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Conflict7th lunar month, 1866(Lunar)

General Sherman Incident

When the American merchant ship General Sherman sailed up the Daedong to Pyongyang demanding trade and plundering, Governor Park Gyu-su and the townspeople burned it.

Map of the General Sherman affair on the Taedong River to Pyongyang, from Griffis, Corea, the Hermit Nation (1897)
Map of the General Sherman affair on the Taedong River to Pyongyang, from Griffis, Corea, the Hermit Nation (1897)

William Elliot Griffis (1843-1928) · Public domain · Source

The General Sherman sailed up the Daedong in July 1866 demanding trade. When its crew seized and held the Pyongyang officer Yi Hyeon-ik and fired on the shore while looting, the officials and people of Pyongyang floated burning boats against it, set it ablaze and killed everyone aboard. That autumn France invaded Ganghwa, citing the Byeongin Persecution (the French campaign against Korea).

The United States cited the incident when it attacked Ganghwa in 1871 to demand trade (the United States expedition to Korea). Park Gyu-su later argued for opening to trade and became a forerunner of the enlightenment thinkers.

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The map in 1866

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States and rulers at the time
Joseon — Gojong
United States — President Andrew Johnson
Places
Pyongyang Fortress

People

  • Park Gyu-su1807 – 1877

    commander · Grandson of Park Ji-won; as governor of Pyeongan he burned the General Sherman, later urged opening to trade and taught the reformers

Before and after

Earlier
1866 Byeongin Persecution
Later
1866 French campaign against Korea

Themes that include this event

  • Pyongyang194 BC – 2007

    From Wanggeom-seong of Gojoseon to the inter-Korean summits — capital of Goguryeo, Western Capital of Goryeo, the great city on the Taedong