DECEMBER 29, 2012

Diplomats sometimes have to answer the question of when their country and the host country to which they are accredited first met; that is, when the first contact took place or when the two peoples came to know each other. Although I majored in international relations in college I have also had a deep interest in history, the history of every corner of the world. So, with my deep interest in history, even before I came to the Sultanate of Oman, I was aware of the general understanding in Korea of when the first contact between the Korean people and the Arab world took place.

As is widely known, starting from the 8th century, Arabs advanced to many parts of the world by sea. Accordingly, from the middle of the 8th century, many Arabs sailed to China from ports located in what is today Oman. And according to Chinese records, there was a large Arab community, especially in Canton Province. In fact, it reached the level of almost ten thousand people. 

In the year 828 Jang Bogo, who was half Korean half Chinese, sponsored by the king of the Korean kingdom (the Silla Dynasty) opened a naval and trading base at Wan-do ('do' means island) in southwestern Korea, and named the base Chunghae-jin. 'Chunghae' means a blue sea, and 'jin' means a fort. It is almost certain that he traded with Arab merchants or traders from Canton Province.

I would now like to bring to the attention of Omani readers a hypothesis well known in Korea. Between 1281 and 1283, a Buddhist monk compiled the 'Samguk Yusa' which means a Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms. It is a collection of legends, folktales, and historical accounts relating to the three ancient kingdoms of Korea, as well as to periods in history other than that of the Three Kingdoms. (*From some two thousand years ago until the year 676, the Korean people comprised three kingdoms, namely Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, the last of which defeated the other two in 676. The expanded Silla kingdom lasted until 935. ) And one of the folktales relates to a son of the Dragon King.

The story goes as follows. In the year 879 King Heongang of the Silla Kingdom went on an excursion to a beach in the southeastern city of Ulsan. On his way back home, the king felt strange when he looked at the sky which was covered with dark clouds and fog and asked his retainers the reason. The court astronomer replied that as it had been caused by the Dragon King in the East Sea, and could be resolved by doing good deeds. 

And when the King ordered a temple to be built for the Dragon King, the dark clouds disappeared and the Dragon King, along with his seven sons, emerged from the East Sea and danced in front of King Heonkang. One of the Dragon King's sons, named Cheoyong, followed King Heongang to the capital, married a beautiful woman and held an official rank. 

One day when Cheoyong came back home late at night he found his wife with a man. But he did not do much about it. Cheoyong kind of ignored it and tried to leave the scene. The man who was with his wife stopped Cheoyong, wondering why Cheoyong did not protest at least. Cheoyong's answer was "What can I do if she is not my woman anymore?"

The man, overwhelmed by Cheoyong's generosity, kneeled in front of Cheoyong, asked for forgiveness, and made a confession that he was not human, but a devil spreading disease. He told Cheoyong that from now he would not enter any house which had a picture of Cheoyong at its gate.

And from that time Cheoyong became a most revered icon in Korea and the dance honouring him developed into a court dance and a much loved Korean mask dance. It was performed to drive off evil spirits at the end of the year. It was designated in 1971 by the Korean Government as Important Intangible Cultural Heritage of Korea No. 39. 

In 1969 one Korean university professor, Yongbeom Lee, in his contribution to an academic journal, presented a hypothesis that Cheoyong may have been an Arab (or Muslim) who happened to land or was shipwrecked off the coast of the Shilla Kingdom. Since then that hypothesis has been increasingly known amongst the public. Today, many people in Korea believe that it is more than a possibility. 

So it seems that the contact between the Korean people and Oman dates back to as early as the 9th century. Indeed, many of those Arab traders who came to East Asia at the time are believed to have been Omanis, or at least to have left from what is today Oman, that is Sohar or Sur. We all know that Oman was a place from which many Sindbads embarked on their journeys.

In the Koryo Dynasty which followed the Silla Dynasty and lasted from 918 to1392, the contact between us was clear. According to Korean records, the trade with the Arab world was very active. And such Arab or Muslim writers as Ibn Khurdadbeh (9th century), Al-Idrisi (12th century) and Rashid Al Din (13th century) referred to a Korean kingdom in their books.

As Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Sultanate, I would therefore like to emphasise once again that we are very old friends! Jonghyun Choe is ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Sultanate  of Oman

© Times of Oman 2012