Ganghwa Island incident

This article is about the Japanese military expedition of 1875. For the American expedition of 1871, seeBattle of Ganghwa.

Battle of Ganghwa
Japanese marines landing from theUn'yōatYeongjong Islandwhich is near Ganghwa.
Date September 20, 1875 Location Ganghwa Island,Korea (now Ganghwa Island,South Korea) 37.7305°N 126.4984°E/37.7305; 126.4984 Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Japan	Korea
Commanders and leaders
Inoue Yoshika	Commander Lee Min-deok
Strength
Land: 22sailorsandmarines Sea: 1 gunboat	Land: 500 infantry Artillery pieces
Casualties and losses
1 killed 1 wounded	35 killed 16 captured 36 artillery piece and small cannon captured 1 fort destroyed

TheGanghwa Island incidentor the JapaneseBattle of Ganghwa(Korean:운요호 사건 [ vân dương hào sự kiện ]Unyo-ho sageonmeaning "Un'yōincident ";Japanese:Giang hoa đảoSự kiệnKōka-tō jiken) was an armed clash between theJoseon dynasty of Koreaand Japan which occurred in the vicinity ofGanghwa Islandon September 20, 1875.

Background

In the second half of the 19th century, the Korean Peninsula was the scene of a power struggle between several imperial powers, including theRussiansand theFrench,as well as the Chinese and the Japanese.

TheMeiji Restorationof 1868 ended the 265-year-old feudalisticTokugawa shogunateinJapan.The new government ofJapansent a messenger holding a letter with the sovereign's message which informed of the founding of a new administration ofJapanto the government of KoreaJoseondynasty on December 19, 1868.

However, the Koreans refused to receive the letter because it contained theChinese charactersHoàng( "royal, imperial" ) andSắc( "imperial decree" ).According to the political system of the day, only theChinese emperorwas allowed to use those characters, as they signified the imperial authority ofChina.Hence, their use by a Japanese sovereign was considered unacceptable to the Koreans by implying that he was an equal of the emperor ofChina.

The Chinese suggested to the Koreans to receive the sovereign letter fromJapanbecauseChinaknew the power ofJapanat that moment.Despite government-level negotiations held in 1875 atPusan,no substantial progress was made. Instead, tension grew as the Koreans continued to refuse to recognize Japan's claims of equality with China.

Engagement at Ganghwa Island

The landing of the forces of theUn'yōatGanghwa Island.Japanese woodblock print.

Ganghwa Islandhad been a site of violent confrontations between Korean forces and foreign forces over the previous decade. In 1866, the island was briefly occupied during theFrench expedition against Korea,and in 1871 the site of anAmerican expedition.

On the morning of September 20, 1875, theUn'yōunder the command ofInoue Yoshikawas dispatched to survey Korean coastal waters. While surveying the Western coast of Korea, the Japanese put ashore a party on Ganghwa Island to request water and provisions.When the shore batteries of the Korean forts fired on theUn'yō,the Japanese response was swift and severe.After bombarding the Korean fortifications, the Japanese landed a shore party that torched several houses on the island and engaged Korean troops. Armed with modern rifles, they made quick work of the Koreans who carried matchlock muskets; consequently, thirty-five Korean soldiers were killed.News of the incident did not reach Tokyo until September 28, but the following day theDajōkandecided to dispatch gun boats to Pusan to protect Japanese residents there. It also began deliberating whether or not to send a mission to Korea to settle the incident.

Aftermath

The number of casualties of the incident was recorded at 35 in the Joseon Dynasty with two Japanese soldiers wounded. In addition, 16 Korean naval personnel were captured by Japan. Many weapons were also looted. After the incident, theImperial Japanese Navyblockaded the immediate area and requested an official apology from the Joseon government, which was concluded with the dispatch of theKurodamission and the signing of theTreaty of Ganghwaon February 27, 1876, which opened the Korean Peninsula to Japanese and foreign trade.

See also

• Meiji period

Sources

• Duus, Peter (1998).The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea.University of California Press.ISBN0-52092-090-2.
• Keene, Donald(2002).Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912.New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN0-231-12341-8.
• Jansen, Marius B.(2002).The Making of Modern Japan.Harvard University Press.ISBN0-6740-0334-9.