Plausibility check: Portuguese influence in Korea

As I am in the very early planning stages of creating a Portuguese Asia TL with some inspiration from kasumigenx and Joao97 (with irregular updates due to my school/work balance), I was wondering if it is possible for the Portuguese to influence Korea the same way they did with Japan at around the same time period (mid-16th to 17th centuries), as in discovering them, then trading with Korea like giving firearms, adopting some Western technology and eventually sending Catholic missionaries. How would the arrival of the Portuguese impact Korean history during that time? Would the Imjin war still be roughly the same as OTL?

Also, would it be possible if the Portuguese can gain a Macau-like concession in the Korean peninsula too? In one of my Portugal-based threads, someone said a Portuguese Jeju island is possible.
 
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There is one problem with this: I'm not sure if the Koreans want something that that the Portuguese can offer.

While some Japanese eventual developed an interest in European culture as a curiosity, Portuguese trade in Japan was mostly based on the selling of Chinese goods. The Japanese were banned from trading directly with China as a punishment for wokou piracy, so they needed the Portuguese to act as a middleman.

The Koreans obviously had no such need.

Could they want silver like the Chinese?

I must admit I'm not too knownledgeable of Korea during this period, so I can't figure out if there is something they would like to trade for.
 
As I am in the very early planning stages of creating a Portuguese Asia TL with some inspiration from kasumigenx and Joao97 (with irregular updates due to my school/work balance), I was wondering if it is possible for the Portuguese to influence Korea the same way they did with Japan at around the same time period (mid-16th to 17th centuries), as in discovering them, then trading with Korea like giving firearms, adopting some Western technology and eventually sending Catholic missionaries. How would the arrival of the Portuguese impact Korean history during that time? Would the Imjin war still be roughly the same as OTL?

Also, would it be possible if the Portuguese can gain a Macau-like concession in the Korean peninsula too? In one of my Portugal-based threads, someone said a Portuguese Jeju island is possible.

It's difficult to say. When the Portuguese went to Japan they did not find a united government but a land ruled by local strongmen all vying for power, where they could sell their weapons and Christianity to the Japanese because of those weapons, but what you need to keep in mind is that Portuguese influence in Japan was very limited, and Portugal is stretched out across plenty of trade ports in Asia already.

As for the Imjin War, it will be most likely butterflied away but what happens to Japan depends on the date for the POD you are using.
 
Or assuming a successful Portuguese wank with a surviving Aviz dynasty and winning over the Dutch (which is going to be covered in my proposed TL), could early Portuguese-Korean relations play out much like the early relations between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty but with regional considerations? Say establishing trade relations with the Joseon dynasty with the Portuguese sending someone like Fernão Pires de Andrade to the peninsula around the mid-16th century to make contact with them and if successful, allow a trade mission around either Jeju or modern day Busan. And eventually, spreading Catholicism into the Korean Peninsula from there, and I think the Jesuit/Portuguese missionaries would be partially successful since the Koreans did have sort of a counterpart with the God of Abrahamic religions and it can resonate a bit with them, and I think spreading Catholicism in Korea would be a bit more successful around that time if the Vatican sides with the Jesuits over the Chinese rites controversy, which is also going to be in my TL. One big problem I see though is that Joseon is a tributary state of the Ming, so it would cause a headache for them.
 
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Lusitania

Donor
I say best scenario could be Korea being pressured by Ming or other neighbors and Portuguese able to trade weapons and help defend. Thus establishing a good relationship and this could develop into influence, trade and missionaries. Help if the Portuguese fmfont join the Iberian union.
 
Korea at this time and for most of its history was extremely isolationist, even more so than Japan, so consider that the Portuguese may have to use force against Korea or gunboat diplomacy a la Matthew Perry.
 
Crown Prince Sohyeon's survival would be a decent start, I think. He was apparently open to Western practices, like medicine and Catholicism, and met with Jesuit missionaries in Beijing while a hostage of the Qing Empire. This openness was also apparently led to his death, as his father, King Injo, was very opposed to that sort of mindset and Prince Sohyeon died of mysterious causes after his return to Korea.

Kill Injo early and you get a Jesuit-friendly king willing to introduce Western practices into the peninsula before isolationism can be cemented as a policy for the next couple centuries.

Also, Jeju Island's history with the mainland has been...troubled, to say the least. It was long a place to send political dissidents and raise horses and has a history of rebellions and poor treatment by the mainland, so that being leased wouldn't be unthinkable of, imo.
I say best scenario could be Korea being pressured by Ming or other neighbors and Portuguese able to trade weapons and help defend. Thus establishing a good relationship and this could develop into influence, trade and missionaries. Help if the Portuguese fmfont join the Iberian union.
Korea at this time and for most of its history was extremely isolationist, even more so than Japan, so consider that the Portuguese may have to use force against Korea or gunboat diplomacy a la Matthew Perry.
The Joseon Kingdom wasn't particularly willing to open up even when attacked by neighbors (even the devastation caused by the Japanese in the Imjin War and the Manchu in both Manchu invasions of Korea over 50 years didn't see the Joseon allow foreigners in) or by imperialists trying to open it up (the Joseon violently resisted attempts by both the French and Americans before Japan finally forced them open).

Military and economic pressures didn't get the Joseon to open up OTL, so I wouldn't assume that more of either would necessarily mean success (could even reinforce isolationism, like the French and American punitive expeditions did). Military and trade matters were traditionally looked down upon by the Joseon court so it'd take a significant shift in attitude in the court to get either to hold enough appeal for major policy change.
 
I think a Good POD would be Portugal acquiring the Northern half Luzon due to Maniago revolt, they can use it as a base to contact with the Koreans and Japanese.
 
All of the posts aside, if I decided to make the Portuguese interaction with Korea into the cut for my TL, I'm planning to use Joao Cabrilho as the one who is the diplomat making the encounter with the Joseon Dynasty. Instead for serving for Spain OTL, he is serving for the Portuguese crown and plays a role in establishing contacts with the Kyushuan clans and eventually, the Joseon Kingdom, and instead of exploring California OTL, he TTL explores the east coast of Russia from Vladivostok to the Kamchatka.

Kinda ironic since I attended and graduated from a middle school named after Cabrillo in Santa Clara, California, where I live and where there are a lot of Portuguese (especially Azoreans) and Koreans living there. I don't watch TV but my cable provider does have RTP Internacional as one of their free channels.
 
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