coup, the Gabo Police Station, and the Gwangmu Reform (Korea Empire) have developed, the isolation policy no longer supports and ends. In this way, "closed country" was only a momentary fluctuation, and it was never too much for Joseon's exhibition stand. Moreover, considering the simple external activities and exchanges that took place throughout the entire Joseon Dynasty, including this "Yodonggi," it becomes clear that "closed country" was only a temporary struggle. From the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, he inherited the traditional policy of "Sadai-rin" with his neighboring Ming Dynasty and had frequent inner kings. Initially, envoys were dispatched seven times a year, but the number gradually decreased, but a total of 186 times in 242 years until the Manchu Invasion of Korea (1636), and Ming Dynasty sent envoys normally. In addition to political and diplomatic relations, economic and cultural exchanges such as public service, office work, and smuggling were also active through envoys. Aftershocks opened a trading site in the northern border area and built a Bukpyeonggwan in Seoul to greet envoys. He even accepted aftershocks and used them as a protest to protect the royal palace. Daewongun's "closed-door policy" was quite open to Japan for as long as a decade. In the year of King Sejong, about 200 ships came from Japan every year and there were about 5,500 princes. Then, he accepted the plea of Tsushima Islanders and opened three ports of Busan, Jepo, and Yeompo until the end of the war, allowing the Japanese to live there. Inspired by this, King Jungsan of Ryukyu even sends a national book and calls himself a servant. Immediately after the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, at the request of the Japanese side, telecommunications companies were dispatched (13 times between 1604 and 1811) and the Eulyu Treaty (1609) was signed to allow the Japanese to trade in the king. Other than that, he also began to visit and interact with Southeast Asia, where various medicines, spices, and dyes were imported. What is noteworthy is that during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, today's Thai and Indian people belonging to the Ming army fought the Japanese army shoulder to shoulder with the Joseon army in the Seongju region. In addition to these active external negotiations, Joseon has been conducting wide-ranging exchanges with foreign countries throughout the entire period, including the "closed-door flag" since its founding. With the selection of King Sejong and other provincial governments, the efforts of envoys traveling to and from China, and the insight of various visionaries, we will actively embrace the advanced Western and Western cultures and lay the foundation for modernization (we will discuss this several times in the future). Even considering this, it can be seen that Joseon was never a closed country. However, the opening was not smooth, sometimes wide and sometimes narrow, while there was a ten-year closure. However, because civilization has the fundamental property of imitation, there cannot be artificial blocking such as 'closed country' in the exchange. It is absurd to say that the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which lasted 241 years (1612-1853) in the 264 (1603-1867) on the eve of modernization, is a train for the "closed country" of Joseon. The core of the Tokugawa Shogunate's isolation policy is the prohibition of Christianity and the Shogunate's monopoly on trade. Tokugawa initially acquiesced in Christianity to promote trade, but when the number of believers reached 700,000, he felt threatened, and in 1612, he imposed a ban on schools in cities under his control, including Edo, Kyoto and Nagasaki, and destroyed churches. It then enacted laws to expel or slaughter missionaries and believers abroad. At the same time, measures are taken to control and restrict trade activities of domestic and foreign people, such as creating exclusive associations, issuing travel permits, and reducing trade ports, and even expelling Portuguese and breaking ties with Spain. The shogunate did not hesitate to disparage the doil of Joseon news agencies, which were included in the list of seclusion, as if it were Joseon's "gift" event for Japan. The Tokugawa Shogunate's blockade lasted for two and a half centuries until the U.S. ferry led four warships into the country and signed the Japan-U.S. Friendship Treaty the following year. The Tokugawa Shogunate has been closed for 241 years, and Japan is often one step behind Joseon in accepting advanced cultural properties. In 1402, Joseon completed the Honilgang-ri Historic National Map, one of the best world maps, and only 390 years later (1792), Japan created the first world map called Gonyeojeon, which was drawn by missionary Matteorichi in China, and Joseon already referred to the reverse laws of Yuan, Ming, and Hoe (Islam) In the case of the World Geographic Book, Lee Soo-kwang's "봉유설(" (1614) is more than 80 years ahead of Japan's "Huaitongo High School" (1695) by Nishiga and Jogen. If it is a kind of self-inflicted historical perception that we ourselves misunderstand Joseon as a "closed country" in the 15th century, it would be an act of ignorance or false misconduct that the West calls us a "country of hermit." Nothing will be free from the criticism that Joseon was mistaken for a "closed country" in people's minds. It is Griffith, an American oriental scholar and pastor, who named Joseon as a country of hermitage. He was fascinated by Japanese culture and began his research, but realized that he could not understand Japanese culture without knowing Korean history and culture, and came to Joseon in 1871. After seeing many strange things, he went back and wrote a book called "Joseon, the Land of the Hermit" (1882). This book consists of a total of three parts and 53 chapters, with the first part dealing with ancient and medieval history, the second part dealing with the general cultural history, and the third part dealing with modern and contemporary history. Seeing the fall of the Korean Empire as inevitable, he nailed Joseon as a quiet and closed "land of hermit" that the world did not know or know. His view of Joseon is as ridiculous as an illustration depicting a table full of exotic Western tableware in the book as Joseon's "Party Table." Japanese colonial history ridiculed the party dispute as a chronic "ethnicity" of Koreans, and argued that it caused the country to collapse as a great disease of the Joseon Dynasty and eventually forced the annexation of Korea and Japan. Today, when the harm is being overcome, is it impossible to ask for reconsideration of the so-called "closed country" that points to another disease in the same context, and to protest that Joseon was not a "closed country" but an "open country"? Professor Jeong Soo-il, Professor Jeong Soo-il, is a person who evaluated Korea-Islamic exchange history in his own way because of his excellence, but honestly, this column is a little... Since I have continued to communicate with China, I can't believe it's not I have to say that I did well and point out the problem...