[War & Business] The Pine Tree of Chojijin

The appearance of a pine tree standing at the Chojijin Historic Site in Gilsang-myeon, Ganghwa-gun, Incheon Metropolitan City. It is known to bear the scars of shelling from the Unyo Incident. [Image source= Ganghwa-gun official website]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] In front of Chojijin Fortress on Ganghwa Island, where Japan dispatched the warship Unyoho in 1875 to force the opening of Joseon’s ports and provoked a military confrontation, there still stands a pine tree bearing scars from cannonballs fired during that time. Chojijin was completely reduced to ashes and disappeared due to the damage sustained, and the remaining site today is merely a small fortification restored in 1973 after gathering the remaining walls. The only trace of the fierce battle that actually took place remains on this pine tree.

Before the Unyoho incident in 1875, Chojijin had already faced repeated foreign invasions during the 1866 Byeonginyangyo and the 1871 Shinmiyangyo. Nevertheless, Joseon soldiers bravely fought and died defending their country with inadequate weapons. During the Unyoho incident, 35 Joseon soldiers fought to the end and perished. At that time, the Joseon people believed that although many soldiers had sacrificed their lives during the Byeonginyangyo and Shinmiyangyo, the court would reject foreign demands with strong will, and Japan would eventually give up and withdraw.

However, the result of these sacrifices went in a completely unexpected direction. The Joseon court signed the Ganghwa Treaty with Japan, known as the first modern treaty and the treaty of port opening. The Joseon court and Japan referred to this treaty as the Treaty of Peace and Amity between Joseon and Japan, concluding it as a peace agreement. Despite the death of 35 soldiers, the court’s decision to make peace with Japan sparked a flood of petitions protesting nationwide. It was a common-sense protest that no country would make peace with an enemy that had killed its soldiers with cannon fire.

The Joseon court claimed the treaty was signed out of fear of Japan’s military threat, but Japan had just ended its internal civil war with the shogunate during the Meiji Restoration and had almost no capacity to wage war against foreign countries. The Unyoho, a small 250-ton vessel, was almost the only ship Japan could operate at the time. Considering that the French warships during the Byeonginyangyo and the American warships during the Shinmiyangyo were all large vessels over 4,000 tons, the excuse that Joseon succumbed due to military threat from Japan was close to a pretext.

It is no exaggeration to say that the political situation within Joseon, rather than Japan’s realistic military threat, led to the opening of the country. After Daewongun’s fall from power in 1873 and King Gojong’s direct rule, Gojong sought to break the isolationist policy that had been the main justification for Daewongun’s decade-long rule. The reason the Min clan relatives, who came to power as Gojong’s political partners, actively pursued enlightenment policies was less about strengthening the nation through modernization and more about weakening Daewongun’s influence.

Regardless of the court’s political intentions, the people no longer wished to sacrifice their lives for a government that made peace with the enemy, even as they conscripted their sons as soldiers. This is why Chojijin was not restored before liberation and only the pine tree stood alone. It was inevitable that a country whose people no longer had the will to risk their lives to defend it would perish.