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

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 nat