Korea recovers 600-year-old cargo ship in underwater excavation

A 600 year old tax ship has resurfaced off Korea s west coast. South Korean archaeologists have recovered the full remains of a Joseon era (1392 19...

A 600-year-old tax ship has resurfaced off Korea’s west coast.

South Korean archaeologists have recovered the full remains of a Joseon-era (1392-1910) cargo vessel, shedding light on how a premodern kingdom managed national taxation, logistics and sea-based infrastructure with surprising complexity.

Announced by the National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage on Monday, the 15th-century vessel — named Mado 4 by researchers — was raised from the seabed in October following nearly a decade of conservation and analysis.

Photo credit: National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage

It is now the only fully excavated Joseon-era ship ever recovered, and the clearest physical proof yet of the kingdom’s maritime tax network.