김한경의 울릉도ㆍ독도 탐사 항해(1471~1480)와 그 의의

Abstract

Since 1438 in early Joseon Dynasty when the court captured 66 residents in Mureungdo and deported them to Gyeongseong, Yeongando(present Hamgyeongdo), the story of an island located in the East Sea began to spread from them. Kim Han-kyung(?-1481) and Kim Heung voluntarily made their voyages to search for Sambongdo, an unknown island but reached Murueungdo instead. Later, in 1475 of King Seongjong’s reign, on his third voyage, Kim Han-kyung was drifted by a strong west wind, and discovered Sambongdo. However, Kim Han-kyung and his party were sentenced to death for deceiving the public with false words. Researchers aim to reveal the significance of Kim Han-kyung’s exploration based on the findings of related literature review and experiences of navigation around Ulleungdo and Dokdo. Firstly, researchers suggest that the legendary island in the East Sea is Sambongdo. Therefore, Kim Han-kyung, who believed to have found Sambongdo, actually discovered Dokdo. There are much debate on identifying Sambongdo. However, in the early Joseon period, Kim Kook-kwang recognized the existence of Sambongdo because the island might have been named by those who actually saw the three peaks of the island. Moreover, the record that Kim Han-kyung sailed onto Sambongdo was documented. In addition, when sailing southeast from Ulleungdo, the three peaks of Dokdo Island are observable, and it can be confirmed that Sambongdo is Dokdo Island. Therefore, Kim Han-kyung needs to be reevaluated as the sea explorer who discovered the island of Dokdo.