History of Korea: Encyclopedia II - History of Korea - Joseon

History of Korea - Joseon

Main article: Joseon Dynasty

In 1392 a Korean general, Yi Seonggye, was sent to China to campaign against the Ming Dynasty, but instead he allied himself with the Chinese, and returned to overthrow the Goryeo king and establish a new dynasty. The Joseon Dynasty moved the capital to Hanseong (formerly Hanyang; modern-day Seoul) in 1394 and adopted Confucianism as the country's official religion, resulting in much loss of power and wealth by the Buddhists. During this period, the Hangul alphabet was invented by King Sejong in 1443.

Joseon (as Korea was called during the Joseon Dynasty) dealt with invasions by Japan from 1592 to 1598 (see Seven-Year War). Korea's most famous military figure, Admiral Yi Sun-sin was instrumental in defeating the Japanese. After the invasions from Manchuria in 1627 and 1636, the dynasty submitted herself to the Qing Empire. On the other hand, Korea permitted the Japanese to trade at Busan and sent missions to the capital of Edo in Japan from time to time. Europeans were never permitted to trade at Korean ports until the 1880s.

Domestic politics was plagued by internal power struggles among Confucian bureaucrats. In spite of some efforts to introduce Western technology through the Jesuit missions at Beijing, the Korean economy remained backward due to weak currency circulation. Peasants, suffering from famine and exploitation, often fled the country into Manchuria.

History of Korea - 19th century

During the 19th century, Korea tried to control the opening of the country to unlimited foreign trade and influence by closing the borders to all nations but China. In 1853 the USS South America, an American gunboat, visited Busan for 10 days and had amiable contact with local Korean officials there. Several Americans who were shipwrecked on Korea in 1855 and 1865 were also treated well and sent to China for repatriation. The Joseon court which ruled Korea, was well aware of the foreign invasions and treaties thereby within Qing China as well as the Opium Wars there, and reasonably followed a cautious policy of slow exchange with the west. In 1866 the General Sherman Incident put Korea and the United States on a collision course.

In 1871, the United States met Korea militarily, in what the Koreans call the Sinmiyangyo and in America is called the 1871 US Korea Campaign. A rapidly modernizing Japan forced Korea to open its ports and successfully challenged the Qing Empire, which claimed sovereignty over Korea, in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). The Japanese murdered Queen Myeongseong, who resisted their exploitation by seeking Russian help, but they were forced to retreat from Korea for a while. In 1897, Joseon was renamed Daehan Jeguk (Korean Empire), and King Gojong became Emperor Gojong. A period of Russian influence followed, until Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).

Korea could not effectively resist Japanese aggression except limited guerrilla attacks in the mountains. It became a so-called protectorate of Japan on 25 July 1907, the 1905 Protectorate Treaty having been promulgated without Emperor Gojong's required seal.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Joseon", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki