Korean Relations with Japan and Ryūkyū in the Early Chosŏn Period: A Translation of Sin Sukchu’s Haedong Chegukki

Between 1392 and 1592—a period bounded by Japanese pirate raids along the Korean coast and Japan’s invasion of Chosŏn Korea—more than 4,600 Japanese trade missions were recorded by the Chosŏn government. In response to these missions, the famous official Sin Sukchu compiled regulations, detailed information about Japanese contacts, and other material, which was printed in 1472 as the Haedong chegukki. Additional information was added in 1512, creating a still more detailed report for overseeing Japanese and Ryukyuan diplomacy and trade with the Chosŏn government. The 1512 text, which is translated here into English for the first time, shows in rich detail how Korea managed these foreign relations for some two centuries. The regulations illustrate the depth of the management of contact, trade, movement, and other aspects of presence in Chosŏn. Korea-Japan trade practices are depicted in numerous profiles of Japanese contacts from Tsushima to Kyoto, including the use of impostor identities designed in Japan for trade and diplomacy in the second half of the fifteenth century and sixteenth century. Copious notes and explications supplement the present translation of the Haedong chegukki and supply the reader with the background information necessary to identify the names and places mentioned and understand their relation to Korean and Japanese political history and the structure of relations that linked the two countries. Historians of Korea, Japan, and East Asian foreign relations will find the translation a most valuable resource.