The Korean Special Mission to the United States of America in 1883

The Korean Special Mission to the United States of America in 1883 Gary D. Walter The purpose of this study is to present an analysis of the first visit of Koreans to the western hemisphere. This event came about as a result of the first United States-Korean Treaty, arranged by the Chinese Viceroy of Chihli, Li Hung-chang, and the United States Navy Commodore. Robert W. Shufeldt, in 1882 and ratified in 1883In accordance with the treaty, Lucius II. Foote was appointed Minister to Korea and a Special Mission of friendship was sent to the United States by the King of Korea. The members of the Special Mission present an opportunity to study the final years of the Yi Dynasty in Korea and the changes which were taking place. The study of the Mission will show the background of Korean-American relations and the political scene in Korea with an attempt to show the effect of the visit to the west on the individuals as well as on the country of Korea. Korean-American Relations Before the Ratification of the 1882 Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation United States interest in Korea in the nineteenth century was mainly for the protection of United States ships and mariners as they sailed in Korean waters. The potential for trade in Korea was also thought to be sufficient to make commerce worthwhile-particularly since the United States' merchants had realized a profit with China, and even more so with Japan, where the United States played a most important role in opening the country for trade. More important than potential trade, United States commercial interests felt it necessary to make some formal arrangements for the safe return of shipwrecked mariners in distress in Korean waters as they plied between China and Japan. The fact that custom provided for the safe, and usually 90\Walter comfortable conduct of the shipwrecked crews to China, even as shown by the return of the crew of the USS Surprise in June of 1866, and numerous prior cases involving ships and crews of many nations, did not deter the demand for a formal arrangement, especially when in August of 1866 the crew of the USS General Sherman was murdered and the ship itself burned in the Taedong River at Pyongyang. United States commercial interests did not care that the Koreans distinguished between shipwrecked sailors and would-be traders, the one being thrown on the mercies of the Koreans by fate, the other entering restricted areas at their own risk. In 1868, George F. Seward, United States Consul-General at Shanghai wrote to his uucle, United States Secretary of State William II. Seward: I propose...to proceed to Corea in order to ask an officiai explantion of the Sherman Affair, and to negotiate, if possible, a treaty of amity and commerce similar to those with China and Japan, and such other lesser treaty as may be expedient and attainable without exercise or show of force.1 Six months later he wrote: The first object of a mission would be to procure information of the loss or destruction of the American schooner General Sherman, and in case the wrongful treatment of the crew proves correct, indemnity or satisfaction therefore...All other efforts to procure information have hitherto resulted not altogether satisfactorily , and there seems no way to procure information except by direct communication with the Corean government. The second object is to obtain a treaty. I have hesitated to say that there is an adequate object to render it perfectly desirable to procure a general commercial treaty. But all my reflections lead me to believe that it will be well for us to make the attempt. In the third place, whether a general treaty is desirable or not, there can, in my opinion, be no question of the need of one that shall provide for the safety of seamen and others wrecked or driven on the Corean coast. Indeed we 1. Letter, George F, Seward to William H. Seward, April 24, 1868, General Records of the Department of State, Despatches from United States Consuls in Shanghai, 1847-1906, Washington National Archives, 1949. Korean Mission 1883\91 can hardly consent...