First Mission of Envoys to Japan

After the Treaty of Ganghwa, Kim Gi-su went to Japan as envoy (susinsa) and toured Meiji Japan’s modern institutions, recording them in Ildong giyu.

After the Treaty of Ganghwa, Japan asked for an embassy, and Korea sent Kim Gi-su, a third minister of rites, as susinsa — an "envoy for cultivating good faith", the successor to the late-Joseon tongsinsa missions. The party crossed from Busan on a Japanese steamship and, in Tokyo, toured railways, military facilities, schools and factories.

The mission did not yet change government policy. Reform began in earnest after the second mission under Kim Hong-jip brought back Huang Zunxian’s A Strategy for Korea in 1880.