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The Yeonpyeong Island was shelled on November 23, 2010. The Northern Limit Line (NLL), the western maritime border between the two Koreas, has been respected over the past 50 years, and some questioned why North Korea disputed the NLL and attacked the Yeonpyeong Island at this point in time. Others pointed out that South Korea's inadequate counterattack was ridiculous. Throwing blows and returning them aggravates the situation, even leading to battles and wars. The sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean naval ship, was a grave incident, and North Korea went on to attack South Korean territory.

What I want to focus on here is neighboring countries' response to the bombardment, rather than North Korea's provocation itself. When South Korea resumed its firing exercises nearly a month after the bombardment of the Yeonpyeong Island, I was astonished to see neighboring countries' responses. China insisted on sending State Councilor Dai Bingguo (戴秉國) as "special envoy" to South Korea for a meeting with South Korean president. The press stated that China wanted to put pressures on South Korea with the visit. After meeting with a North Korean official in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov swung his hands in the air, yelling that South Korea should stop its artillery exercises. They did not say anything to North Korea, who initiated the attack, and tried to stop South Korea, who suffered heavy bombardment, from responding in any way. It can be said that they sided with the attacker. Japan felt a sense of crisis, and some press even made a false report that a war broke out in the Korean Peninsula. South Korea remained calm. The US supported South Korean government's position and urged China to rein in North Korea.

Reflecting on the Battle of Seonghwan (成歡戰鬪) in 1894

In fact, this situation is not new to us. Korea experienced a similar situation more than a hundred years ago during the First Sino-Japanese War. I decided to leave on a field trip to explore a historic site, where Qing China and Japan fought against each other in the Battle of Seonghwan. The Anseong stream flows across the field of Sosa (Sosabeol), in a South Korean city of Cheonan. The battle broke out on July 29, 1894 when Japanese troops began attacking the Chinese forces shortly after arriving there from Seoul.

The Chinese army had been stationed in Seonghwan and Cheonan, coming to Korea to intervene with the Donghak Peasant Revolution. General She Shicheng (攝士成) had his 2,000 men in Seonghwan, and Commander Ye Zhichao (葉志超) had 1,000 troops in Cheonan. As the Chinese battle/transport ships were fired upon by the Japanese forces on June 23, the Chinese troops could not retreat through the Bay of Asan. This is the Battle of Pungdo (豊島海戰), which was the first naval battle of the First Sino-Japanese War.

At midnight, the Japanese troops crossed the Anseong stream and attacked the Chinese army. In only a few hours, they crushed the Chinese troops and won the battle. The Battle of Seonghwan took place in the same area where Ming China beat Japan during the Second War of Jeongyu (丁酉再亂), and three hundred years later, Japan got even with China.

Now let's look at the Battle of Pyongyang (平壤戰鬪). As the number of troops was almost equal, it was a favorable situation for the defending side. The battle began on September 15, 1894 and Commander Ye Zhichao had no intention to fight from the beginning. Courageous generals fought a brave battle, but unfortunately lost it. Two days later, the Chinese army was crushed again in the naval battle that took place in the West Sea. The victorious Japanese troops occupied Dalian(大連) and Lüshun(旅順), perpetrated massacres, and attacked the Liaodong Peninsula. The army of Qing China continued to suffer a series of defeats during winter that year, and the troops in Weihaiwei (威海衛) were completely defeated on February 2, 1895 and Admiral Ding Ruchang (丁汝昌) surrendered and committed suicide. The Chinese troops lost battles in the northern part of the Liaodong Peninsula, and the First Sino-Japanese War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki on April 17, 1895. Japan gained a huge amount of money as a war indemnity from China, seized Taiwan and built the Japanese Government General in Taiwan.

The Battles of Sheonghwan and Pyongyang served as wake-up calls for the people of Joseon(Korea). Neither the Japanese and Chinese troops nor people of Joseon – government officials, Confucian scholars and the public – thought that the army of Qing China would be defeated so easily. Yet the government and most Confucian scholars did not change their attitude toward China, believing that China was just unlucky this time. But the public began looking down on China, and abandoned their long-held belief that China is the center of the world.

The very existence of Qing China was at stake, and Russia exerted a greater influence in the region. At that time, Japan started the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 and occupied Joseon. Japan suffered significant losses because it could not gain money as a war indemnity, while the UK and US earned a lot of money by lending funds to Japan. Following its occupation of Joseon, Japan attacked Manchuria and started the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War. Japan could not control its ambitions to occupy other countries and expand its reach. It seemed that the war that broke out in the summer of 1894 ended in 1945 with the surrender of Japan, but it continued to exert influence in the 1950s, leading to the Korean War.

Do we have the right to blame our ancestors?

One thing that is different from a hundred years ago is that the Korean peninsula is divided. The frictions between the two Koreas have led to disputes in the West Sea, the sinking of the Cheonan, and the bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island. Major countries' response to these incidents is almost the same every time. When North Korea threatens South Korea, they start demonstrating their influence and power in the region. Russia never fails to seize the opportunity and wield its power, while China takes sides with North Korea, as if claiming its suzerainty. The US acts like the whole Pacific Ocean falls into their territorial waters, and Japan pays close attention to its line of interest (利益線).

The domestic situation in South Korea is also very similar to that of Joseon a hundred years ago. The nation is divided into a number of groups when disputes with North Korea surface. Some says that we need to take strong and decisive actions so that North Korea will not dare to challenge us. Others view that we should refrain from escalating the crisis by resuming military exercises, when the opponent is sometimes out of its mind. We need to think about whether such difference in opinion comes from patriotism or from ambitions to seize political power: it is quite likely that the latter is the case. Taking these into account, I cannot help but wonder, "Do we really have the right to blame our ancestors for not being able to defend the nation?"