 |
| Ulleung Island in 1906 / Courtesy of Robert Neff Collection |
By Robert Neff
Lying some 120 kilometers off the east coast of the Korean peninsula is Ulleung Island ― an island famed for its beauty and remoteness. But there is more to the island than its natural beauty and location ― there is the mysticism and uncertainty associated with its past.
It is said that the island was inhabited nearly 2,000 years ago by a group of people who were "as wild and lawless as they were superstitious" and had formed their own country known as Usan-guk. The island was famed for its fertility for "bamboo grew to twice the size it grew on the mainland, while the peaches were so large that the pits were divided and wine cups made from the two parts."
The islanders lived peacefully, harvesting what they needed from the sea that the soil did not provide, and, apparently, did not stray far from their homes. Yet, their prosperity attracted the attention of their warlike mainland neighbor, the Kingdom of Silla.
Legend claims that in 512, General Kim Isabu ― the Silla governor of what is now Gangwon Province ― invaded and conquered the island, which, at this time was thought to have about 1,000 inhabitants. General Kim's invasion was quite ingenious. Knowing of the islanders' superstitions, he had a large number of sea lions carved from wood and upon his armada's arrival off the island's coast, had the wooden sea lions secretly placed into the water. He then made his way to shore and declared to the islanders that unless they surrendered to Silla, he would command the sea lions to attack. His ruse worked.
Homer Hulbert ― famed for his English language books of Korean history ― described this incident as one of the "most cherished traditions of the Korean people" and his account of it is quite popular, but is it accurate? He claims that the carvings were of lions "with gaping mouths and enormous fangs" and placed at the prow of the boats and the threat of their imminent release upon the island is what compelled the islanders to surrender to mighty Silla. Which is more believable ― a lion (not native to Korea) or a sea lion?
For nearly a millennium and a half the island remained far from the politics of the world. At one point it was depopulated of permanent residents ― the only temporary visitors being woodcutters and fishermen. But this all changed in the 1880s when Joseon Korea began to repopulate the island after it was discovered that a number of Japanese were poaching the island's valuable timber and, in a manner, challenging Korea's sovereignty.
At first, there were no more than several dozen mainlanders trying to eke out a living but by 1897 the Korean population, mainly farmers and boat builders, had grown to just over 1,100 people.
According to one member of the Korean Customs Service who visited the island in 1898, he claimed that Korean settlers from the mainland were coming in greater numbers each year because "life on the island is comparatively easy" as there were few taxes and the soil was so rich that two crops of wheat, barley, potatoes and beans could be grown each year. But there were no domesticated animals except for a few chickens. Even dogs and pigs ― which are very hardy creatures ― were conspicuously absent from the island. But other creatures, such as birds and rats, thrived and plagued the islanders by destroying their crops. The island was also inhabited (at least in old-wives tales) by giant centipedes that occasionally hunted people as prey. Centipedes, birds and rats were not the only pests.
Bae Chung-jun arrived on the island in 1897 and claimed to have been granted the right, by the Joseon government, to levy taxes. He also began to harvest and sell the island's timber to Japanese smugglers _ reaping a substantial profit. But this did not sit well with the islanders and they protested. Bae tried to intimidate them through fear and threats of death but his efforts were short-lived. A mob of islanders lynched Bae and then dangled him from one of the trees in front of the Government building.
While the island's natural resources may have played a key role in conquering the island in the 6th century, repopulating it in the late 19th century and having an impact in Joseon's early international politics, it is nearby Dokdo that has been a bone of contention to South Korea's international politics in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Robert Neff is a historian and columnist for The Korea Times. He can be reached at robertneff103@gmail.com.
![[INTERVIEW] How AmazeVR revolutionizes aespa's LYNK-POP concert](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/4431833759c44bdaa414cb314e90f2fe.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
