Usando Was Not Takeshima:
An Analysis of the Newly Discovered Reproduction of Kim Jeong-ho's Mapof the Great East Land
By Shimojo Masao, Professor at Takushoku University
On August 2, 2017, the online edition of South Korea's Yonhap News reported that a handdrawn reproduction of Map of the Great East Land, a map of Korea originally created by thefamed nineteenth-century cartographer Kim Jeong-ho, had been discovered in Japan.
According to Yonhap News, this reproduction map included the island of Takeshima, known
as Dokdo in Korea, as Korean territory, strengthening Korea's claim to the island, whoseownership is today disputed between Japan and Korea. Many other media outlets promptly
picked up this story, running headlines like "New Historical Map Found in Japan Marks
Dokdo as Korean Territory" (from the online edition of The Korea Times) or "19th Century
Copy of Korea Map Found with Dokdo Islets" (from the online edition of KBS World Radio).
It was Professor Nam Kwon-hee of Kyungpook National University who found the handdrawn reproduction of Map of the Great East Land (Daedong Yeojido in Korean) that wasalleged to include the island of Takeshima. Upon announcing his discovery, Professor Nam
stated that, "Map of Korea (Chonggudo in Korean), a full-color map that Kim Jeong-ho
completed in 1834, includes Dokdo on the right side of the island of Ulleungdo. And yet, Mapof the Great East Land, which he produced later, omits Dokdo. We can thus assume thatwhen this reproduction was drawn, it was supplemented with the parts that had been left outof the original Map of the Great East Land, which was a woodblock print."
In fact, the island depicted on thereproduction of Map of the GreatEast Land is not labeled as
Takeshima or Dokdo, but rather as"Usando", which the Korean
government has equated withTakeshima. As evidence, theKorean side cites a footnote in thegeography section of Reference
Compilation of Documents on
Korea (Dongguk Munheon Bigo inKorean), which was written in1770. This footnote claimed toquote Yu Hyeong-won's book
Geography of Korea (DonggukYeojiji in Korean) as saying that, "Usando is the island that the Japanese call Matsushima."
Matsushima was the old name for Takeshima.
However, the original text of Geography of Korea merely says that, "Usando and Ulleungdo
are the same island." There is no description equating Usando with Matsushima. The footnote

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in Reference Compilation of Documents on Korea had actually adopted the testimony of Ahn
Yong-bok, a sailor who made an unauthorized visit to Japan's Tottori Domain in 1696 and,
when he was interrogated upon returning to Korea, claimed that, "Matsushima is Usando, andis also a territory of our country of Korea."
Therefore, it is not a verified fact, as Professor Nam Kwon-hee assumes, that the Usando
depicted on the reproduction of Map of the Great East Land is synonymous with Takeshima.
Moreover, even the Usando/Matsushima to which Ahn Yong-bok referred could not havebeen the island we now know as Takeshima. When Ahn snuck into Japan, he was carrying a
copy of Map of the Eight Provinces of Korea, which was one of the East Land Survey Maps
(Dongnamdo in Korean) derived from Revised Augmented Survey of the Geography of Korea(Sinjeung Dongguk Yeoji Seungnam in Korean). However, the East Land Survey Maps
depicted Usando as an island west of Ulleungdo and about two thirds of its size, though
Takeshima is actually a much smaller island southeast of Ulleungdo. When Ahn testified that
"Matsushima is Usando", he must have meant the Usando of the East Land Survey Maps.
Consequently, there is simply no proof to back Professor Nam's argument that Usando is one
and the same as Takeshima.
Furthermore, the fallout from Ahn Yong-bok's unauthorized travels in Japan ultimately led
the Korean government to have an official inspector, Bak Seok-chang, go to Ulleungdo andsurvey the island. In 1711, Bak produced Map of Ulleungdo (Ulleungdo Dohyeong in Korean)that includes Usando as Jukdo, an island located about two kilometers east of Ulleungdo.
Since then, Jukdo was the island that Korean maps designated as Usando. Takeshima, which
is 92 kilometers south east of Ulleungdo, has never been called Usando.

2For the aforementioned reasons, any scholar examining an antique map depicting Usandomust first determine whether that map is based on Map of Ulleungdo or the older East Land
Survey Maps. Kim Jeong-ho's 1834 Map of Korea, for example, is based on Bak Seok-chang'sMap of Ulleungdo, and thus its Usando is actually Jukdo, not Takeshima. Map of Korea
shows trees growing on Usando, in accordance with Bak's description of Usando as "a field ofhaejang bamboo", but the real Takeshima, unlike Jukdo, is a rocky crag on which no trees cangrow.
Usando was not depicted at all on the original Map of the Great East Land, which Kim Jeongho published about thirty years after the release of his Map of Korea. Around the same time,
he also published Geographic Accounts of the Great East Land (Daedong Jiji in Korean),which likewise did not include Usando. Though Kim Jeong-ho compiled Geographic
Accounts of the Great East Land on the basis of Revised Augmented Survey of the Geographyof Korea, he omitted the Usando that the East Land Survey Maps had adopted from it.
When the aforementioned reproduction of Map of the Great East Land was discovered inJapan, Professor Nam concluded that the addition of Usando, which he believed to be
Takeshima, was a "supplement" undertaken by a later author.
However, Map of Korea and the original Map of the Great East Land inserted a note above
Ulleungdo that reads, "east to west 24 kilometers, south to north 16 kilometers, circumference
80 kilometers." The part about "circumference 80 kilometers" was clearly taken from Bak
Seok-chang's comment that, "The circumference of Ulleungdo is a mere 80 kilometers." In
addition, both Map of Korea and the reproduction of Map of the Great East Land include thefive other small islands, apart from Usando (Jukdo), which appear on Bak Seok-chang's Mapof Ulleungdo. This constitutes important proof that both of these two maps are based on Mapof Ulleungdo.
Professor Nam assumed that the Usando that was "supplemented" on the reproduction of Mapof the Great East Land was Takeshima, but it was actually Jukdo as depicted on Kim Jeongho's Map of Korea. The later individual who had reproduced Map of the Great East Land
added Usando without being aware of this fact.
This latter point is plainly demonstrated by the commentary printed above the image ofUlleungdo on the reproduction map. It reads, "In the year of Yeongjong 11, Jo Choe-su,
Governor of Gangwon Province, respectfully reported that Ulleungdo was a spacious landwith fertile soil and abandoned human residences on it, and to its west lay Usando, anotherbroad island. In other words, the island shown on the east of this map is different from the socalled 'west' island."Professor Nam praised the "elegant, detailed penmanship" used to write the commentary, andalso suggested on the basis of it that the reproduction map was made before 1889 when theyear "Yeongjong 11" was officially renamed to "Yeongjo 11". Still, similar commentary also
appears on Map of Korea and Geographic Accounts of the Great East Land, calling intoquestion its usefulness for estimating the date of the reproduction map.
3Nonetheless, the commentary on the reproduction map does append one new line, themapmaker's opinion that, "the island shown on the east of this map is different from the socalled 'west' island." This addition allows us to gauge the extent of the mapmaker's knowledge
about Usando. Jo Choe-su's description of Usando as a broad island to the west of Ulleungdo
matches the Usando depicted on the East Land Survey Maps. On the other hand, the Usandoof Kim Jeong-ho's Map of Korea was Jukdo. The creator of the reproduction map disputed
only the location of Usando at the time he inserted his opinion that "the island shown on theeast of this map is different from the so-called 'west' island", which means that he did not
realize that the "east" Usando was Jukdo. Therefore, the reason why Usando was added to thereproduction of the Map of the Great East Land was not, as Professor Nam asserted, because,"Supplements may have been necessary before the map could be put to practical use."
Kim Jeong-ho depicted Usando (Jukdo) on Map of Korea, but not on the original Map of theGreat East Land or on Geographic Accounts of the Great East Land that he compiled aroundthe same time. Geographic Accounts of the Great East Land (Uljin Section) omitted Usando
even though it was based on the reports of Revised Augmented Survey of the Geography ofKorea, which did include Usando west of Ulleungdo. This was because Kim Jeong-ho had
regarded Usando, the island two thirds the size of Ulleungdo, as being synonymous withJukdo since the time he completed Map of Korea. While Map of the Great East Land wasbeing reproduced, another person must have arbitrarily decided to fill in Usando on the rightside of Ulleungdo, and this Usando was mistaken by Professor Nam as being Takeshima.
Korean research on Takeshima has tended to neglect critical analysis of documents, which isthe foundation of all historical research, and to interpret sources using arbitrary criteria. The
reproduction of Map of the Great East Land included Usando, contrary to the wishes of Kim
Jeong-ho, and this Usando was in turn misrepresented as being Takeshima due to thesloppiness of the current crop of historians who have lacked a critical attitude towards thesources. This explains why so much false and fabricated history continues to come out of
Korea.

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