Waegwan (enclave)



Waegwan, also known as wakan , were Japanese ethnic enclaves (nihonmachi) primarily located in southern coastal cities of the Koreanic state Joseon. They existed from around the 15th century until the late 19th century.

In the middle Joseon period, they served as important trading hubs. In the late Joseon period, the only remaining waegwan in Busan became de facto an extraterritorial enclave, as Japanese diplomats were forbidden to negotiate in Seoul. These, along with general Japanese trade with Korea, were managed by the Tsushima-Fuchū Domain of Azuchi–Momoyama and later Edo periods.

Medieval waegwan
Unlike the Ming Dynasty's policy of haijin (restricting maritime trade), Korea permitted free entry of ships into its ports. As a result, trade between the Joseon and Japanese feudal lords increased rapidly. When Joseon harbors became targets for wokou pirates, in 1407, King Taejong restricted Japanese ships to the ports of Busan, Naei, and Yeom. By 1410, all forms of Japanese communication, including entrance of envoys and messengers, known to Koreans as Chŏbwae, were also restricted to these ports. Originally intended only as a stop for Japanese ships, these ports soon became hotspots for Japanese residents and their families, primarily arriving from Tsushima Island, forming the first ethnic enclaves, the.

In 1419, the Ōei Invasion by wokou pirates forced the sampo to shut down, but were soon re-opened following several years. Over time, Japanese residents who were not naturalized Korean citizens became known as kokyowa (恒居倭), and titles like atama (頭) were given to leaders. Due to overpopulation (kokyowa numbers reached over 2,000 at this point), some kokyowa lived outside of boundaries, intermingling with local Korean villagers, and engaged in fishing and agriculture, some in smuggling. Joseon attempts to monitor these residents, such as sending Korean officials to keep watch over daily merchant activities, often failed. Taxation attempts also yielded mixed results, forcing Korean authorities to put more pressure on the kokyowa.

When King Jungjong of Joseon succeeded his half-brother Yeonsangun to the throne in 1506, the Korean government implemented reforms that included the elimination of tax breaks for Japanese citizens. Tensions climaxed during the Disturbance of the Three Ports, which Japanese nationals and the ruling Sō clan of Tsushima captured Naei port and held its mayor, Kim Sae-gyun, hostage. The rebellion was quickly stamped out, and King Jungjong ordered the shutdown of the, though they would be reopened after the Treaty of Imsin. Diplomacy between Japan and Korea would be officially severed following Hideyoshi Toyotomi's invasion of Korea in 1592, leading to the permanent end of the.

Busan-po waegwan
The of Busan-po  is located in present-day Dong District of Busan. It was the oldest of the ; about 450 Japanese lived in Busan in 1492. It was shut down in 1510 but was reopened in 1521, and existed until the invasions of Korea in 1592. Although two new would be established in Busan, the site of the old Busan-po  would be subsumed into a prefectural military base.

Naei-po waegwan
The of Naei-po  is located in present-day Jinhae-gu District of Changwon. The Japanese population was largest in Naei, reaching over 2,500 in 1494. An attempt was made by the Joseon to deport excess Japanese, but the numbers rebounded. Naei was hit hardest in the Disturbance and was shut down in 1510 but was reopened in 1521; it was closed again due to the Jiajing wokou raids in 1544 during the Treaty of Chongsa and was never reopened.

Yeom-po waegwan
The of Yeom-po ( is located in present-day Jung District in Ulsan. Located on the south bank across the bay from Ulsan's old town, it was re-opened in 1426 following the Oei Invasions, with 150 Japanese living in Naei by 1494; after the Disturbance, the  closed in 1510 and never reopened.

Seoul Waegwan
There was a small Japanese enclave in the Joseon capital Hanseong (modern day Seoul), though it was not a permanent settlement and was purely an accommodation facility for ambassadors and merchants. It was located in present-day Jung District, Seoul; during the Japanese occupation of Korea in the 20th century, the old settlement site was called Yamato-cho (大和町). The Japanese quarters was called the dongpyeonggwan, established in 1409 and shut down in 1592.

Late Joseon waegwan
Joseon Korea and the Tokugawa Shogunate struggled to re-establish relationships in the immediate aftermath of the Japanese invasions. Attempts made by Tsushima Domain to re-kindle relationships but were sent back. Ultimately, however, King Seonjo acquiesced and established a temporary on  Jeolyeong Island, in present-day Yeongdo District, Busan in 1601. In 1607, a new, formal in Dumo-po was constructed. In 1609, King Gwanghaegun signed the Treaty of Kiyū, which re-established diplomacy between the two nations. Among its stipulations, Tsushima island became, de facto, a vassal state of Korea. Although the of Dumo-po were also re-established, no Japanese were allowed to leave.

Even still, the Tsushima residents proved irritable and prone to violence. Especially starkly, Japanese accused the Joseon state of coercively subjecting kokyowa to Joseon criminal law. At least eleven cases of illegal prostitution over borders caused serious diplomatic issues between Tsushima and Korea. These diplomatic incidents, among complaints by Japanese residents themselves, caused Dongnae Magistrate Kwon I-jin (權以鎭) to move the Japanese villagers to Choryang in 1678, threatened by their influence in local government offices and bribery of Joseon officials.

Dumo-po waegwan
The of Dumo-po  is located in Jwacheon-dong, Busan. Established in 1607, 500 Japanese from Tsushima inaugurated the opening of the new settlement. It was also called (古倭館) as the location of the  was moved in 1678, over complaints that Jwacheon was too narrow and had a lack of dock facilities. Tsushima-Fuchū oversaw the construction of facilities like Tōkō-ji (東向寺) temple, guest quarters, izakayas, and more, centered around a banquet hall, the Yŏnhyangdaech'ŏng.

Choryang waegwan
The of Choryang  is located in present-day Yongdusan Park, Jung-gu, Busan. Also known as the shinwakan (Japanese: 新倭館, lit: 'new wakan'), the settlement, established in 1678, was expanded more than ten times from the old site at Dumo-po and was twenty-five times larger than the Dutch port of Dejima. Among the facilities from the old settlement, trading centers, courthouses, and a new Benzaiten shrine was constructed.

About 400-500 people lived in Choryang at any given time; only the daimyō of Tsushima and his staff were allowed to live on grounds, along with a handful of Japanese merchants and peddlers. International students studying medicine and Korean culture were permitted to also live. Choryang became a center for traditional Chinese medicine, and doctors flocked to Choryang to learn acupuncture, surgery, and moxibustion.

End of the waegwan, beginning of the concession
In 1867, a member of the Sō daimyō held a meeting with Heungseon Daewongun of Korea, informing him of the establishment of the Meiji government. In 1871, as part of Emperor Meiji's reforms, the han system was abolished and was replaced with prefectures. With Tsushima-Fuchū Domain's power gone, the Japanese Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs requested to take over the Choryang waegwan and transfer it over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1869. It also used the character ko 皇, rather than taikun 大君 to refer to the Japanese emperor. The Koreans only used this character (皇) to refer to the Chinese emperor and, to the Koreans, it implied ceremonial superiority to the Korean monarch which would make the Korean monarch a vassal or subject of the Japanese ruler. Nonetheless, Joseon Korea refused to hand the settlement over, inflaming the debate of Seikanron in Japan proper.

While a punitive conquest against Korea was decided against, the Ganghwa Island incident of 1875 asserted Japanese military might over the so-called "hermit kingdom" of Joseon Korea. The subsequent Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876, above all else, was an unequal treaty that established Japanese supremacy over Korea. For the Choryang, the settlement was abolished and re-established as the Busan Japanese Concession. The concession served as an important military entrepôt during and after the annexation of Korea established by the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910.

Trade
During the medieval ages, Japan exported goods such as gold, sulfur, copper, fragrant sappanwood, and Ryukyu pepper, while Korea imported Bombax ceiba (kapok) wood and cotton. Such goods flowed through the sampo waegwan, though by the Edo period, kapok no longer needed to be imported. Buddhist books and works like the tripiṭaka canons were also imported from Korea into Japan.

Following the Japanese invasions of Korea, Japan also began exporting silver, while Korean products like tiger skins and ginseng root became popular in Japan. Especially as Ming China shut down commercial maritime trade with Japan over wokou raids, the traded a higher number of Chinese products like raw silk and silk fabrics through Korea due to its tributary relationship to China. As the quality of Japanese silks were poor at the time, the Sō daimyo of Tsushima monopolized the silk trade, becoming one of the wealthiest tozama daimyō in post-feudal Japan. After the 17th century, trade began to decline considerably as Japanese silk quality improved and ginseng farming became profitable in Japan. Instead, became hubs for general commercial as well as intellectual activity.