Professor Claims Korea's National Institute of Korean History Mistranslated 1714 Passage

In his book, "History of Dokdo, Ulleungdo" (독도, 울릉도의 역사), Yeongnam University History Professor Kim Ho-dong (金皓東 - 김호동) claims that Korea's National Institute of Korean History (국사편찬위원회) has mistranslated a July 22, 1714 passage from King Sukjong's "Bogweoljeong-o" (補闕正吳 - 보궐정오).

The passage was a report from Jo Seok-myeong (趙錫命), who had been sent to Gangwon Province (江原道 - 강원도) to inspect the coastal defenses of the Yeongdong (嶺東 - 영도) region. In his report, he said that the people in the ports there told him that there was an island visible to the east of Ulleungdo that was on the Japanese border. The following is the relevant passage, Professor Kim Ho-dong's translation, and my English translation:

辛酉江原道御使趙錫命 論嶺東海防疎虞狀略曰 詳聞浦人言 平海蔚珍 距鬱陵島最近 船路無少礙 鬱陵之東 島嶼相望 接于倭境.

포인(浦人)의 말을 상세히 듣건대, '평해平海), 울진(蔚珍)은 울릉도(鬱陵島)와 거리가 가장 가까와서 뱃길에 조금도 장애가 없고, 울릉도 동쪽에 섬이 보이는데 왜경(倭境)에 접해 있다'고 하였습니다.

I listened carefully to the people in the ports (浦人) who said, "Pyeonghae (平海) and Uljin (蔚珍) are closest to Ulleungdo, and there are no obstructions along the sea route. Visible to the east of Ulleung is an island that is on the Japanese border."

Now, HERE is the translation of the passage by Korea's Korea's National Institute of Korean History (국사편찬위원회) and my English translation:

辛酉江原道御使趙錫命 論嶺東海防疎虞狀略曰 詳聞浦人言 平海蔚珍 距鬱陵島最近 船路無少礙 鬱陵之東 島嶼相望 接于倭境.

“포인(浦人)의 말을 상세히 듣건대, ‘평해(平海)·울진(蔚珍)은 울릉도(鬱陵島)와 거리가 가장 가까와서 뱃길에 조금도 장애(障礙)가 없고, 울릉도 동쪽에는 섬이 서로 잇달아 왜경(倭境)에 접해 있다.’고 하였습니다.

I listened carefully to the people in the ports (浦人) who said, "Pyeonghae (平海) and Uljin (蔚珍) are closest to Ulleungdo, and there are no obstructions along the sea route. East of Ulleungdo, islands connect to each other to reach the Japanese border.

In a footnote on the translation in his book (pp. 119 - 120) , Professor Kim Ho-dong wrote the following:

그런데 국편의 최근 번역에는 이것을 "포인(浦人)의 말을 상세히 듣건대, ‘평해(平海)·울진(蔚珍)은 울릉도(鬱陵島)와 거리가 가장 가까와서 뱃길에 조금도 장애(障礙)가 없고, 울릉도 동쪽에는 섬이 서로 잇달아 왜경(倭境)에 접해 있다.’고 하였습니다'라고 잘못 번역하고 있다.

However, the National Institute of Korean History has recently been mistranslating the passage as, "I listened carefully to the people in the ports (浦人) who said, "Pyeonghae (平海) and Uljin (蔚珍) are closest to Ulleungdo, and there are no obstructions along the sea route. East of Ulleungdo, islands connect to each other to reach the Japanese border."

Professor Kim does not offer an explanation for the mistranslation by Korea's National Institute of Korean History, but I think they mistranslated it because they realized the passage supported Japan's claim to Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo). The passage was essentially saying that the island visible to the east of Ulleungdo was Japanese territory. In those days, a country's farthermost islands represented its border. Apparently, the Korean fishermen had seen Japanese fishing boats coming from the direction of the island and assumed it was Japanese.

If the Koreans had believed the island to be Korean territory, then they would not have referred to it as being "on the Japanese border," but, instead, would have referred to it with an expression similar to "接于我國境" (우리 국경에 접해있다), which means "on our country's border."

If you look at the full passage, you can see that the Korean official was worried about Japanese territory being so close to Korea, which was why he was urging the government to strengthen defenses in the Gangwondo area.

Gangwon Provincial inspector Jo Seok-myeong (趙錫命) discussed the neglected coastal defenses in the Yeongdong region. Here is a summary:

I listened carefully to the people in the ports (浦人) who said, "Pyeonghae (平海) and Uljin (蔚珍) are closest to Ulleungdo, and there are no obstructions along the sea route. Visible to the east of Ulleung is an island that is on the Japanese border." In 1708 and 1712, strange-looking ships drifted to the borders of Goseong (高城) and Ganseong (杆城), so we know that Japanese ships frequently come and go. The government, however, says that the vast sea is a barrier, so there is no need to worry, but how can we be sure that a future war will not break out in the Yeongdong region instead of the Yeongnam region? We cannot allow even a little delay in taking measures to be thoroughly prepared.

In accordance with the request, the Myodang (廟堂) requested that Gangwondo be reprimanded to cracked down on its military officials.