Conflict9th – 10th lunar month, 1866(Lunar)

French campaign against Korea

Also called: French expedition to Korea

Citing the persecution of Catholics, a French squadron occupied Ganghwa. Yang Heon-su drove it off at Jeongjok Fortress, and the French withdrew with looted royal archives.

The French squadron off Ganghwa Island, 1866
Unknown author · Public domain · Source

Early in 1866 the Byeongin persecution killed nine French missionaries and many Korean believers. When Father Ridel escaped and reported to the French squadron at Tianjin, Admiral Roze first sent three ships up the Han River as far as Yanghwajin and Seogang to survey the channel.

In the 9th month Roze returned with seven warships and occupied Ganghwa town. After Han Seong-geun at Munsusanseong and Yang Heon-su at Jeongjoksanseong defeated French detachments, the French burned the Ganghwa detached palace and the outer royal library and withdrew with books such as the royal protocols (uigwe) and silver bullion.

The Daewongun hardened his refusal to open the country. The Oppert grave robbery of 1868 and the American expedition of 1871 followed. The looted protocols came back to Korea in 2011 as a renewable long-term loan.

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The map in 1866

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States and rulers at the time: Joseon · invaded — Gojong
France · invader
Places: Jeongjok Fortress, Ganghwa

People

Yang Heon-su1816 – 1888
commander · Commander who repelled the French at Jeongjok Fortress in 1866
Pierre-Gustave Roze1812 – 1883
commander · Commander of the French Far East squadron who attacked Ganghwa in 1866
Heungseon Daewongun1820 – 1898
related figure · Gojong's father and regent, who rebuilt Gyeongbokgung and rejected Western trade

Before and after

Earlier: 1866 General Sherman Incident
Later: 1868 Oppert’s Grave Robbery Attempt

Themes that include this event

The Opening of East Asia1839 – 1901
From the Opium War to the Boxer Protocol — sixty years in which China, Japan and Korea, forced open by Western gunboats, each tried to reform and went separate ways
Printing and Documentary HeritageAD 751 – 2011
From the Dharani Sutra to the May 18 archives — woodblock and metal-type printing, and the records inscribed on the Memory of the World
Ganghwa Island1000 BC – 2011
From dolmens to the Treaty of Ganghwa — Goryeo’s refuge capital and the stage of Korea’s opening, the island the kingdom fell back on in every crisis