[Joseonggwan's Global Humanities Journey] The Reason I Feel Ashamed Whenever I See the Statue of General Yi Sun-sin

In summer, the fountain at Gwanghwamun Square feels refreshing. Children run barefoot, giggling, through the streams of water that defy gravity. Their clothes are soaked, but their faces are full of joy. The faces of the adults watching these innocent children brighten with smiles.

The center of South Korea is Seoul, and the center of Seoul is Gwanghwamun. I worked for 30 years in the 'Gwanghwamun' area. I commuted to work breathing in the four seasons of Gwanghwamun. Then and now, the landmark of Gwanghwamun is the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin. Behind it, a flowerbed planted with ginkgo trees stretched all the way to the front of Gwanghwamun. Seoul citizens felt the arrival of spring and the departure of autumn as they saluted the rows of trees lined up in a row.

Statues of Admiral Yi Sun-sin and naval battle plaques installed in front of him at Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul. Photo by Seonggwan Cho

It has been five years since I became an independent full-time writer. Even now, I go to Gwanghwamun two or three times a week to write. Every time I breathe in the air of Gwanghwamun, I shudder with the mission to write.

During Mayor Oh Se-hoon's term, the scenery of Gwanghwamun changed significantly. The ginkgo trees in the flowerbed were moved elsewhere, and the area was remodeled into a plaza. As the plaza was created, the flowerbed disappeared. The problem was that a very common statue of King Sejong was erected in the newly made plaza. With the installation of King Sejong's statue, the 21st-century Gwanghwamun Square in South Korea regressed to a Joseon Dynasty Six Ministries (Yukjo) plaza.

Gwanghwamun is the starting point of the national symbolic road. Advanced countries' national symbolic roads have something in common. They erect monuments to the founding president or heroes who saved the country. They also erect war memorials symbolizing the country's identity. When King Sejong's statue was placed behind Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the appearance became ridiculous. Gwanghwamun Square should have a statue of a modern historical hero who made today's South Korea possible.

Last summer, Gwanghwamun Square transformed once again. The roadway was reduced, and the plaza was expanded. What deserves attention is that about 30 plaques were installed in front of Admiral Yi Sun-sin's statue. When facing the statue head-on, the plaques on the right are memorials of Yi Sun-sin's naval battles. They record 12 battles, including the first victory at the Battle of Okpo. More than 20 plaques on the left are excerpts from the Nanjung Ilgi (War Diary), containing his sayings. The hero's words resonate beyond time and space.

Every time I face Admiral Yi Sun-sin's statue, I feel uneasy. Let's go back to the 1590s when Yi Sun-sin's navy defeated the Japanese fleet at sea. This period coincides with the Age of Exploration in world history. It was when Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch sailing ships roamed the oceans. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who underestimated Joseon and started a war, eventually stepped down from power after meeting the outstanding general Yi Sun-sin.

Everyone talks about Yi Sun-sin's victories. They discuss his brilliant strategies, like the crane wing formation. From recent films like "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" and "Hansan," many movies about Yi Sun-sin's naval battles have been made.

But let's look back. What kind of award did the Joseon king give to the navy that cut off the Japanese army's supply lines? How did he treat the militia leaders who fought and bled to protect the country? We remember how King Seonjo, who desperately tried to flee to Ming China across the Yalu River, rewarded his officials upon returning to Hanyang. He gave the greatest honors to the ministers who accompanied him to Sin?iju. These were called Ho-jong-gong-shin (Loyal Retainers).

A monument commemorating the Battle of Dangpo, where the Turtle Ship first appeared on June 2, 1592 (lunar calendar). Photo by Seonggwan Cho

After Yi Sun-sin died, the turtle ships disappeared. The ironclads were discarded, and the vast sea was no longer looked upon. If the king had a vision for the future, he would have improved and developed the turtle ships and built ironclad warships. He would have established an ironclad fleet to prepare for Japan's re-invasion. To the kings of Joseon, Yi Sun-sin was a forgotten figure. From the 17th century to the early 20th century, Joseon practically had no navy. Only fishing boats operated near the coast. During King Gojong's reign, there was only one ship.

As everyone knows, Yi Sun-sin's victories are recorded in world naval history. His naval battles are often compared to those of Admiral Nelson. The first to evaluate Yi Sun-sin as the "Nelson of the East" was a book titled "Joseon Yi Sun-sin Jeon" published in 1892 by a Japanese army-affiliated journal. Since then, praises for Yi Sun-sin have continued in works like "Theory of Imperial National Defense" (Sato Tetsutaro) and "Lectures on Maritime Power" (Ogasawara Naganari).

In 1805, at Cape Trafalgar, Admiral Nelson's British fleet defeated Napoleon's allied fleet. Afterward, Britain tied Napoleon's army to the European continent and freely roamed the oceans, building an empire on which the sun never set.

Nelson's Column at Trafalgar Square in London. Photo by Seonggwan Cho

One of London's hot spots is Trafalgar Square. There stands the 50-meter-high Nelson's Column. This square was created in the 1830s. Around this time, major British cities also built squares commemorating historic victories. Moreover, taverns related to the navy were named "Trafalgar." The "Trafalgar Tavern" in Greenwich, where the old Royal Naval College is located, is a representative example.

Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich overlooking the River Thames. Photo by Seonggwan Jo

Koreans are a people born with a maritime-oriented destiny, but to the kings of Joseon, the sea was a cliff. Their worldview was dominated only by China. They did not try to learn from figures like Jang Bogo of Unified Silla, who pioneered maritime trade against the Tang Dynasty.

In 1653, Hamel, a Dutch East India Company clerk who drifted ashore on Jeju Island, stayed in semi-slavery for 13 years and saw the true face of Joseon. One of the shocking things in "Hamel's Journal" was the map the Joseon king had. According to "Hamel's Journal," the king's map only included China and Siam. Siam is the old name for Thailand. So, the world beyond China was of no interest. Hamel repeatedly pleaded to be sent back home via Japan, but the court refused each time. Among various reasons, the practical one was that there was no ship capable of crossing the Korea Strait.

Human language reflects the history and culture of its society. We use the phrase "bangbang-gokgok (坊坊曲曲)" to refer to every corner of the country. Bang (坊) means neighborhood, and in the Joseon era, it meant myeon (面). Even now, living in the 21st century, we say bangbang-gokgok without much thought. However, there is no such expression in Japanese. Instead, they say "jinjin-popo (津津浦浦)," meaning a maritime nation. Although there are many mountains over 3,000 meters high, jin (津) means ferry port, and po (浦) means tidal shore.

There are places like Dangjin, Okpo, Mokpo, and Jemulpo on Korea's coast. However, Korea's jin and po were not outlets to the ocean but entrances handling inland logistics. The kings of Joseon did not take advantage of the peninsula's natural conditions as opportunities for trade and maritime territorial expansion.

The 20th century world was a confrontation between the Eurasian communist continental bloc and the maritime free democratic forces. In this great game, Koreans suffered as a vassal state when oriented toward the continent but enjoyed freedom and prosperity when oriented toward the sea. Korea's rise to one of the world's top 10 economies within about 70 years of its founding was the result of standing shoulder to shoulder with maritime free democratic powers like the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

The Turtle Ship banknote shown by Chairman Jeong Ju-young during loan negotiations in the UK in the 1960s. Photo by Naver

The historical figure who stirred the heart of the young entrepreneur Ho-am Lee Byung-chul, who dreamed of serving the nation through business, was only one person: Jang Bogo. When Asan Chung Ju-yung obtained a loan in the UK in the 1960s, he presented the turtle ship of Yi Sun-sin depicted on the 500-won bill. I cannot forget the following sentence from Asan's autobiography "Born on This Land."

"...We were already a people who built such ironclad ships in the 1500s and punished Japan. Our Joseon history was more than 300 years ahead of yours. It's just that later, due to isolationist policies, industrialization was delayed, and the people's abilities and ideas rusted, but our potential remained intact."

We conventionally call Yeongjo and Jeongjo "reform monarchs." Regardless of East or West, the goal of all countries in the world is one: wealth and military strength! Only then can a country avoid invasion, prevent its people from starving, and protect women from being violated. Thinking of the women of Joseon trampled during the Imjin War and the Second Manchu invasion makes me want to find a hole to hide in.

Only measures contributing to wealth and military strength are evaluated as reforms by later generations. I do not remember how Yeongjo and Jeongjo's reform policies concretely contributed to Joseon's wealth and military strength. During the Goryeo period, there was a strong central standing army of 45,000, but Joseon's standing army was only a few thousand ragtag troops. Joseon, obsessed with Neo-Confucianism and having lost its martial spirit, was hardly a state. People need to be well-fed to have a sense of shame. Only then can democracy and culture and arts be considered.

Joseon not only failed to commemorate great naval battles but also neglected Yi Sun-sin. Every time I see the statue of Yi Sun-sin at Gwanghwamun Square, where cool streams of water spout, I feel endlessly sorry. Who was the hero who opened the way to the sea for Koreans who had forgotten the sea for 300 years?

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.