조선의 울릉도 공도정책 (空島政策)에 대한 역사적 검증

Abstract

Joseon implemented a policy (so called “repatriation policy”) of relocating the residents of Ulleungdo to its mainland in order to prepare for the Japanese invasion of the island. The Joseon government, during the Ulleungdo dispute in the 17th century, have informed Japan several times that it evacuated the island either verbally (through diplomats) or through diplomatic document in 1694. Tsushima Domain, which was in charge of diplomatic relations with Joseon, insisted that Ulleungdo belonged to Japan stating that Japanese fishermen visited Ulleungdo after the island was evacuated. The Japanese Shogunate, after receiving a report on the status of negotiations with Joseon from Tsushima Domain, confirmed that Ulleungdo and Dokdo were not part of Japanese territory from Tottori Domain. Eventually, in January 1696, the Japanese Shogunate recognized that Ulleungdo was part of Joseon territory and decided to ban the Japanese’ passage to the island. As such, the fact that Ulleungdo was empty then, was officially delivered to Japan in the 17th century via a diplomatic document. The Japanese Shogunate officially recognized that Ulleungdo was under Joseon’s sovereignty. Nowadays, the Japanese government claims that because of Joseon’s “island evacuation policy” which was done to abandon the island, the Japanese people traveled to Ulleungdo and operated exclusive businesses. However, this is nothing more than a follow-up argument of Tsushima Domain’s farfetched claim in the 17th century. The Ulleungdo dispute was already over between the Joseon and Japanese governments in the 17th century.