The Geomun Island Incident or the Port Hamilton Incident was the occupation of
Geomundo
Komundo or Port Hamilton, officially Geomun-do in Korean language, Korean (Hangul: 거문도 'Geomun-do'' Hanja: 巨文島 or 巨門島) is a small group of islands in the Jeju Strait off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula, located ap ...
(also Komundo or Port Hamilton),
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, by the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
from 15 April 1885 to 27 February 1887.
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
had intended to use the island as a coaling station.
While the British government was alarmed by rumors of a secret agreement between Russia and Korea, these rumors did not reach the British Cabinet until after the decision to occupy Geomundo had been taken.
[Lensen, G. A. (1989) ''Balance of Intrigue: International Rivalry in Korea & Manchuria, 1884–1899''. University Press of Florida (2 vols.). Vol. 1: p. 54.] The port was taken to establish a British port in the Far East outside
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in the event of a war with Russia, to mitigate the harmful potential of possible Chinese neutrality.
In official statements, the British government claimed that the occupation had been undertaken to preempt Russian annexation of the islands. In response, diplomats such as the then French minister to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and newspapers such as the ''Novoe Vremiya'' speculated that Russia would counterbalance the British occupation by seizing Port Lazarev (
Wonsan
Wŏnsan (), previously known as Wŏnsanjin (), Port Lazarev, and Genzan (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwŏn Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...
) or
Jeju Island.
Russia threatened to occupy parts of Korea, in response to British actions. After receiving assurances from the Russians that they would not occupy any part of Korea, the British withdrew.
The proposal to occupy the islands had been considered earlier by the
British Cabinet
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the senior decision-making body of His Majesty's Government. A committee of the Privy Council, it is chaired by the prime minister and its members include secretaries of state and other senior ministers.
...
, in July 1875, but was rejected by Foreign Secretary
Lord Derby
Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...
as setting a poor precedent.
See also
*
United States expedition to Korea (1871)
*
French campaign against Korea (1866)
The French expedition to Korea (french: Expédition française en Corée, ) was an 1866 punitive expedition undertaken by the Second French Empire against Joseon Korea in retaliation for the execution of seven French Catholic missionaries. Th ...
References
External links
ENGLAND'S NEW EASTERN PORT.New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
27 November 1885
19th-century military history of the United Kingdom
International maritime incidents
Diplomatic incidents
Joseon dynasty
Conflicts in 1885
Korea–United Kingdom relations
Russia–United Kingdom relations
The Great Game
Punitive expeditions of the United Kingdom
Battles and conflicts without fatalities
1885 in Korea
{{Korea-hist-stub