Europe Named Korea Before It Knew Its Shape

A European map from 1595 drew this country as a long, narrow island and labeled it COREA INSVLA. A map from 1655 joined it to the mainland. For decades, printers put out both versions, and the men drawing them were working from reports, not from sight. Yet the name they wrote down is the one English still uses: Korea. In Korean, the country's official name is different. So where did the English word come from? We follow it through a Jesuit report written in Goa in 1548, a Dutch book of sea routes printed in 1595, and an 1882 American treaty that printed two names instead of one. We also check a popular story about the spelling against the records we could find. CHAPTERS 0:00 Island or mainland? 0:58 Fragments from far away 1:48 A report from Goa 2:36 A war puts the name in print 3:06 Two names in one book 3:43 Who was Europe asking? 4:28 The name chosen inside 5:23 A name decided for them 6:02 Two states, two names 6:32 One sentence, both names 7:00 Two histories 7:51 What about the K? 9:13 Back to the passport ABOUT THIS VIDEO Screens labeled "Historical record" show the original maps, books, photographs and documents. Screens labeled "Modern reconstruction" were drawn for this video: the passport lines and the 1568 chart. The 1883 letter is set in type from the official transcription. Labels: RECORDED = stated in the record shown. LATER ACCOUNT = written down later. NOT ESTABLISHED = the evidence we checked does not settle it. "via research" = taken from the study listed below. Illustrations and two short video clips are AI-generated and stylized; they are not historical images. Narration is a synthetic (AI) voice. SOURCES Study • Jaime González-Bolado, "Pars Coray: The Circulation of Geographical Knowledge on Korea in Early Modern Europe," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (2026), open access — https://doi.org/10.1017/S008044012510... Records • Annals of King Taejo, Taejo 2.2.15 (1393) — https://sillok.history.go.kr/id/kaa_1... • Annals of King Gojong, Gojong 34.10.11–13 (1897; compiled 1927–1935) — https://sillok.history.go.kr/id/kza_1... • Kanpō (Official Gazette of Japan), extra edition, 29 August 1910, p. 6 — Imperial Ordinance No. 318. National Diet Library Digital Collections, 2951509 • Provisional Charter of the Republic of Korea, 11 April 1919, Article 1 • Constitution of the Republic of Korea, promulgated 17 July 1948, Article 1 • United States Statutes at Large, vol. 23, p. 720 — Treaty with Corea, concluded 22 May 1882, proclaimed 4 June 1883 — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/S... • Papers relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1883, No. 380, Bingham to Frelinghuysen, 18 October 1883, with enclosure — https://history.state.gov/historicald... Maps, books and photographs on screen • Iaponiae insvlae descriptio, 1595 — Special Collections, University of Amsterdam, OTM HB-KZL 33.17.25 (via Wikimedia Commons) • Imperii sinarvm nova descriptio, in M. Martini & J. Blaeu, Novus Atlas Sinensis, 1655 — Library of Congress, 2002625249 (via Wikimedia Commons) • Linschoten, Reys-gheschrift (Amsterdam: Cornelis Claesz, 1595), title page — Biblioteca Nacional de España, GMM/30331 (scan via Internet Archive) • Cartas que los padres y hermanos de la Compañía de Jesús… (Alcalá, 1575), title page — Biblioteca de la Universidad de Sevilla (via Internet Archive) • Copia d'una lettera annua scritta dal Giappone nel M.D.XCV (Rome: Luigi Zannetti, 1598), title page and p. 11 — Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma (via Google Books / Internet Archive) • Kojong, emperor of Korea, photograph © 1904 by G. G. Bain — Library of Congress, LCCN 2003666654 • Ceremony inaugurating the government of the Republic of Korea, Seoul, 15 August 1948 (via Wikimedia Commons) • 1568 chart: modern reconstruction after Fernão Vaz Dourado, "Iapam" (Casa de Alba Foundation), as described in González-Bolado 2026 • Location maps drawn from Natural Earth data (public domain) MUSIC "In Search Of Solitude" by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au "Passage of Time" by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au "Shoulders Of Giants" by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au "Unraveling" by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au "Shadows and Dust" by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au #KoreanHistory #Korea #History #DaehanMinguk