After the Chosun-Japan Treaty of 1876, the Joseon Dynasty sent delegations to Japan five times in total until 1885. Not only did they negotiate with the diplomatic targets of the new Meiji Japan, but they are also meaningful as delegates who have firs...
After the Chosun-Japan Treaty of 1876, the Joseon Dynasty sent delegations to Japan five times in total until 1885. Not only did they negotiate with the diplomatic targets of the new Meiji Japan, but they are also meaningful as delegates who have first visited the ‘modern’ culture. Until recently, however, no thorough analysis of the basic issues, such as names, members, and activities of these delegations, has been conducted. Moreover, comprehensive studies of diplomatic significance have not been sufficient.
In this article, we intended to discuss the names, characteristics, and the role of the envoys, and how Chosun responded to and accepted the changing international diplomatic order at the end of the 19th century. At the first delegation in 1876, the term “Susin(修信)” meant the doctrine that the government should strengthen the trust by old friendship in the level of good-neighbor policy. In the third Susinsa at 1881, however, we can find an attempt to get out of the traditional Chinese system such as credentials and era name. The fourth Susinsa Park Young Hyo in 1882, by being given the title of a minister plenipotentiary, was involved in actual compensation negotiations and actively sought to join the modern diplomatic system. Although the Imperial Commissioner Seo Sang-woo who was dispatched in 1884 after the Gapsin Coup could not negotiate directly with, the official name ‘Imperial Commissioner’ can also be seen as a diplomatic title in the modern sense to negotiate with diplomats of Western countries, away from the old Chinese title ‘Susinsa’.
In the chapter 3, We attempted to find out the names, positions, and historical significance of all envoy staffs by collecting and comparing all the materials from Korea and Japan containing the information of envoy staffs in each Susinsahang. First of all, it was shown that the number of personnel decreased in the composition of the delegation's propensity and members. The fundamental reason was that Chosun’s diplomacy with Japan was adapted from good-neighbor policy to modern diplomatic systems using plenipotentiary, which is seen as a result of the awareness that it is no longer possible to gain superiority through Chinese rituals or culture. Since the envoy staffs were not at the center of attention and the detailed information of them was hard to obtain, their names were incorrectly written or even omitted and sometimes only the total number was recorded, especially in the lower classes such as attendants and valets. Although such errors were mostly found in Japanese literature because of the limitation of accessibility to information, similar errors were also found in Chosun’s literature, suggesting that a sense of fellowship might have been lacking among different classes of envoy staffs.
As a result, by investigating the changes of names and members of the delegation, we can see the acceptance of modern diplomatic order of Chosun in the late 19th century, which had been previously centered on Chinese relation. Further, obtaining data of additional participants and identifying the situation of the delegates and the characteristics of the members may contribute to further research about the contents and results of the experience as well as the impact of the experience on individuals.