17th century 'bullanggi' cannon unearthed from fortification of Joseon Dynasty

INCHEON -- A 17th-century cannon used during the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty has been excavated from an old fortress on an island off Incheon, west of Seoul, the Incheon municipality said Tuesday, the first time such an artifact has been recovered from a place where it was deployed.

The local government said the cannon, called "bullanggi" and believed to date back to the dynasty in 1680, has been discovered in the Geonpyeong Fortification on Ganghwa Island, in which repair work was underway.

This photo, released by the Incheon municipal government on April 25, 2017, shows a 17th-century cannon, called "bullanggi" and used during the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty. The cannon, believed to date back to the dynasty in 1680, has been discovered in the Geonpyeong Fortification on Ganghwa Island, in which repair work was underway. (Yonhap)

The inscription on the cannon, which is 1.05 meters long and has a caliber of 0.04 meter, revealed that it was one of the 150 bullanggi deployed on the island in February 1680.

Bullanggi, introduced to Joseon via China from Europe in the 16th century, quickly became a favorite of the Korean military and stayed that way for a long time. This kind of cannon was much easier to load and fire than the artillery Korea had used up to that point.

The fortification was one of 54 that had been built to defend the island in the latter part of the Joseon Dynasty since China's Qing Dynasty troops' invasion of Korea in 1636. (Yonhap)