Japanese gunboat Unyo

, was a Japanese gunboat of the 19th century. Built by A. Hall & Co., Aberdeen in the United Kingdom, completed in July 1870.

She was famously involved in an incident with Korea when she was sounding the waters of the coast of Ganghwa Island. Korea coastal protection forces fired at the ship, to which the Captain of the "Unyo", Inoue Yoshika, responded by firing cannons and sending a landing force. The force destroyed Korean positions, before returning to their ship.

The incident led to a diplomatic row between Korea and Japan, with Japan asking for apologies. As these were not forthcoming, on February 1876 Japan sent a force of warships from the nascent Imperial Japanese Navy in a show of force. The result was the Treaty of Ganghwa, which opened the Korean Peninsula to Japanese and foreign trade.

The incident created by the "Unyo" was apparently an attempt at provoking a Korean reaction, so that Japan could forcibly demand concessions, in a parallel to Western colonial policy. [Nahm, Andrew C. (1993). "Introduction to Korean History and Culture", page 146-7. Seoul: Hollym Corporation ISBN 0-930878-08-6]

References

External links

* [http://f48.aaa.livedoor.jp/~adsawada/siryou/060/resi013.html The Ganghwa incident]