Society

UNESCO lists visits by Korean envoys to Japan

Oct 31 (NHK) - UNESCO has decided to add historic records of visits by Korean envoys to Japan between the 17th and 19th centuries to its Memory of the World Register.

UNESCO announced the decision on its website on Monday.

Envoys representing the Korean Dynasty visited Japan 12 times during the Edo period to deliver letters from the monarchy.

Such visits mostly coincided with changes in the leadership of the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan.

The Korean envoys first arrived in Tsushima Island in western Japan. Members of the Tsushima clan then guided the delegates to Edo, present-day Tokyo.

The size of the delegations varied for each trip. One was comprised of around 500 people. It included Confucian scholars, doctors and painters.

Experts say the Korean envoys helped revive exchanges between the 2 countries that were halted during the late 16th century, when Japanese warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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