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During August, I visited Gangjin county (Brian’s old stomping ground), in rural Jeollanam-do for the 13th Gangjin Celadon Festival. I’m a big fan of Korean ceramic arts and products, and was keen to take a look at the festival in Gangjin as the county is renowned for the quality of its ceramic works.

Beautiful ceramic vase

For when only the best will do ...

I did also have an ulterior motive for the visit, however. You see the sleepy village of Byeongyeong (or Byoungyoung, or several other derivatives), just outside the town of Gangjin, was the temporary home of Korea’s first Westerners, a Dutchman named Hendrick Hamel and fellow captives. Bookkeeper Hamel and his crew-mates had the misfortune of getting shipwrecked on the island of Jeju-do, just south of the mainland of the Joseon Dynasty in 1653, then aptly known as the ‘hermit kingdom’. What followed for Hamel and his men was a thoroughly unpleasant, uncomfortable and seemingly inescapable thirteen years at the hands of their Korean captors. Seemingly uncertain just what to do with the 35 hairy barbarians wrecked onto the Jeju shores, their captors carted the weary Dutchmen north from boondock to boondock until they became guests of the Joseon King’s court and a constant source of amusement for the king in Seoul, then known as Hanseong, for a number of years.

Eventually, the king tired of the hairy rogues and banished what was left of them – several of the crew died over the years – to what was, and still is, the outpost of the nation, deep, dark Jeollanam-do. Five men ended up in Namwon, Jeollabuk-do, five ended up in my very own Suncheon – it was cosmopolitan even way back then! – and the remaining 12, including Hamel, in Byeongyeong. Hamel and his men left their mark on the town of Byeongyeong as you will see in this informative link created by a visiting Dutchman, Jan Boonstra, 342 years after his co-patriots left including: 6ft western-style walls (previously unseen elsewhere on the Korean peninsula), irrigation canals, and statues remarkably similar to Jeju’s harubangs (previously unseen elsewhere on the peninsula). Other traits, which are somewhat touchy and controversial in nationalistic, homogeneous South Korea, are the apparent residue effects of probable inter-breeding between the randy Dutch and the fair maidens of Byeongyeong, and possibly, Namwon, and even gasp, Suncheon. Anecdotal evidence points to individuals of these parts, particularly those of the Nam family name, having tall, robust physiques, Western facial features and lighter eyes.

Jeju-do harubang

Byeongyeong harubang

From Jan Boonstra’s website:

It is also possible that some men met local women and through marriage or otherwise fathered children, whose descendants still live here. The Dutch were given the Korean name Nam. There are several roots for the clan of Nam in Korea, but one originates from around Byeongyeong. And it is from this region, that many people named Nam have typical features like a large body and facial characteristics that may well be from the foreigners in the 17th century. When professor Kim Tae Jin of the Chonnam University in Gwangju did research on this subject, he encountered resistance and a lack of cooperation from the people, as it is regarded as shameful to have mixed blood and not to be of pure Korean breed. Maybe the grand (sic) grandparents of these nice old ladies could tell more! Long time ago, before the Korean war, a tall man from Byeongyeong with western facial features called Nam, moved to the north and became a general in the army. It is said that when the North Korean army raided this area, the village of Byeongyeong was spared on special orders from general Nam.

This link, also created by a touring Dutchman, also contains anecdotal evidence of blue (or blu-ish)-eyed locals. Unfortunately, I didn’t encounter any myself that day but, have from time to time have met Koreans round these parts with almost Eurasian features and light eyes – perhaps they are distant descendants of Hamel and his men!

Hamel and a few of his men managed to comandeer a boat in Yeosu in 1666 and escape to Japan, where they relived their encounters which formed the first Western accounts of the secretive Joseon dynasty.

Thankfully, the historic links between Hamel and his men and the Joseon Dynasty have fostered friendlier relations between the modern states of the Republic of Korea and the Netherlands, particularly that of Gangjin county and Hamel’s hometown of Gorinchem, who share a sister-city relationship and relatively frequent cultural exchanges. Another welcome new attraction to the village of Byeongyeong is the Jeolla Military Fortress Hamel Memorial Museum, in honour of the Dutchman and his mates. Below are some photos of the museum and surrounding. The full album, also containing the Celadon festival, is located here.

Jeolla Military Fortress and Hamel Memorial Museum

6ft walls unique to Byeongyeong

17th century Dutch cannon

Hamel's Journal (or replica of)

Dutch plate