ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Naval Academy has agreed temporarily to return a Korean flag captured by Marines in an obscure 1871 battle, in response to requests from a South Korean cultural delegation that visited Annapolis this year.
“It will mean a great deal to Koreans when they see this flag come back,” said Thomas Duvernay, a professor of English and Korean history at Handong Global University in Pohang, South Korea. “This flag is like Old Glory or the Liberty Bell.”
Naval Academy officials confirmed Wednesday that the flag would be returned for an initial two-year period after representatives from South Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration visit next week to examine it.
Initially, it wasn’t clear that the flag could be returned because of U.S. laws ordering that “colors” taken in battle from adversaries be displayed at the Naval Academy, where more than 200 such banners are held from battles dating back centuries. Returning it on a loan is a way to circumvent those rules, officials said.
Historians believe the 1871 skirmish broke out from a misunderstanding while U.S. officials sought to open what was then Corea to trade in an age of rising American influence abroad.
Five American ships went to Corea and began exploring the country’s coasts after a brief meeting with a low-level delegation. When the ships reached Kanghwa Island west of Seoul, they were fired upon from several forts and returned fire. U.S. commanders launched an amphibious assault and sacked a Korean citadel.
Despite being overpowered by Marines, the Koreans fought fiercely, finally resorting to throwing rocks and dirt when they were unable to reload their muskets. They lost 350 men, compared with three Americans, although the incident did prompt U.S. forces to leave the country a short time later.
For Korea, the hard-fought battle has come to symbolize a great victory.
The flag was the standard of Gen. Uh Je-yeon, who died in the battle. It was displayed for nearly a century in the academy’s halls after a careful and expensive 1913 preservation job. Now it is neatly folded in a glass display case at the Naval Academy museum.
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