제1차 수신사(修信使) 사행(使行)의 성격 -일본 외무성 자료를 중심으로- = The Nature of the First Susinsa: With a Focus on Materials of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Following the signing of the Korea-Japan Treaty of Amity (朝日修好條規) in 1876, the Joseon Dynasty dispatched a goodwill delegation called the Susinsa (修信使; “mission for the cultivation of trust”) to Japan four times. The Susinsa is generally explained as a group of envoys for inspecting Japan`s modern civilization and for resolving diplomatic issues between the two countries. However, the dispatch of the first Susinsa was rather complex in nature in comparison with other delegations.
The main data used in the present study are materials recorded by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) at the time. During the period in which the visit of the first Susinsa was announced, the Japanese government planned to induce a visit on a vast scale. Diverse new facilities and institutions, which could be called the fruits of modernization, were included on a large scale among the objects of these inspections.
First, the first Susinsa was a part of Meiji Japan`s (1868-1912) diplomatic design regarding Korea both before and after the conclusion of the Treaty of Amity. The ground for this can be found in the fact that Korea`s decision to dispatch envoys was a result of Japan`s continued suggestions. The Japanese government sought to publicize the achievements of the Meiji Restoration (1868), thereby expanding its influence over Koreat.
In addition, the first Susinsa was complex in nature. Despite the signing of a modern treaty and a considerable temporal gap, the first Susinsa was still similar in nature rather to the earlier Tongsinsa (通信使; “mission for the transmission of trust”; Korean; Japanese: Tsushinshi) than to subsequent Susinsa. The delegation called the Susinsa was a transitional system amidst the transition to the modern diplomatic envoys of permanent missions. Even among such Susinsa, the first Susinsa was a transitional mission where the traditional concept of dispatching envoys and the name of modern diplomatic envoys coexisted.