Yeonmudang Old Site

Yeonmudang, located across from the west gate of Ganghwasanseong Fortress, was a training ground built in the 7th year of King Gojong's reign (1870) to train the soldiers of the Ganghwa Yusu-bu (Ganghwa Magistrate's Office). However, it was here in 1876 that the Ganghwa Treaty was forcibly signed under the threat of Japanese soldiers armed with bayonets and cannons. The Ganghwa Treaty was the first modern treaty signed by Joseon with a foreign country, but it was an unequal treaty unilaterally favorable to Japan, forcing Korea to open the ports of Busan, Incheon, and Wonsan to Japan and to grant extraterritorial rights. To preserve this humiliating historical site and inspire national self-reliance, a monument stele was erected and is maintained.