hankyoreh

First lady Kim Jung-sook visits the National Archives of Hungary on Wednesday and examines an old European map that describes the area east of the Korean Peninsula as the “Small East Sea.” (provided by the Blue House)

While visiting the National Archives of Hungary on Wednesday, South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook was given a copy of an 18th-century European map that labels the sea off the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula with the Latin phrase “MARE ORIENTALE MINVS,” meaning “Small East Sea.” Kim was on a state visit to Hungary with her husband, President Moon Jae-in.

“Korea is identified here as ‘CAOLI KUO, COREA, CHAO SIEN,’” said Blue House spokesperson Park Kyung-mee on Thursday, while viewing the map she’d received from the first lady.

“This map, which was produced in Europe in 1730, shows that the sea on the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula was regarded as the ‘East Sea’ in 18th century Europe,” Park added.

That body of water is often called the “Sea of Japan,” but Korea has campaigned for international maps to also label it as the “East Sea.”

(from the Facebook of Tak Hyun-min, Blue House protocol secretary)

Officials from the Hungarian and Korean national archives explained that the map was particularly rare and valuable because it came from the 1730 first printing, rather than the 1739 edition, of which more copies have survived.

After reading “Small East Sea,” labeled on the map, Kim said, “Thank you for giving us such a truly rare item.”

Kim also complimented researchers from both countries’ national archives for unearthing documents linking the two amid the extensive of records at the National Archives of Hungary.

Korea and Hungary’s national archives used the occasion to sign a memorandum of understanding about cooperation on record storage.

By presenting the Korean first lady with this old European map that lists the “Small East Sea,” Hungary may have been seeking to promote economic and diplomatic cooperation with Korea.

When Moon paid a visit to Spain in June, he had a chance to view an old map at the Spanish senate library called “Royaume de Coree” (Kingdom of Korea), dating to 1730. The map represents Ulleung Island and the Dokdo islets, both off Korea’s eastern coast, as belonging to Korea.

(from the Facebook of Tak Hyun-min, Blue House protocol secretary)

Another notable part of Kim’s visit to the National Archives of Hungary was the viewing of a 1902 diary and 1918 book by Count Peter Vay, a Hungarian priest who recorded his impressions of Korea while doing missionary work there.

“[Japan’s] brutality has made Koreans’ resistance even stronger. Japan’s measures could serve to awaken a sense of pride in the Korean people. There’s no doubt that the Korean people are superior to the invaders. The Koreans could learn from and surpass the Japanese and eventually regain their sovereignty,” Vay wrote.

“I’ve already written that Busan will serve as a gate to the continent of Asia because of its special geopolitical location. Busan is a link in a great chain that begins in Europe and passes through Siberia, Central Asia and Japan on its way to the United States. All express trains departing Paris and Saint Petersburg for Asia head toward Busan. Busan today is the actual terminus, the endpoint of the long journey linking Europe and Asia,” the priest also wrote.

“That felt like traveling a hundred years into the past,” remarked Kim, after reading these passages aloud with Csaba Szabo, director of the National Archives of Hungary.

“[Vay] perfectly foretold the Republic of Korea’s vision of reconnecting the railroad links with North Korea that have been severed since the peninsula’s division and connecting us to Russia and Europe. The future of Korea that Vay envisioned at its darkest hour has become our reality,” Kim said.

By Lee Wan, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]