HISTORY
Jeju Island, because of its geographic situation, was always prone to being isolated from mainland Korea. A brief history presentation of Jeju Island will show how Jeju islanders because of recurrent disagreement with mainland government, lead multiple rebellions throughout the years and how various invasions had a linguistic influence on Jeju speech. This marginalization of Jeju certainly explains the development and existence of a Jeju language.
The Mongol Invasions (1231-1257) and the Sambyeolcho Rebellion (1270-1273)
During the 13th century, Korea was the victim of Mongols invasion. Starting 1231, Goryeo, the Kingdom of Korea was invaded six times by the Mongol Empire. After 1260, Goryeo became a tributary state to the Mongol Empire. In 1270, two commanders, unhappy with the current ruler of Goryeo’s deference to the Mongol Empire started a revolt: the Sambyeolcho Rebellion.
The rebels first went to Kangwha island and made profit of the absence of officials and took their family as hostages and the island’s treasure and left with 1’000 ships. The rebels then went on with pillaging all the islands surrounding Korea’s western coast and took possession of Jeju island (then called Tamna). After three years of fights, in May 1273, the Mongol-Goryeo forces finally won against the rebel forces. The Mongol and Goryeo army left the island and stationed 500 Mongol and 1’000 Goryeo soldiers in Jeju island to protect them from other uprisings. Part of Jeju Island was made into a grazing area for Mongol cavalry. Nowadays, Jejueo still has words of Mongolian origins (most of them being horse-related vocabulary):
MONGOLIAN
JEJUEO
qaramorin ‘black horse’
가라ᄆᆞᆯ (garamawl) ‘black horse’
qulamorin ‘brownish horse’
구라ᄆᆞᆯ (guramawl) ‘brownish horse’
toqum ‘wool mat under a saddle’
도곰 (dogom) ‘straw mat under a saddle’
noɣta ‘bridle, halter’
녹대 (nogdae) ‘bridle, halter’
The Joseon Dynasty - 대조선국 (De-jo-seon-gug) - (1392-1910)
For Jeju islanders, Jeju Island was a harsh and arid land. Locals would even be plundered by Japanese pirates from time to time.
Because of its isolation and remoteness from the mainland, Jeju Island was used as a place of exile. Its isolation and its neglect by the government , were the main causes of constant rebellions during the 19th century.
In 1813, a plot made by locals to attack the administrative offices was repressed. Another revolt took place in 1863 because of excessive taxation. As the island was quite remote, it took four months to the government to restore its authority on the island. 1890-1891 saw another rebellion by Jeju inhabitants. In 1896, the islanders protested new reforms heavily influenced by Japanese after their victory in the Sino-Japanese war. In 1901, they revolted one more time against the establishment of new tax administration. These recurring rebellions underlines a repeated opposition to the official government and a strong dissent with mainland Korea.
Japanese Korea - 일제강점기 (Il-je-gang-jeom-gi) - 1910-1945
On 22 August 1910, Japan annexed Korea. The first article of the treaty clearly stipulated: "His Majesty the Emperor of Korea concedes completely and definitely his entire sovereignty over the whole Korean territory to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.". Jeju Island made no exception and was also put under Japanese rule. Many islanders lost their and had to sell their possession to be able to pay Japanese new taxes.
In 1920, established a ferry service to Osaka and remove passports requirements. Many Jeju people took advantage of this and fled the island poverty and military oppression. By 1935, around 50'000 islanders were living in Osaka. That is why Jejueo is also spoken by few ethnic Koreans in the area of Osaka.
Japanese government also encouraged its citizen to settle on Jeju island. Japanese occupation on the island was especially heavy during the Pacific War where Japan turned the island into a fortress. It is said that there were more soldiers than civilians on the island at that time.
Just like everywhere else in Korea, Japanese occupation left a heavy and dark scars in people's mind. Nowadays, one can still see remains of Japanese rule such as encampments or hangars.
Jeju Uprising - 3rd April 1948 - 제주4·3사건 (Je-ju-4.3-sa-geon)
On 15 August 1945, Japan surrendered to Allied forces. The declaration of the Soviet Japanese War divided the Korean peninsula in two parts: the north being occupied by the Soviet Union and the south by US forces. In september 1945, US forces established a military government to administer the south of the peninsula. In 1948, UN decided to oragnize general elections on the whole Korean peninsula. Soviet Union refused it and elections were led only in the southern part.
Protests took place in Jeju island one year before the elections, since March 1st 1947: protesters were against the division of Korea in two parts. However, April 3rd, 1948 is considered at the official Jeju uprising. On April 3rd, around 500 Korean guerrillas and 3'000 followers attacked the US-backed South Korean police and paramilitary groups. There was a first attempt to end things peacefully but neither side could find common ground. The US then sent mutliple companies with 1'700 soldiers each. Between 14'000 and 30'000 people were killed (10% of Jeju's population) and around 40'000 fled to Japan. Jeju uprising is notable for the cruel methods used by Korean governments and harsh violence against civilians. In 2006, South Korean government apologized and promised reparations. In 2019, South Korean police and ministry of defense apologized for the massacres. More than 70 years after the massacres, families of the fallend victims and Jeju people still seek justice and demand an official apology to the US forces.
Works used:
Henthorn, W. E. (1963). Korea: the Mongol invasions. Brill Archive.
Hilty, A. (2015). Jeju Island: reaching to the core of beauty (Vol. 5). Seoul Selection.
Merrill, J. (1980). The Cheju-do Rebellion. Journal of Korean Studies, 2(1), 139-197.
Jeju weekly: Jeju and the three patrols revolt Part 1 and Part 2