The sailing route of the Joseon Tongsinsa ship from / Courtesy of the National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage
A 34.5-meter wooden vessel once used to carry Korean envoys to Japan has returned to Korea’s waters as a floating museum, offering the public a rare chance to step inside a reconstructed piece of 18th-century diplomacy.
The National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage said Thursday that the Joseon Tongsinsa ship is taking part in the 16th Hwaseong Sea Leisure Festival in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, running through May 29.
The ship is a full-scale reconstruction of a Joseon Dynasty diplomatic vessel built in 2018 and used in modern reenactment voyages along historic Korea-Japan maritime routes since 2023.
In 2025, the vessel entered Osaka Port for the first time in 261 years since the last official Joseon envoy mission, according to the institute, highlighting what officials describe as Korea’s traditional shipbuilding and navigation expertise.
