Ganghwa Island Incident

The battle that took place in 1875 (Meiji 8) between the Japanese warship Unyo and the artillery battery on Ganghwa Island near Seoul, Korea, and the destruction of the battery by the Unyo and the occupation of Yeongjong Island. It is also called the Unyo Incident. Since the first year of the Meiji era, the Japanese government had been planning to invade Korea, and had frequently dispatched Japanese warships to the waters near Korea in an attempt to intimidate and provoke. On September 20, 1875, the Unyo, captained by Inoue Yoshika, entered the waters near Ganghwa Island, the front door to Seoul, Korea's capital, and was bombarded by the Ganghwa Island artillery. The pretext for the Unyo's invasion was that it was searching for drinking water, but it was actually a planned provocation to the Korean side. Although the Unyo sustained no damage, they returned fire with their naval guns, destroyed the artillery battery on Ganghwa Island, and then landed on Yeongjong Island to the south, burning down civilian houses, killing 35 Koreans, and seizing 38 cannons as booty. The Unyo returned to Nagasaki on September 28, but the Japanese government used this incident as an opportunity to pressure the Korean government into signing the Treaty of Amity between Japan and Korea (Ganghwa Treaty) the following year.

[Akira Nakatsuka]

"A Short History of the Japan-Korea Annexation" by Kentaro Yamabe (Iwanami Shinsho)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1875年（明治8）日本軍艦雲揚(うんよう)号と朝鮮のソウル近くの江華島(カンホワド)砲台との間で行われた戦闘と、雲揚号による同砲台の破壊および永宗島(えいそうとう／ヨンチョンド)の占領事件。雲揚号事件ともいう。明治初年以来、朝鮮侵略を企図していた日本政府は、朝鮮近海にしばしば日本軍艦を出動させ、威嚇と挑発を試みていた。75年9月20日、井上良馨(よしか)を艦長とする雲揚号は、朝鮮の首都ソウルの表玄関に位置する江華島近海に侵入、江華島砲台の砲撃を受けた。飲料水を探すのが目的だったというのが雲揚号侵入の口実であるが、朝鮮側への計画的挑発を図ったものであった。雲揚号にはなんら損害はなかったが、艦砲で応戦、江華島砲台を破壊、さらに南の永宗島に上陸し、民家を焼き、朝鮮人35人を殺害、大砲38門を戦利品として奪った。雲揚号は9月28日長崎に帰港したが、日本政府はこの事件を契機に、翌年日朝修好条規（江華条約）の締結を朝鮮政府に迫った。

［中塚　明］

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