Why couldn’t we develop muskets?

The protagonists and D'Artagnan of “Three Musketeers,” a novel written by Alexandre Dumas, are the masters of swordsmanship. The word ‘musketeers’ originally referred to mousquetaires, which mean infantry armed with muskets, not swords. Muskets were a step forward from matchlocks, which were introduced to Korea during the Japanese invasions of Korea. Firing matchlocks involved a complicated process of pouring gunpowder into a dish and lighting a wick made of cloth. If the wick is wet or if the weather is windy, it cannot be fired. Muskets used a flint, not a wick. When pulling the trigger, the percussion lock creates friction against a flint, which produces a flame that lights gunpowder. While it may sound like a simple idea, producing the launcher required screws and precise metal processing technology.

The Japanese forces introduced matchlocks to Joseon while muskets were brought to the country by Hendrick Hamel, who wrote a book titled “Hamel's Journal.” Upon examining muskets, the court ministers thought they looked good but gave up producing them as they thought the gun was too complicated. Korea continued to use matchlocks until the end of the 19th century when powerful countries invaded the nation.

Let’s not be ashamed of stories like this anymore. South Korea is a global powerhouse in the steel making and metal-related technologies. We are no longer unable to produce screws. While we gave up on manufacturing muskets, the K9 Thunder is the world’s No. 1 product and the country’s defense industry is expanding into the fields of tanks and combat planes.

However, I can’t help but wonder why the country and people with such capabilities were like that 300 years ago. The most significant cause is the agriculture-based society and the system of the controlled economy where a country oversees all industries and distributes resources and products. Profits were considered a sin, a strange concept of excess profits was created, and capital was seen as a crime since the status system could not be maintained if commoners or slaves were given opportunities to make money, let alone make money.

Therefore, technicians and merchants were looked down upon and not nurtured. People looked down on skills and were hung up on passing the civil service exams. The politicians of Joseon were not foolish. Some people might counter my argument by mentioning the cases of Jang Yeong-sil and turtle ships. Joseon did indeed make efforts to develop new weapons and technologies. However, it was stopped at muskets as it denied the value of freedom and competition and blocked free competition and efforts in the private sector. It was somewhat understandable back then. However, seeing so many people still thinking like that in the 21st century baffles me.