"In the 17th century, 'Yeonhaeju(East Manchuria)' was the land of Joseon."

 "Yeonhaeju(East Manchuria) in the 17th century was a land of Joseon." Discovering records of Russian diplomats and cartographers at the time, "Starting from the Amur River, not the Tumen River at the border of Joseon."

Data that Yeonhaeju was recognized as Joseon land in 17th century Russia was introduced for the first time. Before Russia advanced to the Far East, Koreans had already advanced to Yeonhaeju. It is noteworthy that it is a data that will specifically clarify the territorial rights of Yeonhaeju along with the territorial rights of Gando. This is the first time that Russia's data on the territory of Gando and Yeonhaeju have been released. According to 17th century Russian data released by Park Myung-yong, a researcher at the Historical Research Institute under the Russian Academy of Sciences, the territory of Joseon begins at the Amur River (the Heukryong River in Chinese) and ends at the end of the Korean Peninsula along the coast. The "Newsmaker" Gando Special Planning and Reporting Team obtained Park's thesis in advance, which is scheduled to be released through the Bukbang Nonchong (published by the Goguryeo Research Foundation) at the end of April. Park will publish her paper titled 'Korea and Russia's Territorial Issues Over Yeonhaeju: From 1650 to 1900.' Notable material in this paper is a book written by Spapari, a Russian diplomat from Greece, while visiting China in the 1670s. The book, titled "Siberia and China," was published in Russia in 1960, and it also describes a country called Joseon.

"Joseon is a country between Leoatung and the Amur River.The country lies on a large "nose" of the sea, not far downstream of the Amur River, which is why the lower Amur River has the difficulty of going back far along the sea." The Amur River is a river in the northern part of Yonhaeju, Russia. The Songhwagang River, which originates from the Cheonji of Baekdusan Mountain, flows north and meets the Amur River and flows toward the East Sea. At that time, Russia labeled the peninsula "ko." Records show that Russia recognized the Yeonhaeju area surrounded by the East Sea and the entire Korean Peninsula as Joseon's land. "The sea route is not yet known because none of the Russians have gone right from the mouth of the Amur River," Spapari said, indicating that he has no direct information on the area. Spapari's records are based on stories heard in China, and it can be inferred that they rely on Joseon's circumstances delivered by Jesuit missionaries. The maps and records of Lemezov, a Siberian cartographer who obtained papers from the Russian Historical Research Institute of Russian History, are also interesting. Researcher Park cited the part related to Remezov in Boris Park's book "Russia and Korea," a Korean. Here, Remezov painted that Joseon's territory begins with the Amur River. Remezov described Joseon as a long stretch south of the Amur River and east of Manchuria. Lemezov's record was translated from Austria and published as a book. The consensus in Spapari and Remezov's records is that Joseon's territory begins on the Amur River. The Joseon border they drew was the Amur River, not the Tumen River. Researcher Park claimed, "The fact that the territory of Joseon began directly south of the Amur River may have been commonly discussed among foreigners (including Russians) who were in the Far East at the time." Although the two have some differences in their records, Park connected why they thought that Joseon territory began south of the Amur River with the situation in Manchuria in the 17th century. Nurhachi, based in the north of Shenyang, advanced eastward from the 1590s and swept and conquered Manchuria. After entering Shenyang in 1621 and occupying Beijing in 1644, the Manchus moved to China. The entry of Koreans into Nerchinsk, according to the records of Soviet historian Melihov, meant a coalition of various tribes that lived around Shenyang. It describes that various ethnic minorities of Tungus and Mongolians lived here and there in other Manchuria, Yeonhaeju, and Amur River areas except around Shenyang. Researcher Park claimed, "The area from the Yalu River to the Amur River remained ownerless, and for this reason, Russian researchers saw Yeonhaeju as Joseon land, not Chinese land, at the end of the 17th century." The Russians at the time saw that the power of Joseon, a larger country compared to minorities, was crazy for Yeonhaeju because China's power was not properly reached in Manchuria. Russian records also showed that Koreans actually advanced to Nerchinsk, northeast of Yeonhaeju. In the late 19th century, journalist Skalkopski's records show that "Korean merchants brought silk, paper, bamboo feet, fans, cigarettes, gold, silk materials, and Chinese silk to Nerchinsk and Noun (now unknown) along the Argun River and exchanged them with Russian fur." In his paper, Park also introduces the records of Krismnitz, who was dispatched to China in the early 18th century. "People on the peninsula at the mouth of the Amur River travel to Noun, which goes into the Amur River," Krisnitz said. "They come by boat to the city of Noun and then take things from there to Beijing for about 40 days." It is also known to Korean academia for the first time that Joseon merchants advanced to Nerchinsk, located near the Amur River (Black Dragon River), traded with Russians, and engaged in relay trade between Russia and China. Researcher Park argues that through their existence, Russia would have thought that Joseon territory began south of the Amur River at the end of the 17th century. "It is very meaningful in that Russian data were first introduced," said Park Sun-young, a professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology (China's modern history) who has studied the issue of kando territorial rights. "In particular, it is a groundbreaking fact that Koreans advanced to Nerchinsk." Professor Park said, "It is also a great harvest that some Russian data show that Manchuria was an uninhabited area that was beyond the reach of the Qing Dynasty in the 17th century." However, researcher Park explained, "The Joseon land under the Amur River, which was revealed by Russian data in the 17th century, refers to the Yeonhaeju area, and I don't think it is the Gando area." Even so, Park argued, "I think some of the Russians' records on Manchuria will be key to understanding the roots of the gando problem that is being raised here." From the mid-17s, Russia descended east and south in search of uncharted territory. At this time, the Cheong and Amur rivers collide. Later, Russia and the Qing eventually reconciled with the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689. At this time, Russia made concessions by using the border between the Gorbizawa and Argun rivers above the Amur rivers. However, the Yeonhaeju area, not inland, was still undecided. It was in the mid-19th century that Russia, which was frustrated by the Treaty of Nerchinsk, also able to claim sovereignty after reunification, entered here again. Russia anchored in Vladivostok in 1859. And declared this area Russian territory. From then on, Russian farmers began to move to Yeonhaeju. Russia and the Qing signed the Treaty of Beijing on November 2, 1860. In the 17th century, the Yeonhaeju area, which was the land of Joseon, was recognized as Russian territory by the treaty. In other words, Koreans who had already lived here suddenly lived in other people's land. After the Beijing Treaty, Korea and Russia directly border each other across the Tumen River. According to Park's expression, "Russia took Yeonhaeju in the Amur River without a drop of blood." When Beijing was in jeopardy due to the second Opium War in 1860, Russia signed the Beijing Treaty with diplomatic skill. Nokdundo Island, which was recorded as a Joseon land as an island at the mouth of the Tumen River, also entered Russian territory. On the other hand, Koreans already advanced to the Yeonhaeju area in the 17th century, but Joseon, which had weak national power, was ignorant of the international situation. He also did not know the fact that Russia and Cheong Wa Dae signed the Beijing treaty. It was in 1861, the year after the Beijing Treaty was signed, that he learned that he had encountered Russia on the Tumen River. It was only when the Russian military set up a border monument that Joseon knew that it had borders with Russia here. Gyeongheung Governor Lee Seok-young informed the government of this fact, but the Joseon government did not come up with any countermeasures. Afterwards, Koreans moved to Yeonhaeju in large numbers as well as Gando Island when there was a famine. According to data surveyed by Park, Russian records show that Koreans migrated after 1860. It has already not intentionally revealed the fact that Koreans entered the country before. More than 180,000 Koreans were forced to move from the region to Central Asia by Stalin in 1937. The area of Yeonhaeju is 165,900 square kilometers, which is comparable to the area of the two Koreas (221,000 square kilometers). In a parliamentary interpellation session on April 14, GNP lawmaker Kwon Oh-eul told Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, "We must claim the right to connect Goguryeo, Balhae, and Northeast Asia, and incorporate it into Korean history to claim sovereignty over Gando and Yeonhaeju." In other words, Yeonhaeju also pointed to a place where they can claim sovereignty after unification, like Gando. The Gando Reclaim Movement headquarters, which was formed last year, also plans to claim Yeonhaeju's sovereignty following Gando. Representative Yuk Nak-hyun said, "We initially deleted it because we feared there would be diplomatic friction with Russia, but we will also include Yeonhaeju on the Korean map of the movement headquarters." Representative Yuk claimed, "Yeonhaeju is a place where Koreans reclaimed and lived before Russia entered the country." <Yunho and Yuqija hou@kyunghyang.com>