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In the late spring 1870, Max August Scipio von Brandt, the North German Minister to Japan, traveled around Japan and to the island of Tsushima aboard the German corvette Hertha. His purpose for the voyage was to investigate some potential coal mines. However, once his inspection was over, he ordered Captain Kohler to sail to Busan on an “honorable quest of friendly relations.”
On June 1, the Hertha sailed into Busan harbor — the first Western steamship to visit that port. The Hertha’s arrival was greeted with suspicion and outrage. Korean officials and soldiers raced to the port to confront the “black ship” and the “Western demons.”
Von Brandt, through his interpreter — Nakano Kyotaro, tried to reassure the Koreans that he had come to negotiate an agreement on safeguarding German shipwrecked survivors. This is somewhat ironic considering the last encounter Korea had with Germans was the notorious grave-robbing expedition of Ernest Oppert’s in 1868.
But the Korean officials were unwilling to listen especially to Nakana Kyotaro who had once served as an interpreter at the Japanese settlement. The Korean magistrate, Chong Hyon-dok, demanded that the Hertha depart immediately. Realizing that his self-appointed mission had failed, von Brandt agreed to leave the following day but before doing so, he intended on touring the area.
Cramer, the Hertha’s Naval Chaplain, described the Japanese settlement as being enchanting. Not because of its beauty, but because of the absence of women, children and even domesticated animals. The eight to 10 Japanese guards they encountered did nothing more than sit on their coal bins and smoke their pipes as the Germans walked by. Even von Brandt, who tended to write his descriptions diplomatically, was unimpressed and described the settlement as a “miserable colliery” — its houses merely ruins.
The next day at noon, von Brandt and a group of German sailors tried to visit a Korean village about two and a half kilometers from the Japanese settlement. According to von Brandt, before they could enter the village they were met by a large group of Koreans who were courteous but refused to let them enter. From what von Brandt could see, the village was “miserable, like their junk and boats.”
Cramer, however, described their encounter with the Korean villagers in a different light. According to him, a village elder stopped them from entering the village so they tried to befriend some of the younger Koreans with cigarettes and matches but failed.
He recalled, “We were lucky to have avoided being beaten with sticks or hit by the stones that they hurled over our heads.”
Unable to go on, the Germans returned to the Japanese enclave and, perhaps in a show of force, Captain Kohler held small arms training with his sailors. Brandt noticed:
“No arms whatever are to be seen, and are said to consist solely of match-locks. During the gun-practice, a few thousand people with flags had assembled from a large town in the neighborhood, but on this occasion, too, no arms were seen.”
On June 2 von Brandt and the Hertha left Busan — much to the relief of the Korean population. The Korean Government was furious about the role that Japan had apparently played in von Brandt’s visit. It protested vehemently and reminded the Japanese government that “even (Korean) children and women,” were friendly towards the Japanese. It was only the fear of destroying both the “stones and jades” that prevented them from destroying the German ship.
Von Brandt may have failed but he gained a place in Korean history — not only for his early diplomatic attempt but also for being the first known photographer in Korea.
Robert Neff is a contributing writer for The Korea Times.
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