earticle

영어

The purpose of this study is to examine how Russia perceived the Korean Peninsula geographically in the late 19th century through the only Russian-made ‘Карта Азиатской России съ прилегающими къ ней владениями(Map of the Asian region of Russia and its adjacent territories)’ map collected by the National Maritime Museum in 2020. In particular, it is meaningful to examine the role of Russia, which was a relatively weak part, through the activities of Rogin Aleksandrovich Bolshev (Л.А. Большев), a map production expert who was rarely mentioned in Korea. Korean academic circles have focused on studying the changes from the 17th century to the 19th century, focusing on British and French maps, in relation to the markings of the East Sea, Ulleungdo, and Dokdo on old Western maps. The ‘Map of the Asian Region of the Russian Empire (Карта Азиатской России)’ owned by the National Maritime Museum is seen as an important source of information showing Russia’s geopolitical perception of East Asia since the 19th century. In particular, the production of maps through detailed hydrographic surveys of the East Coast is considered significant in that it laid the foundation for modern maps. Ulleungdo was written in Japanese as ‘Matsushima’, but Russia was the first to write the island name of Dokdo separately in Russian as ‘Olive Tea’ for West Island and ‘Menelai’ for East Island. In a situation where Russian materials related to Korea are still not being used properly due to practical difficulties such as data acquisition, the ‘Map of the Asian Region of the Russian Empire (Карта Азиатской России)’ owned by the National Maritime Museum provides not only historical and geographical information but also the turbulent modern and contemporary international relations of the Korean Peninsula. It is believed that it will provide important information for research. In the future, we hope to conduct more in-depth research by supplementing data and linking with adjacent studies.