Korean History › Late Joseon › Heungseon Daewongun
French campaign against Korea (Byeonin yangyo)
October–November 1866· War· Wars & invasions
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
A French naval raid on Ganghwa Island in 1866, launched to punish the execution of French missionaries and beaten back by Korean troops.
See it on the Korean History map →What happened
Known in Korea as Byeongin yangyo (병인양요), "the Western disturbance of 1866." After nine French priests were executed that year, Rear Admiral Pierre-Gustave Roze sailed from China with seven ships and several hundred men, roughly 600 to 1,000 by various counts. In October they seized Ganghwa town, which guards the river route to Seoul. Korean troops ambushed them at Munsusanseong and, on November 9, beat them at Jeongjoksanseong. The French withdrew, burning a royal archive and taking about 300 volumes of court records (uigwe).
Why it matters
The apparent victory convinced the Daewongun that isolation worked; the looted uigwe became a long dispute, settled by their return to Korea on loan in 2011.
How we know
Roze's reports and French naval records, Korean court records, and the uigwe themselves, found in France's National Library in 1975 by Korean librarian Park Byeong-seon.
Still debated
Casualty figures are uncertain, and France still formally treats the returned books as a renewable loan rather than a repatriation.
Connections (2)
▸Catholic persecutions in Joseon triggered French campaign against Korea (Byeonin yangyo)Well documented
The connection
Among those executed in early 1866 were nine French priests, including Bishop Siméon Berneux. Father Félix-Clair Ridel escaped to China and reported to the French navy. Rear Admiral Roze, encouraged by France's chargé d'affaires in Beijing, Henri de Bellonet, launched a punitive expedition that autumn.
When and how
Executions in Seoul, spring 1866; Ridel reached China in July; the fleet sailed for Korea in September and again in October.
How we know
French diplomatic and naval correspondence, including Bellonet's letter to the Qing claiming France would choose Korea's next king.
Debates and open questions
Whether Paris approved the campaign beforehand, or Bellonet and Roze acted on their own, is debated.
▸Heungseon Daewongun repelled French campaign against Korea (Byeonin yangyo)Well documented
The connection
The Daewongun rejected talks, mobilized troops, including tiger hunters from the north, and ordered the Han River defended. After a Korean ambush at Munsusanseong and a defeat at Jeongjoksanseong, the French left. He presented this as proof that Joseon could keep Westerners out, and stepped up both persecution and coastal defense.
When and how
Ganghwa Island and the Han River mouth, October–November 1866; General Yang Heon-su commanded at Jeongjoksanseong.
How we know
Korean court records and French naval reports agree on the withdrawal, though not on losses.
Debates and open questions
Whether the French left because of defeat or because Roze judged the raid pointless before winter is debated.