뉴스레터

Waegwan(倭館), built to accommodate Japanese who come to Korea, has a long history. It was 1407(Taejong 7), not long after the founding of Joseon. Joseon limited the port of entry of the Japanese trade ship to Busanpo(busan city) and Jepo(busan city), and built Waegwan to allow Japanese who entered there to stay and trade. In 1418, Yeompo(ulsan city) was opened. So the so-called 'era of Sampo Waegwan' started.

Japanese envoys and merchants who entered Sampo went up to Hanseong(漢城), the capital city, and devoted goods to the king of Joseon and traded. Therefore, there was a facility called 'Dongpyeonggwan' which accommodates Japanese who came to Hanseong. The three ports mentioned earlier were only designated ports for the Japanese ship. However, over the years, the number of Japanese residents living around Waegwan increased. So Japanese villages were formed. In 1510, Japanese armed riots in Sampo, and they clashed with Koreans. So Sampo and Waegwan repeated closures and opening ports. In 1592, when the Japanese invasion broke out, Busanpo Waegwan was absorbed into the castle built by the Japanese army and disappeared.

When the Japanese invasion of Korea ended, Tsushima sent an envoy to Korea to restore the relations between the two countries that were cut off by the war. In 1601, Joseon built a temporary Waegwan on the Jeolyeongdo(Youngdo at Busan) Island and entertained them. It was the Dumopo Waegwan(豆毛浦倭館) built in 1607 as a formal Waegwan to conduct diplomacy and trade while resuming diplomatic relations. Then Joseon accepted request of Tsushima for a wider facility: in 1678, it completed a new Choryang Waegwan. Substantial diplomatic and trade work was done through Choryang Waegwan.

In the late Joseon Dynasty, Tsushima made friendly relations with Joseon. Tsushima was dedicated to diplomacy and trade with Joseon after the fall of Toyotomi Hideyoshi regime. This was approved by the Edo Shogunate, which ruled Japan. Every year, dozens of Tsushima ships entered the Waegwan. Diplomatic negotiations with Joseon and Tsushima, rituals, principles of trade, and changes in time have already been introduced through various books. Tashiro Kazui introduced Waegwan in 『倭館ー鎖國時代の日本人町』(文藝春秋, 2002). This book was also published as a translation.

However, it is not official ‘friendship relations’ that I want to describe in 『The World of Waegwan』. It is the 'illegal behavior' and 'conflict situation' that occurred frequently around Waegwan. Illegal behavior is not a one-time episode or an accident, but an act defined by the Joseon government as 'illegal'. Imagine a space called the Waegwan. There were 400 to 500 men from Tsushima on average, and up to 1,000. There were also various identities such as senior warriors, subordinate warriors, merchants, farmers, monks, doctors, interpreters. Those who came to Joseon as diplomatic envoys returned to Tsushima after several months of work. However, those who were appointed to a specific position or those who came to study to learn Korean stayed for several years. Hundreds of strangers with different cultures, languages, and behavioral norms lived together, resulting in various events, accidents and disputes.

It was also a serious problem to deal with illegal activities committed by Koreans and Japanese. Typical illegal activities include illegal activities such as smuggling trade, injury, murder, theft, unauthorized departure from Waegwan, and sexual intercourse between Korean women and Japanese men. Among them, the Joseon government tried to control the following activities most strictly: smuggling trade, unauthorized departure from Waegwan, and sexual intercourse between Korean women and Japanese men. It is the three most hateful acts of Joseon.

The basic attitude of the Joseon government was to manage and supervise friendship relations based on various regulations. This is the same with Japan and China, which built foreign accommodation facilities in their own countries. It was a universal phenomenon in East Asia during the traditional era. However, it was Joseon who wanted to control smuggling trade, unauthorized description from Waegwan, and sexual intercourse between Korean women and Japan men, and Tsushima's position was different.

In addition, Tsushima was not even aware that unauthorized description from Waegwan, and sexual intercourse between Korean women and Japane men were illegal. So, it was often in conflict with the Joseon government on the issue of punishment for the parties. Joseon decided that it was not enough to ask for control and punishment, so it signed a contract with Tsushima to give it force. Joseon decided that it was not enough to ask for control and punishment, so it signed a contract with Tsushima to give it force. What is the agreement concluded between Joseon and Tsushima, and how did the agreement actually apply? Why did Joseon prohibit unauthorized description from Waegwan, and sexual intercourse between Korean women and Japan men, and how did Tsushima recognize it?

This book carefully examined cases related to smuggling trade, unauthorized departure from Waegwan, and sexual intercourse between Korean women and Japanese men in the late Joseon Dynasty. So we wanted to find the answer to the question. The purpose of the writing is to vividly show ‘The World of Waegwan’, which is unknown only by various systems and regulations of the government. Waegwan is a facility designed to limit Japanese behavior, but the reader can experience that Waegwan and its surroundings are an interesting world where various 'secret' exchanges and conflicts coexisted more than we imagined.